Air France-KLM expands London City Airport base

Air France-KLM is solidifying its already prominent status at the London City Airport, according to a report in the London Times. The Franco-Dutch company recently acquired VLM, a rival regional carrier based at this hub. Air France has now set its eyes on business travelers, in an effort to lure them away from Heathrow and encourage them to fly from the City Airport instead. VLM’s current owner, Jaap Rosen Jacobson, referred to his carrier as a “jewel” among regional airlines and noted that the company is now the largest operator at the London City Airport. VLM has connected the British capital to a range of cities in Northern Europe and the United Kingdom, including Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels and Manchester, among a handful of others. Air France-KLM has also been present at this hub, through a subsidiary called CityJet, which has offered regularly scheduled flights to Belfast, Dublin, Geneva, Madrid, Nice and Zurich. Most analysts expect that AF’s acquisition of VLM will lead to the development of new routes.

Geoffrey O’Byrne-White, who leads AF’s CityJet subsidiary, noted that VLM and his carrier will complement each other at the airport and that the immediate aim will be to connect this London hub to an increasing number of major financial and business destinations in Europe.

British Airways also operates at the London City Airport, as does Swiss International, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). The airport is currently looking at expanding its capacity and traffic, and may serve up to eight million passengers by 2030.

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