London City Airport (LCY) can expect some up-gauging from airlines. KLM Cityhopper will be the first airline to operate the Embraer E195-E2 in the airport, now that EASA has certified the type for steep decent operations into the Docklands airport. This makes the E195-E2 the biggest aircraft type that can operate in LCY without further restrictions.
Embraer announced on Friday that it has received EASA certification for the Steep Approach procedure. To minimize the noise impact, aircraft must follow a 5.5-degree glideslope approach compared to the usual 3 to 3.5 degrees. Originally, LCY used a 7.5 degrees glideslope, but this has been reduced earlier as it “allows greater flexibility and may lead to more CAT operators requesting clearance for their airplane (s) at this aerodrome,” the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says in a document. LCY has a short runway of just 1.508 meters.
Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.
