London City Airport noise: flight paths, the steep approach and flying hours

One runway, two directions

London City has a single runway, 09/27, running east to west between the Royal Docks. Planes land and take off into the wind, so all the traffic runs one way or the other.

When the wind is from the west, planes land towards the west (runway 27), coming in from the east along the Thames, and take off towards Canary Wharf. That was the main direction on 52% of days over the last year. When the wind is from the east, it all turns round: planes land towards the east (runway 09) over Whitechapel, Stepney and the Isle of Dogs, and take off to the east, most of them turning towards Dagenham. That happened on 30% of days. On the other 18%, the direction changed during the day.

Easterly days are not only a winter thing. In our recordings they were most common in January and April, with more than four days in ten each, and rarest in September and November. A street under the western approach can go a week without a landing overhead and then have one every few minutes.

A steep approach: why planes are higher near the runway

Most airports bring planes down on a 3° slope. London City uses 5.5°, because of the tall buildings and other obstacles around it, especially to the west. Airlines need a special steep-approach certification to land there. The airport says the steeper slope keeps arriving planes higher for longer.

You can see it in the heights we recorded. Two kilometres from the runway, a landing plane at London City is typically about 700 ft up; at Heathrow it is about 400 ft. Six kilometres out, it is 1,900 to 1,950 ft, against about 1,050 ft at Heathrow. Close to the airport, then, planes are noticeably higher than a normal approach would put them.

Further out the picture changes. London City shares crowded airspace with Heathrow and the other London airports, and in our recordings planes coming from the east fly level at about 3,000 ft until they meet the steep final descent, and planes coming from the west at about 2,000 ft. So the steep slope makes the most difference within about 6 km of the runway; further out, the height depends on the level the planes are held at.

Where landing planes fly

Landing from the east (westerly days), planes follow the Thames. They are at about 3,000 ft over Thurrock, around 2,600 ft 8 km out near Rainham, about 1,950 ft off Belvedere and about 700 ft 2 km out near Thamesmead.

Landing from the west (easterly days), planes join the approach over central and east London from different directions, so there is no single line far out: our figures follow it for the last 10 km only, where the tracks are still spread about a kilometre wide over Southwark. They typically pass Whitechapel at about 2,000 ft, then drop steeply: about 1,900 ft over Stepney, 1,350 ft over the Isle of Dogs and 700 ft over Canning Town.

Where take-offs go

Take-offs climb steeply too, reaching 1,800 to 1,850 ft 2 km past the runway. Those heading west then level off at about 3,000 ft.

On westerly days nearly all of them turn north soon after take-off and pass over Wanstead, about 8 km along their route, at around 3,000 ft. On easterly days about seven in ten head north-east over Dagenham, and most of the rest turn north over Gants Hill, at much the same height.

Flying hours, the weekend break and early flights

London City's hours are set by its planning permission. Planes may take off and land from 06:30 to 22:00 on weekdays, 06:30 to 12:30 on Saturdays and 12:30 to 22:00 on Sundays. Public and bank holidays start at 09:00, and the airport is closed on Christmas Day. The half hour after closing (to 22:30, or 13:00 on Saturdays) is only for flights that were unavoidably delayed, and no more than 400 a year may use it. That leaves an eight-hour closure every night, from 22:30 to 06:30, and a full 24-hour break from Saturday lunchtime to Sunday lunchtime.

Early mornings are limited too: no more than six flights between 06:30 and 06:59 from Monday to Saturday, and no more than two before 06:45. There are daily limits as well, including 592 flights on a weekday and 100 on a Saturday.

Our recordings match the rules. A typical weekday has no landings or take-offs from about 21:45 until just before 07:00, and only two or three flights fall between 23:00 and 07:00, almost all of them just after 06:30. The day has two peaks, 07:00 to 10:00 and 17:00 to 20:00, with around 11 to 18 flights an hour, and 8 to 10 an hour in between. Our daily averages on this page are for the whole week, Saturdays and Sundays included; the hour-by-hour figures are for typical weekdays.

Busy days and quiet days

London City handled 50,992 flights in 2025, according to the Civil Aviation Authority, about 140 a day across the whole week. That is well under its limit of 111,000 a year and well below 2019, when it had about 83,000. Our own average, about 135 a day, is close to that.

Traffic dips in the holiday months, January and August, to around 110 to 120 flights a day, and is busiest in September, October and March, at around 150. For most homes near the airport, though, the wind direction matters more than the date: it decides whether the planes pass overhead at all.

More passengers and a shallower approach for larger jets

In August 2024 the government allowed London City to raise its passenger limit from 6.5 million to 9 million a year by 2031. The same decision allows three more flights between 06:30 and 06:59, nine in all, with the extra three reserved for the newest, quieter aircraft, and tightens the limit on the area of its 57 dB noise contour once passengers reach 9 million. It refused flying on Saturday afternoons, so the weekend break stays. At the end of 2025 the airport had not yet put this permission into effect, and it carried 3.7 million passengers that year.

Separately, the airport has asked the CAA to approve a second, satellite-guided approach at 4.49° alongside today's 5.5°, so that larger jets such as the Airbus A320neo can land without steep-approach certification. It consulted from 2 March to 17 May 2026 and says the planes would fly over the same ground as today; if approved, the new approaches would start no earlier than January 2027. Planes using it would be somewhat lower near the runway than on today's approach.

Complaints, insulation and help

To complain, use the environmental complaints form on London City's website. Each complaint is logged, investigated and reported to Newham Council. The airport received 111 complaints from 53 people in 2025. If you are not satisfied, the Civil Aviation Authority takes aircraft noise complaints once the airport has had the chance to answer.

To check a flight, London City's WebTrak shows flight tracks and readings from its noise monitors. The free flight map replays a whole day of landings and take-offs.

For help with insulation, London City's Sound Insulation Scheme has three tiers, based on noise contours reviewed every year:

• Tier 1, inside the 57 dB LAeq,16h contour: acoustic ventilators, and secondary glazing or double glazing for homes that still have single glazing.
• Intermediate tier, inside the 63 dB contour: secondary glazing and ventilators fitted by the airport, or £3,000 (index linked) towards high-performance double glazing.
• Tier 2, inside the 66 dB contour: the full cost of high-performance double glazing.

Homes built under planning permission granted after 21 July 1998 do not qualify, and nor do homes whose permission already required the same standard of insulation. The airport contacts eligible homes itself; if you have moved into an untreated home you think qualifies, email sound.insulation@londoncityairport.com. With flights still below their 2019 level, no new homes became eligible in 2025. See how airport insulation schemes work for what to ask.