London City Airport is a single-runway STOLPORT situated in the London Borough of Newham in East London and developed by the private engineering company Mowlem in 1986/87.

The airport was first proposed in 1981 by the London Docklands Development Corporation. Construction began on the site (the former Royal Docks) in 1986. [1] Queen Elizabeth II officially opened London City Airport in November 1987 and it since has become recognised as one of Europe's leading airports for business travel. It has subsequently been extended in three significant stages. The runway was lengthened and the angle of glideslopes was reduced from 7.5 to 5.5 degrees, still relatively steep for a European airport. The western apron was enlarged and a turning loop built in 2003 at the eastern end of the runway.

Over 1.6 million passengers use the airport annually and its management believes that economic development nearby will sustain a potential for over five million passengers per annum. Domestic routes to Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Dundee, the Isle of Man and Jersey complement international services. It has become a useful adjunct to London's larger airports, particularly for workers frequenting Docklands, and has met its operating costs in recent years. It is an important element in the Newham labour market and, together with the nearby ExCeL Exhibition Centre, has stimulated a local surge of hotel building. Passenger access to the City of London is facilitated by a spur of the Docklands Light Railway from Canning Town, which opened in December 2005. Frequent express shuttle buses operate to Canning Town, Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street with cheaper slower buses provided by London Buses to Walthamstow, Plaistow, Canning Town and Stratford stations. Onward tube connections are available from all these places. One London Buses route heads east from the terminal to meet the Woolwich Ferry that can take passengers across to Woolwich on the southern bank of the River Thames.