New Docklands flats: population around London City Airport set to boom with £350m investment and a Crossrail stop

Rather than a noisy and polluting environmental negative, London City Airport is seen by many Docklands residents as an area asset.

While Heathrow has been mired in controversy over a third runway, the capital’s low-profile and smallest airport has been flourishing.

New owners recently paid £2bn for the airport and have pledged £350m of investment, including new jets, that will increase the number of annual passengers from 4.5m to 6.5m by 2025.

LCY serves more than 40 UK and European destinations plus New York – a boon for Canary Wharf-based business travellers. Longer-haul destinations to Africa and Asia are planned too.

And the once hard-to-get-to location is now plugged into the DLR. On the horizon is a London City Airport Crossrail station, part of the Canary Wharf to Abbey Wood spur.

And a tunnel between Greenwich and Silvertown and an extended riverbus service beyond Woolwich have been given the green light.

About 11,000 people currently live in Royal Docks, and the figure could rise to as many as 60,000 if regeneration plans come to fruition over the next decades.

If you like big skies and dramatic riverscapes this fast-improving area is a cheaper London district with promise. Think of Canary Wharf 20 years ago.

And City Airport’s spectacular island runway somehow enhances the awesome urban setting.

For plane spotters, there are few better vantage points than from Royal Docks West, a development of 79 apartments, part of a hub that includes ExCel exhibition centre, floating hotels, eateries, bar and watersport facilities. There’s even a Paris-Plages style urban beach during the summer months.

A new show apartment has been unveiled at the 19-storey tower, which has gardens the size of nine tennis courts.

Two-bedroom flats with full-height glazing and a double-aspect corner terrace cost from £685,000. More info from developer Mount Anvil.