London City Airport has announced that work is now well underway on its Jet Centre. Over 3,500 square metres of concrete has already been laid and the foundations for the new centre have been prepared. Darren Grover has been appointed as the Jet Centre manager, where he will be responsible for the handling of all corporate aircraft at London City Airport from December 1, 2001.

Grover said: “Corporate aviation is now becoming essential to the business travel market, as many companies have now recognised the benefits of using dedicated business aircraft to transport personnel.” The building will progressively appear over the next month and the centre in expected to be fully operational by 2002. Facilities will include vip lounges, dedicated vip aircraft stands, aircraft parking, immigrations and customs clearance and crew facilities.

Alan Medlock, operations director for the airport, said: “We took the decision to build the Jet Centre based on the 252 per cent growth in corporate aviation since 1995 and future growth expectations. Plus, London City Airport is now recognised by the business traveller as one of Europe’s leading airports. We have achieved this brand identity through our continued focus on the business traveller - providing a level of customer service, which meets with their expectations.”