ASL’s Legacy 450 approved to operate in London City airport

ASL has received the approval from the London Airport Authorities to perform commercial charter flights in and out of the famous airport of London City (LCY) with its Embraer Legacy 450, thereby becoming the first Legacy 450 (operator) in the world to obtain this approval (the stretched model Legacy 500 being already approved).

The aircraft, serial number 55010003, was delivered to ASL and its partner company Smartair in January 2016 and was the first Legacy 450 registered in Europe, also the first Legacy 450 to be offered on the charter market worldwide.

In spring 2016, the company announced that it had received approval to operate charter flights in and out of the challenging airport of St. Tropez (La Mole) on the French Riviera, where the aircraft was based during the entire summer season of 2016. The aircraft was recently retrofitted by Embraer with the new “Steep Approach Mode”, allowing the aircraft to perform stabilized approaches with up to 6°steep angles (London City’s final approach glide-path is 5.5°).

London City Airport is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, approximately 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) east of the City of London. Due to the airport’s proximity to Central London, it has stringent rules imposed to limit the noise impact from aircraft operations.

This, together with the physical dimensions of the 1,508 m (4,948 ft) long runway and the steep glideslope, limits the aircraft types that can use London City Airport.

This new achievement marks yet another very important milestone for the leading business jet operator ASL (also encompassing its sister company JetNetherlands).

ASL’s CEO, Mr. Philippe Bodson, hopes that this approval will boost charter sales, especially for people willing to connect to London’s economic heart, but also create new direct routes between unique destinations such as flights between London-City and St. Tropez (La Mole), which are currently impossible on most light, mid-size and super mid-size jets comparable to the Legacy 450, due to the very demanding aircraft performances required as well as for flight crew members, who require special training on both of these airports.