London City airport is trying to overturn its Saturday flight ban and raise its passenger numbers by 40%.
A local residents group denounced the proposals to cut into the nearly 24 hour respite from aircraft noise from 1 pm on Saturdays to 12.30 pm on Sundays, granted when the airport was licensed.
London City wants to be allowed to operate more flights in the early morning and late evening, although it said only quieter new aircraft would be permitted in those slots.
The airport hopes to increase its annual number of passengers from 3 million to 9 million by the year 2031, but it currently has a cap of 6.5 million. It said it would achieve the numbers with no additional flights or runways while retaining an eight-hour overnight curfew.
It said the plans would create 2,100 additional jobs and contribute another 750 million a year to London's economy.
The plans for Saturday flying would anger communities, according to the residents of Hacan East.
The chair, John Stewart, said: "The residents have had a break from the noise between midday Saturday and midday Sunday." There will be anger that the only break will be for a few hours on Sunday morning. Stewart questioned the worth of assurances that only newer planes would fly at certain times. He said the planes that City would invite were much larger and only noticeably quieter when they take off communities close to the airport. London City has launched a 10-week consultation on the expansion plans, which will need to be agreed by its London borough, Newham.
The airport was closed for three months due to the Pandemic in 2020.
Robert Sinclair, the London City chief executive, said that the strength of the rebound shows the huge pent-up demand for air travel and the need to plan responsibly for the future.
It will increase investment in cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft for use in extended periods, delivering the benefit of quieter aircraft to our local community throughout the whole week.