AFTER several months of quiet with only the odd low flying commercial or cargo aircraft travelling over its airspace, the skies of Thurrock will start to get busier again.

London City Airport has announced it will reopen for commercial flights from the end of June after being closed for the past three months. Flights landing at the East London airport fly directly over Thurrock on their approach to the runway by the side of the Thames.

As previously reported on Thurrock Nub News in March the airport elected to suspend all of its passenger operations due to the coronavirus crisis. Flights from Stansted and Southend, which also come over Thurrock regularly have also been curtailed, while traffic to and from Heathrow and Gatwick - which 'stack' close to Thurrock - have been massively curtailed.

All the airports are now planning to reopen or step up flight numbers and London City has announced its intention to return to service, with further details to be announced with its partner airlines later in the month.

London City said domestic flights would be the first to resume, with international flights to begin again in July.

Its chief executive Robert Sinclair said: "While there are many challenges ahead for the UK aviation industry, it is our hope that by outlining the steps we are taking to make the airport safe, and by incorporating the views of our regular travellers into our plans, we will give people the confidence to fly from our airport to destinations across the UK and Europe."

The airport will take a number of measures to protect passengers, including using temperature checks at both departures and arrivals, and providing staff with facemasks and visors.

It will also deploy rigorous and thorough cleaning regiments, including the use of an anti-bacterial surface treatment which will begin to kill all germs upon contact and lasts for up to 12 months.

Passengers will be asked to observe social distancing rules wherever possible in the terminal.