London City Airport received its first commercial flight in nearly three months Sunday as Britain moved another step closer to fully emerging from its coronavirus lockdown on July 4 .
The gateway to the once - bustling Canary Warf and City financial districts welcomed a short flight from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea .
The small turboprop plane ’ s landing and quick departure for its return leg was the only one scheduled – but officials could hardly sound more pleased .
“ This clear early demand from our passengers to get back to flying is really encouraging , ” airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said .
Initial routes will be domestic because of international travel restrictions and only a handful of destinations will be served in the first weeks .
London businesses are also unhappy with the government ’ s divisive decision to impose 14 - day quarantines on most people arriving in Britain .
“ Both blanket Foreign Office advice not to travel abroad and the mandatory two -week quarantine for all arrivals into the UK should be limited to the highest risk countries , ” the London First business lobby said on the airport ’ s website.
Heathrow and London ’ s smaller Gatwick and Stansted airports remained partially open throughout the crisis .
– Two- metre battle –
Britain ’ s official death toll of 42 , 632 is Europe ’ s highest and third globally behind the United States and Brazil .
But health officials lowered the alert level to three on a five - point scale on Friday – a signal the government needed to take a more business - friendly approach .
British pubs and restaurants are most upset about a requirement for people to stay two meters ( six feet ) apart in public .
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