An "alternative departure lounge" has opened for business travellers using London City Airport where redevelopment has been put on hold for two years.

It's a hospitality centre at the Marriott Group’s new Courtyard Hotel just five minutes’ walk from the airport check-in area which has three meeting rooms and an all-day kitchen and bar aimed at the pre-flight “grab and go” market.

“This is an alternative with the airport’s redevelopment currently paused until at least 2023,” general manager Chris Thomas said. “Travellers have in the past had to choose between high walk-in rates at offsite lounges or a limited food range in the terminal itself.”

Newham Recorder: Room with a close-up view... you can almost touch the planes taking off at London City AirportRoom with a close-up view... you can almost touch the planes taking off at London City Airport (Image: Marriott)

The new place to meet before taking off into the skies opened on November 8 and is the first to come to the Docklands area since 2014, the company points out.

London City is running 21 flight destinations across the UK and Europe this winter, including recently-resumed routes to Amsterdam, Berlin, Chambery, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Prague, Rotterdam, Salzburg and Zurich.