The owner of London Battersea Heliport is seeking planning permission to build a hotel alongside it on the southern bank of the River Thames. Weston Aviation commercial manager James Ford told AIN that the new building, to the west of the pad, will incorporate new reception and ATC facilities for the heliport.

“Owner Bob Weston sees the heliport as integral to the success of the new 125-bed hotel,” he said. “It will have meeting and conference facilities and should provide a ‘halfway house’ for both helicopter commuters and their London-based colleagues.
If the plan goes ahead–planning discussions are expected in August–he will also seek to provide aircraft parking space to the east, through the demolition of an old apartment block.”

Battersea Heliport was sold to Weston Homes in December 2003, raising concern that London’s sole remaining heliport would be closed and sold for building space. “Bob is a keen aviator himself,” concluded Ford, “and the heliport is an integral