The prediction follows the announcement of a busy summer schedule for British Airways, the airport’s biggest carrier, and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Flights to Milan, one of the airport’s top performing routes which carried 275,000 passengers in 2019, will be reinstated this year. More than three quarters of 2019 routes are expected to be operating from the airport in 2022.
Barcelona will return to the London City network for the first time in almost a decade, while new routes such as Thessaloniki join destinations such as Split, Mykonos and Faro.
The airport saw a footfall of 714,000 passengers in 2021, down 21% compared with 2020 and 86% on 2019. However, in the first six months of the year the airport handled only 75,184 passengers.
In October and November last year, business travel accounted for more than 46% of all journeys from the airport, which was the total year average in 2019.
Between late September and late November, over 30,000 passengers used the airport each week, peaking at 37,000 in late October.
London City airport chief executive Robert Sinclair said investing in the airport’s relationships with airlines will facilitate the predicted "strong bounce back".
"2021 was certainly tough for everyone," he added. "However, despite predictions from some to the contrary, we did see the emergence of positive business travel trends, which we believe will continue in 2022 and will be so critical for the economic recovery of London and the UK more widely.
"London City will be a huge asset for London in the years ahead and we look forward to welcoming more passengers and building relationships with new airlines so we can connect the capital to more destinations and opportunities across the world."
