Bidders were fighting to the end over the purchase of the tiny and restricted London City Airport in the heart of the financial district of the British capital, with a record sum being paid.

Built in 1987 as an experiment to turn derelict dockland into a commuter airport to service new commercial developments, London City has grown into a busy airport that has almost reached capacity and even has transatlantic links.

However, the sale of the airport last week by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for £2.3 billion ($3.2 billion) is a record, and over 100 times higher than the £23 million it was originally sold for by the developer in 1995. The new owners of London City are a collaboration of Canadian groups Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Borealis and AimCo, alongside Kuwaiti wealth fund Wren House. The ownership is split equally among the four.

So what does £2.3 billion net the group? Well, London City is undoubtedly a success story, servicing one of the main financial hubs of the world, and a local population that is growing wealthier and appreciates the convenient links to cities in Europe, New York and weekend leisure destinations.

Yet London City has not yet been able to resolve issues with London's outgoing mayor, Boris Johnson, who blocked expansion plans that would add more aircraft parking stands, a terminal extension, a new hotel and an extra taxiway. Without these, the airport is restricted, particularly at peak times when all stands are taken and limitations on space restrict the number of hourly movements because planes need to taxi along the active runway.

As such, the airport is currently stuck at 75,000 yearly movements and 4.3 million passengers, and is closed for a 24-hour period every weekend.

A lot of hope for the future of London City relies on new aircraft that are close to being certified for airline use, including the Bombardier CSeries and the Embraer E2, which was rolled out last week.

These aircraft are the perfect size for the Docklands airport, which is restricted by runway length and surrounding buildings, and requires a steeper approach that can only be handled by certain aircraft. The inauguration of these airliners will revitalize airlines such as Swiss, which will replace older aircraft with the CSeries.

There has also been hope for a long time that links to the Far East and Middle East, similar to that of the all-business-class New York service, could be introduced in the future, which would fit perfectly with the clientele of the airport and this part of London.

However, the new owners must be cautious about upsetting the status quo at London City. If they have any designs on increasing prices to cover the cost of purchasing the airport, or in taking on £500 million in debt from GIP, or even the proposed expansion, they could have an exodus from existing carriers.

Willie Walsh, head of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways — the largest operator at London City — said he would move flights to Heathrow if charges were increased, citing poor margins because of the already high costs. Whether this is an idle threat is a chance the owners may not like to risk.