Gatwick Airport

"Gatwick" redirects here. For the village in Surrey, see Gatwick, Surrey.

"LGW" redirects here. For the German regional airline with ICAO code LGW, see Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter.

Gatwick Airport London Gatwick Airport
IATA: LGW ICAO: EGKK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Global Infrastructure Partners
Operator	Gatwick Airport Limited
Serves	London
Location	Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Hub for	British Airways
Elevation AMSL	203 ft / 62 m
Website	www.gatwickairport.com
Map
LGW Location within West Sussex, England
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08L/26R 2,970 9,744 Asphalt/Concrete 08R/26L 3,600 11,811 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2011)
Passengers 33,674,264 Passenger change 10-11 7.3% Aircraft Movements 251,067 Movements change 10-11 4.4%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority

Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is located 3.1 miles (5.0 km) north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and 29.5 mi (47.5 km) south of Central London. Also known as London Gatwick, it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Furthermore, Gatwick is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights and has the world's busiest single-use runway with up to 53 aircraft movements per hour in late-2012 and a maximum capacity of 55 movements per hour. Its two terminals – North and South – cover an area of 98,000 m² (1,050,000 sq ft) and 160,000 m² (1,700,000 sq ft) respectively.

In 2012, 34.2 million passengers passed through Gatwick.

Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East of England. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. On 17 December 2012, US Airways, Gatwick's last remaining US carrier, announced that it would stop serving the airport from 30 March 2013. This will leave Gatwick without a scheduled US airline presence for the first time in 35 years. The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Monarch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter. In its 2011/12 financial year, these respectively accounted for 33, 55 and 11% of total passenger traffic.

BAA Limited and its predecessors, the British Airports Authority and BAA plc, owned and operated Gatwick continuously from 1 April 1966 until 2 December 2009. On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick following a report by the Competition Commission into BAA's market dominance in London and the South East. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the owners of London City and Edinburgh airports, for £1.51 billion. The sale was formally completed on 3 December 2009. On this day, Gatwick's ownership passed from BAA to GIP. In early-2010, GIP reportedly sold minority stakes in Gatwick to the National Pension Service of Korea and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. On 18 June 2010, it was reported that CalPERS, California's and the US's biggest state pension fund, had bought a 12.7% equity stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP. An announcement made in the Financial Times on 21 December 2010 stated that the Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government, planned to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.

History

Gatwick Airport area as at about 1925 with current airport boundary in green outline.

The airport apron in 1973.

The airport apron in 1981 (note the increase in widebodied aircraft).

The airport control tower.

• 1241: The name "Gatwick" is first recorded, as Gatwik, the name of a manor, on the site of today's airport (under the northmost edge of North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area). Until the 19th century, it was owned by the De Gatwick family. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words gāt, 'goat', and wīc, 'dairy farm', i.e. 'goat farm'. (On the adjacent map, Gatwick Manor is at the northwest end of the racecourse; its name is somewhat obscured by the map's paper being eroded over an old crease. The site of the modern runway runs roughly from the racecourse to the lane junction at Hydefield farm southeast of Charlwood.
• 21 September 1841: The London and Brighton Railway opened, running near Gatwick Manor.
• 1890: The descendants of the original owners sold the area to the newly established Gatwick Race Course Company.
• 1891: The new owners opened a horse racecourse (Gatwick Racecourse), beside the London–Brighton railway, and a dedicated station including sidings for horse boxes. The course held steeplechase and flat races.
• 1916, 1917, 1918: During World War I the racecourse hosted the Grand National.

Airport infrastructure and airline operations

1920–1945

The Beehive

• Late 1920s: Land adjacent to the racecourse at Hunts Green Farm along Tinsley Green Lane was used as an aerodrome.
• August 1930: Following a change in land ownership, the aerodrome was licensed. It was called Gatwick Aerodrome.
• Later in 1930: The Surrey Aero Club was formed at the aerodrome by a Ronald Waters, who had been the manager of Home Counties Aircraft Service Ltd based at Penshurst Airfield in Kent. Surrey Aero Club used the old Hunts Green farmhouse as club house.
• 1932: Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome and operated a flying school. The aerodrome was also used for pilots flying in to races.
• 1933: The Air Ministry approved commercial flights from Gatwick. The aerodrome was sold for £13,500 to Morris Jackaman, an investor.
• 1934: Morris Jackaman formed a new airport company named Airports Limited. Hillman's Airways became Gatwick's first commercial airline operator as a result of starting scheduled services from the airport to Belfast and Paris.
• 1935: A new airline named Allied British Airways was formed, by a merger between Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways. The newly formed carrier, which subsequently shortened its name to British Airways, became Gatwick's principal operator. Lack of adequate space at Heston resulted in Airwork Ltd relocating to Gatwick.
• 6 July 1935: Gatwick Aerodrome closed for building works (building of the The Beehive (a circular terminal building) commenced).
• September 1935: A new railway station called Gatwick served by two trains an hour on the Victoria–Brighton line opened. (The present Gatwick station is on the same site.)
• 30 September 1935: Tinsley Green railway station opened 0.85 mi (1.37 km) south of the present Gatwick station.
• May 1936: Some flights [re-]started.
• 17 May 1936: The first scheduled flight to depart The Beehive was bound for Paris. The applicable air fare was £4 5s, including a first class rail ticket from London Victoria.
• 6 June 1936: Gatwick airport officially reopened by the Secretary of State fro Air, Lord Swinton ; The Beehive officially opened. The Beehive was designed by Frank Hoar and included a subway to the already existing railway station at Tinsley Green that let passengers travel from London Victoria Station to the aircraft without stepping outside. Following the official reopening, Tinsley Green railway station was renamed Gatwick Airport. Air Travel Ltd, which had relocated to Gatwick from Penshurst, moved into the new airport's aircraft hangar.
• September and November 1936: Two fatal accidents questioned the airport's safety. Moreover, the area was prone to fog and waterlogging as a result of poor drainage due to heavy clay soils. This in turn caused the new subway to flood after rain.
• 1937: As a result and because longer landing strips were needed, the pre-war British Airways moved to Croydon Airport. Gatwick went back to private flying and was contracted as a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying school. The airport also attracted repair companies.
• September 1939: The Air Ministry requisitioned Gatwick.
• World War II: Although the airfield became a base for RAF night-fighters and an Army co-operation squadron, it was mainly a repair and maintenance facility.
• 1940: Horse racing at Gatwick ceased.

1945–1958

• 1946: Gatwick Airport was officially decommissioned, but the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued to operate it as a civil airfield, initially for a six-month trial period. During that period, Airwork provided maintenance facilities at Gatwick and other contemporary charter companies flying war-surplus aircraft started to use the airport; however, persistent drainage issues affected the airport's usage. Most commercial air services were cargo flights. The original Gatwick railway station was renamed Gatwick Racecourse.
• November 1948: The owners warned that the airport could be de-requisitioned by November 1949 and revert to private use. Stansted was favoured as London's second airport and Gatwick's future was in doubt.
• 1950: Despite opposition from local authorities, the Cabinet decided that Gatwick was to be an alternative to Heathrow. British European Airways (BEA) began operating from Gatwick to the Channel Islands.
• May 1950: Gatwick's first chartered flight departed the original airport's grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica with a refuelling stop in Nice. Jersey-based UK independent airline Air Transport Charter (C.I.) Ltd operated this flight under contract to UK package tour pioneer Vladimir Raitz's Horizon Holidays, using a 32-seat Douglas DC-3 carrying 11 passengers.
• 1952: BEA established a base at Gatwick for its helicopter operations.
• July 1952: The Government said that the airport was to be developed, primarily to cater to aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
• 1956–1958: Temporary closure for a £7.8 million renovation. During that period, BEA continued using Gatwick for its helicopter operations. The redevelopment was carried out by Alfred McAlpine. It entailed diverting the A23 London–Brighton trunk road and the River Mole, and building the runway across the erstwhile racecourse site and rebuilding the former racecourse railway station alongside the new terminal. The main pier of what is now the South Terminal was built during this construction work.

1958–1970

• 27 May 1958: The original Gatwick railway station, which had been rebuilt, reopened as Gatwick Airport. The railway station at Tinsley Green shut and never reopened.
• 30 May 1958: Before the official opening, Transair operated the first commercial air service from the new Gatwick; a Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron was the first scheduled aircraft to arrive at the newly reconstructed airport.

A PEOPLExpress Boeing 747 at the satellite pier of the South Terminal in June 1983. The North Terminal is under construction in the background

• 9 June 1958: Queen Elizabeth II flew into the new airport in a de Havilland Heron of the Queen's Flight to perform the opening. The first "official" flight to depart Gatwick following the reopening ceremony was a BEA DC-3 operating a charter for Surrey County Council to Jersey and Guernsey. Gatwick was the world's first airport with a direct railway link and the first to combine mainline rail travel, trunk road facilities and an air terminal building in one unit. It was also one of the first to have an enclosed pier-based terminal, which allowed passengers to walk under cover to waiting areas close to aircraft with only a short walk outdoors. Another novel feature of Gatwick's new air terminal was its modular design. This permitted subsequent, phased expansion.
• 1958/59: Sudan Airways and BWIA West Indies Airways were among Gatwick's first scheduled overseas airlines. The former's Blue Nile services were the first scheduled flights from Gatwick by a foreign airline. These services operated between Khartoum and London Gatwick via Cairo, Athens and Rome, initially using Airwork Vickers Viscount aircraft. British United Airways (BUA) assumed this operation the following year, as a result of the Airwork – Hunting-Clan merger. (BUA were also acting as Sudan Airways's technical advisers.) US supplemental carriers Seven Seas Airlines, Capitol International, President Airlines and Transocean Airlines, as well as various South European and Scandinavian charter operators, figured prominently among Gatwick's early overseas users.
• Late 1950s: From here on, a number of Britain's contemporary private airlines joined Airwork, Gatwick's only surviving pre-war private airline, at the airport. The first was Transair, which relocated to Gatwick from Croydon. It was followed by Morton Air Services and Hunting-Clan, which relocated from Croydon and Heathrow respectively. In July 1960, these merged with Airwork and Southend-based Air Charter to form British United Airways. Throughout the 1960s, BUA was Britain's largest independent airline. During that decade, it became Gatwick's largest resident airline. By the end of the decade, it also became the airport's leading scheduled operator, with a 44,100 mi (71,000 km) network of short, medium and long-haul routes across Europe, Africa and South America. These were served with contemporary BAC One-Eleven and Vickers VC10 jet aircraft.
• Early 1960s: Despite rapid expansion of BUA's and other airlines' scheduled activities at Gatwick, the airport was dominated by non-scheduled services well into the 1980s. The bulk of these were inclusive tour (IT) passenger services provided by a growing number of British independent operators and their overseas counterparts. During the 1960s, IT services accounted for between two-thirds and three-quarters of Gatwick's annual passengers, earning the airport its bucket and spade tag.
• 1 April 1961: BEA began operating half its London–Paris flights from Gatwick. On that day, Gatwick's designation changed to London (Gatwick) to emphasise its status as a London airport vis-à-vis London Airport, which in turn was redesignated as London (Heathrow).
• 1962: Two additional piers were added.
• 1 May 1963: Non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights only.
• 1 January 1964: BEA Helicopters made Gatwick their administrative and engineering base.
• Also in 1964: Gatwick's original, relatively short 7,000 ft (2,100 m) late-1950s paved runway was extended by 1,200 ft (370 m) to 8,200 ft (2,500 m) due to new noise rules governing the operation of jet aircraft at airports close to or surrounded by densely populated urban areas.
• 1965: By now, each of the three piers was nearly 1,000 ft (300 m) long and the entire terminal complex had a floor area of 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m²). Fully extendible jet bridges were added when the piers were rebuilt and extended in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• 4 January 1966: BUA commenced Gatwick's first scheduled domestic jet services to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. The new services, branded as InterJet, made BUA the first UK domestic airline plying trunk routes exclusively with jet equipment.
• Also in 1966: Canadian charter airline Wardair launched the first of a series of transatlantic charter flights using Boeing 727s from Gatwick to Canada.
• June 1969: Westward Airways commenced the first inter-airport air shuttle between Gatwick and Heathrow using Britten-Norman Islanders.

1970–1999

Inter-terminal transit track and Sofitel hotel. The North Terminal building is in the background

Gatwick's North Terminal building and transit station

• 1970: Second extension of Gatwick's runway by 875 ft (267 m) to 9,075 ft (2,766 m) to permit non-stop jet operations to the US east coast with a full payload and full-range/payload operations by British United and Caledonian BAC One-Eleven 500s. BEA Airtours made Gatwick their base.
• Late November 1970: BUA was acquired by the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways. The new airline was known as Caledonian//BUA. BUA's takeover by Caledonian enabled the latter to transform itself into a scheduled airline. In addition to scheduled routes inherited from BUA, it launched scheduled services to Europe, North and West Africa, North America as well as the Middle and Far East during the 1970s and '80s.
• September 1971: Caledonian//BUA became British Caledonian (BCal).
• November 1971: BCal commenced the first scheduled service by a wholly private UK airline since the 1930s between London and Paris from Gatwick to Le Bourget.
• November 1972: Laker Airways became the first operator of widebody aircraft at Gatwick, following the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft. Laker's DC-10 fleet expanded throughout the 1970s and early '80s. This included longer-range -30s, which were introduced from 1980.
• 1973: Third extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,165 ft (3,098 m) to allow non-stop narrowbody operations to the US west coast with a full payload and commercially viable, long-range widebody operations. Wardair became the first airline to operate Boeing 747s at Gatwick.
• April 1973: BCal inaugurated the first transatlantic scheduled services by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles from Gatwick.
• March and May 1977: BCal introduced its first two DC-10-30s at Gatwick.
• 26 September 1977: Laker Airways launched Skytrain, Gatwick's first daily long-haul, no frills flights to John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport.
• Late 1970s: Several Government initiatives in support of Gatwick's development resulted in steady growth in passenger numbers in the late 1970s. Amongst these, were new policies seeking the transfer of all scheduled services between London and the Iberian peninsula from Heathrow to Gatwick, banning whole-plane charters at Heathrow and compelling all airlines that were planning to operate a scheduled service to or from London for the first time to use Gatwick instead of Heathrow. The latter policy was officially known as the "London [Air] Traffic Distribution Rules". It came into effect on 1 April 1978 and was applied retroactively from 1 April 1977. These rules were designed to achieve a fairer distribution of traffic between London Heathrow and London Gatwick, the UK's two main international gateway airports. The policy was aimed at increasing Gatwick's utilisation to help the airport make a profit. Another pro-active measure the Government took to aid Gatwick's development at the time was to grant permission for a high-frequency helicopter shuttle service linking both of London's main airports.
• 9 June 1978: The 20th anniversary of Gatwick's reopening by Queen Elizabeth II coincided with the joint inauguration by BCal, British Airways Helicopters and the BAA of Airlink, a new helicopter shuttle service linking the airport with London Heathrow.
• Year ending December 1978: Scheduled passengers outnumbered charter passengers for the first time in Gatwick's post-war history.
• August 1980: BCal launched the UK's first private scheduled air service to Hong Kong (via Dubai) from Gatwick.
• 1982: BCal started to operate a small fleet of Boeing 747–200s at Gatwick.
• 28 May 1982: For the first time, Pope John Paul II set foot on British soil at Gatwick after disembarking from an Alitalia Boeing 727-200 Advanced that had just arrived from Rome.
• 2 June 1982: At the end of his first visit to the British Isles, Pope John Paul II departed Gatwick on board a BCal Boeing 707 bound for Rome.
• December 1982: The Gatwick Hilton, the first hotel in Britain to form part of an airport complex, opened.
• 1983: As passenger numbers grew, a circular satellite pier was added to the terminal building, connected to the main terminal by the UK's first automated people mover system (now replaced with a walkway and travelators). There was a need for more capacity and a second terminal was planned. As a result, construction began on the North Terminal, the largest construction project south of London in the 1980s. It cost £200 million.

The airport in 1984.

• 1984: Gatwick's new air traffic control tower, the tallest in the UK at the time, opened. British Rail launched Gatwick Express, the world's first non-stop airport to city centre rail service, between the airport and London Victoria station.
• 1985: Start of construction work on converting Gatwick's northern parallel taxiway into a second runway for use in emergencies only.
• July 1985: A British Airways Concorde operated the type's first-ever commercial flight from Gatwick.
• 6 February 1986: Last flight of the Airlink helicopter shuttle service to Heathrow.
• Year ending April 1987: Gatwick overtook New York JFK as the world's second-busiest international airport, handling 15.86 million international passengers – 100,000 more than JFK.
• 18 March 1988: Queen Elizabeth II opened the North Terminal. Gatwick's two terminals were connected by an automated rapid track transit system.
• End of the 1989/90 financial year: From here on, passengers on scheduled services consistently outnumbered those on non-scheduled services at Gatwick. The latter had accounted for more than half the airport's passengers during the 1970s and most of the 1980s.
• 1991: The North Terminal was expanded with a second aircraft pier.
• 1991–1992: Dan-Air replaced Air Europe as Gatwick's principal short-haul scheduled operator following the latter's demise at the beginning of that period. Dan-Air and Air Europe had played an important role in the development of Gatwick and its short-haul scheduled route network.
• 1994: The North Terminal international departures lounge and phase 1 of the South Terminal international departures lounge opened. Both developments cost £30 million.
• 1998: Fourth extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,879 ft (3,316 m) to enable longer-range operations with fully laden widebody aircraft.

2000–2009

The Bridge to Pier 6 in the North Terminal opened in 2005

• 2000 and 2001: Gatwick's two terminals were further expanded to add more seating, retail space and catering outlets, at a total cost of £60 million. This included an extension to the North Terminal departure lounge completed in 2001.
• 2005: A £110 million additional aircraft pier (Pier 6) opened, adding an extra 11 pier-served aircraft stands. Linked by the world's largest air passenger bridge to the North Terminal's main building, it spans a taxiway, giving arriving and departing passengers views of the airport and taxiing aircraft. The same year, an extension and refurbishment to the South Terminal's baggage reclaim hall was completed, doubling it in size.
• May 2008: Another extension was completed to the South Terminal departure lounge. In addition, a second-floor security search area opened. This terminal is now mainly used by low-cost airlines. Many former users have moved to the newer North Terminal.
• 12 October 2009: Qatar Airways's daily QR076 Gatwick–Doha scheduled service became the first commercial flight powered by fuel made from natural gas. The Airbus A340-600HGW operating the six-hour flight ran on a 50–50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) and conventional oil-based kerosene developed by Shell instead of traditional, purely oil-based aviation turbine fuel.
• 3 December 2009: The transfer of Gatwick's ownership from BAA Limited to Global Infrastructure Partners became effective.

2009–present

Inside the world's largest air passenger bridge at the North Terminal's Pier 6

Following the sale of the airport to GIP, Gatwick's new owners announced their intention to proceed with a previously agreed £1 billion investment programme to upgrade and expand the airport's existing infrastructure to transform the passenger experience. It is hoped that this will firmly establish Gatwick as the airport of choice for air travellers whose journey begins and/or ends in London and other parts of South East England. According to Virgin Atlantic communications director Paul Charles, the prospect of offering much better facilities to Gatwick's airlines and passengers as a result of the change in ownership presents a long-term opportunity to leapfrog Heathrow in terms of airport infrastructure and passenger amenities. It is expected that GIP will use its relationships to persuade new and existing airlines to consider launching additional routes from Gatwick, reinstating services suspended as a result of the global recession in the wake of the financial crisis that began in 2007 and Open Skies and/or expanding their existing flying programme from the airport in the near future.

• February 2010: It was reported that GIP sold minority stakes of 12% and 15% to South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for £100 million and £125 million, respectively. These were sold in Gatwick's – rather than GIP's – name. The sale of these stakes is part of GIP's strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the original acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing in additional investors in the airport, GIP aims to retain management control.
• 18 June 2010: It was announced that Californian state pension fund CalPERS had spent approximately US$155 million (£104.8 million) on acquiring a 12.7% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP, marking the US$200 billion fund's first direct infrastructure investment.
• 22 June 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited launched a new competitive brand featuring the tagline "YOUR LONDON AIRPORT – Gatwick" alongside a rebrand from "London Gatwick Airport" to the original "Gatwick Airport". Created by advertising agency Lewis Moberly, the new blue-and-white corporate identity is intended as a challenger brand to BAA and aims to differentiate Gatwick from rival Heathrow in support of majority owner GIP's corporate goal to establish Gatwick as London's airport of choice for passengers and airlines.
• 16 November 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited announced the appointment of Guy Stephenson as its new commercial director, with responsibility for the airport's airline route development and car parking strategies.
• 21 December 2010: The Financial Times reported that the A$69 billion (£44 billion) Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government in 2006, intended to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP for £145 million. This transaction will complete GIP's equity syndication process for Gatwick. Although this will reduce GIP's stake to 42%, the private equity firm's extra voting rights will enable it to retain control of the airport's board.
• 6 July 2012: An Emirates Airbus A380 operated the type's first scheduled service from Gatwick to mark the airline's 25th anniversary at the airport, in the UK and Europe, as well as to test the aircraft's suitability for the airport.

Traffic

1958–2000

Gatwick handled 186,172 passengers during its first seven months of operation following the 1956–58 reconstruction. By 1959, the number of passengers passing through the airport each year had grown to 368,000.

In 1966, passenger numbers at Gatwick reached one million per annum for the first time.

In 1968, annual passenger numbers at Gatwick hit the two million mark for the first time.

By the end of the 1960s, annual passenger numbers at Gatwick had grown to three million, with British United Airways accounting for almost half of these.

By the early 1970s, five million passengers used Gatwick each year, with a record 5.7 million using the airport in 1973. Within a decade, this figure doubled to ten million. It doubled again to over 20 million by the late 1980s.

By the turn of the millennium, Gatwick handled more than 30 million passengers annually.

2000 onwards

Gatwick Airport Passenger Totals 2000-2012 (millions)

Updated: 17 January 2013. 2012 Statistics Provisional.

	Number of Passengers	Percentage Change	Number of Movements	Freight (tonnes)
2000	32,068,540	–	260,859	318,905
2001	31,181,770	02.8%	252,543	280,098
2002	29,627,420	05.0%	242,379	242,519
2003	30,005,260	01.3%	242,731	222,916
2004	31,466,770	04.9%	251,195	218,204
2005	32,775,695	04.2%	261,292	222,778
2006	34,163,579	04.2%	263,363	211,857
2007	35,216,113	03.1%	266,550	171,078
2008	34,205,887	02.9%	263,653	107,702
2009	32,392,520	05.3%	251,879	74,680
2010	31,375,290	03.1%	240,500	104,032
2011	33,674,264	07.3%	251,067	88,085
2012 (provisional)	34,220,418	01.6%	TBA	TBA
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority

34.2 million passengers passed through London Gatwick in 2012 representing an increase of 1.7% over the 33.7 million passengers using Gatwick in 2011. This figure was still 1 million short of the 35.2 million the airport handled in 2007, the peak year for annual passenger traffic.

Amongst individual passenger traffic components, European scheduled, other long-haul and UK traffic recorded increases of 5, 4.2 and 2.6% to 18.52, 4.66 and 3.83 million passengers respectively over the corresponding figures for 2011. On the other hand, European charter, North Atlantic and Irish traffic saw decreases of 10.8, 5.2 and 0.6% to 4.08, 1.85 and 1.28 million passengers respectively over the corresponding figures for 2011.

Compared with December 2011, December 2012 passenger numbers saw a 0.2% increase to 2.28 million, representing 5,600 more passengers compared with the same year-earlier period. Amongst individual passenger traffic components, other long-haul, European charter, UK and Irish traffic recorded increases of 6.2, 1.7, 1.3 and 0.4% to 413,800, 180,800, 294,700 and 100,600 passengers respectively. North Atlantic and European scheduled traffic saw decreases of 7 and 1.5% to 110,000 and 1.18 million passengers respectively. Scheduled services to non-European and UK destinations respectively accounted for 15,800 and 3,800 of the total increase in passenger traffic. Average monthly load factors remained high at 78.3%, representing a 1.7% increase compared with the same year-earlier period.

Gatwick today

Facilities

South Terminal zone A check-in concourse

Gatwick Airport has two terminals, North and South. Both have shops and restaurants, landside and airside. Disabled passengers can travel through all areas. There are facilities for baby changing and feeding, and play areas and video games for children. Business travellers have lounges offering business facilities. On 31 May 2008, Virgin Holidays opened V Room, Gatwick's first dedicated lounge for leisure travellers. Use of this lounge is exclusive to Virgin Holidays customers flying from the airport to Orlando, Las Vegas and the Caribbean with sister airline Virgin Atlantic. On 9 April 2009, a new independent pay-for-access lounge called No.1 Traveller opened in the South Terminal. It also serves US Airways Envoy passengers. There is also a conference and business centre. Furthermore, the airport has several on- and off-site hotels. These range from executive to a capsule hotel. The airport has Anglican, Catholic and Free Church chaplains. In addition, there is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal. A daily service is led by one of the chaplains. The prayer room is open to all faiths.

South Terminal international arrivals concourse

The Civil Aviation Authority Safety Regulation Group is in Aviation House. WesternGeco, a geophysical services company, has its head office and its Europe/Africa offices in the Schlumberger House, a 124,000 sq ft (11,500 m²) building on the grounds of Gatwick Airport, near the south terminal. WesternGeco had a 15-year lease on the building which was scheduled to expire in June 2008. In 2007, WesternGeco reached an agreement with its landlord, BAA Lynton, and extended its lease at Schlumberger House until 2016. Its initial rent was £2.1 million.

From 1964 until 1985, British Airways Helicopters and its predecessor, BEA Helicopters, had their administrative and engineering base at Gatwick Airport South, the site of the original 1930s airport. (During that time, the offices of BEA/British Airways Helicopters were located in The Beehive, which was also an office location for Jersey Airlines, Caledonian Airways, Virgin Atlantic and GB Airways at other times.) In 1968, British United Airways relocated its head office to Gatwick from Portland House in London. After Caledonian Airways acquired British United Airways, the resulting airline, British Caledonian, had its head office at Gatwick. When CityFlyer Express operated, the airline's head office was in the Iain Stewart Centre. When Laker Airways and Tradewinds Airways operated, they had their head offices on the airport property.

City Place Gatwick

Main article: City Place Gatwick

Gatwick Airport has an office complex on the airport property, called City Place Gatwick. The complex includes four buildings: The Beehive, a former terminal building; 1 City Place (the former BT building); 2 City Place; and 3 City Place. City Place was developed by BAA Lynton. BDO International currently occupy offices at 2 City Place. Companies that once had their head offices in buildings in the City Place offices complex include GB Airways (The Beehive), CP Ships (2 City Place) and BT Wholesale (1 City Place). On 5 January 2012, Nestlé announced the relocation of its UK head office from Croydon to City Place Gatwick, where it will occupy the former BT Wholesale office at 1 City Place.

Major airlines

In 2010, EasyJet, British Airways (BA), Thomson Airways, Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines were Gatwick's five biggest airlines, in terms of passengers carried. Amongst these, BA and EasyJet were its two dominant resident airlines. In late-2007, BA and EasyJet accounted for 25% and 17% of Gatwick's slots. The latter's share of slots subsequently rose to 24% as a result of its takeover of BA franchise carrier GB Airways, which accounted for 7% of slots (late-2007). The acquisition of GB Airways in March 2008 resulted in EasyJet becoming Gatwick's biggest short-haul operator accounting for 29% of short-haul passengers (ahead of BA's 23%) and Gatwick's largest airline overall, with flights to 62 domestic and European destinations (at April 2008). As of early-2012, EasyJet has further reinforced its position as Gatwick's leading airline by increasing the number of destinations served from the airport to 94, using a fleet of 50 aircraft. Gatwick is the airline's largest base, where its 12 million passengers per annum accounted for 37% of the airport's yearly total in 2011/12. This put EasyJet firmly ahead of Gatwick's next biggest passenger-carrying airline, British Airways, whose 4.5 million passengers accounted for 14% of total passenger traffic in the same period.

British Airways aircraft on stand at the North Terminal's Pier 5

On 30 March 2008, airlines began down-sizing transatlantic operations due to the new EU-US Open Skies Agreement. Continental Airlines became the second transatlantic carrier – after American Airlines – to pull out of Gatwick altogether, following its decision to transfer the seasonal Cleveland service to Heathrow from 3 May 2009. The slots vacated by these moves as well as by the collapse of Zoom, XL Airways UK and Sterling were taken by EasyJet, Flybe, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair.

By late-2008, EasyJet's share of Gatwick slots had grown to about 26%, while Flybe had become Gatwick's third-largest slot-holder accounting for 9% of the airport's slots, as well as its fastest-growing airline. For the third consecutive year, the latter airline maintained its position as Gatwick's largest domestic operator, whose eight routes serving the airport from other destinations in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man carried 1.2 million passengers in its 2011/12 financial year. From a peak of 40% in 2001, BA's share of Gatwick slots declined by 50% to 20% by summer 2009. By late-2011, EasyJet's share of Gatwick slots had further grown to 35%. As of summer 2012, EasyJet controlled 45% of Gatwick's early morning peak time slots from 6am to 8.55am, as many as the airport's next five biggest users combined.

Changing character of airport

South Terminal zone K check-in concourse

According to the evidence Flybe submitted at a Competition Commission hearing into BAA Limited's market dominance at the beginning of 2008, Gatwick's dynamics were changing rapidly as a result of recent changes in its traffic pattern. These were likely to transform the airport from a secondary intercontinental airline hub into a predominantly European and domestic operation feeding London and specifically the south London market.

Since late-2011, Gatwick has attracted a number of new full-service airlines, including Air China, Caribbean Airlines, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. This forms part of the airport's strategy to get more higher-spending business travellers to use it to counterbalance its dependence on European low-cost and charter markets, as well as to increase year-round capacity utilisation by smoothing out peaks and troughs in slot usage. Gatwick's recent successes in persuading these airlines to [re-]launch routes to several important overseas destinations for business and leisure travel were also aided by non-availability of suitable slots at Heathrow. The addition of these airlines furthermore helps Gatwick partially compensate for the loss since 2008 of all its US carriers.

Operations

Gatwick operates as a single runway airport. It has two runways; however, the northern runway (08L/26R) can only be used when the main runway (08R/26L) is out of use, for example because of maintenance or an accident. The runways cannot be used at the same time because there is not enough separation between them, and during normal operation the northern runway is used as a taxiway. It can take 15 minutes to change from one runway to the other. The second runway was built as a taxiway and was gradually widened.

Various aircraft at the North Terminal's Pier 4

The main runway operates with a Category III Instrument Landing System (ILS). The northern runway does not have an ILS and, when it is in use, arriving aircraft use a combination of Distance Measuring Equipment and assistance from the approach controller using surveillance radar, or where equipped and subject to operator approval, an RNAV (GNSS) Approach, which is also available for the main runway. On all runways, considerable use is made of continuous descent approach to minimise environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night.

Night flights are subject to restrictions. Between 11 pm and 7 am the noisiest aircraft (rated QC/8 and QC/16) may not operate. In addition, between 11.30 pm and 6 am (the night quota period) there are three limits:

• An overall limit on the number of flights;
• A Quota Count system which limits the total of noise permitted, but allows operators to choose to operate fewer noisy or a greater number of quieter aircraft;
• QC/4 aircraft may not operate at night.

Security

The airport is policed by the Gatwick District of Sussex Police. The district is responsible for policing the whole airport, including aircraft, and in certain circumstances, aircraft in flight. The 150 officers attached to this district include armed and unarmed officers, and community support officers for minor offences. The airport district counter man-portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS) by patrolling in and around the airport. A separate sub-unit has vehicle checks around the airport.

Brook House, an immigration removal centre of the UK Border Agency was opened on 18 March 2009 by the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.

The airport is one of three UK airports to feature body scanners; initially, they are located only in the North Terminal.

Airlines and destinations

Gatwick has two terminals: North and South. The South Terminal is Gatwick's older and busier terminal, and is also where the airport railway station is located. The following list includes all scheduled services to and from Gatwick Airport, as well as seasonal charter flights.

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aegean Airlines	Athens (ends 30 March 2013), Larnaca (begins 31 March 2013)	South
Aer Lingus	Belfast-City, Dublin, Knock	South
Afriqiyah Airways	Tripoli	South
Air Arabia Maroc	Casablanca, Tangier	South
airBaltic	Riga	South
Air China	Beijing-Capital	North
Air Europa	Madrid	South
Air Malta	Malta	South
Air Moldova	Chişinău	South
Air Transat	Toronto-Pearson Seasonal: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal-Trudeau, Ottawa, Vancouver	South
Al-Naser Airlines	Baghdad	South
Atlantic Airways	Seasonal: Vágar	South
Aurigny Air Services	Guernsey	South
Belavia	Minsk	South
BH Air	Seasonal Charter: Burgas, Sofia, Varna	South
British Airways	Algiers, Alicante (resumes 31 March 2013), Amsterdam, Antigua, Barcelona (resumes 23 February 2013), Barbados, Bermuda, Bordeaux, Cancún, Colombo (resumes 14 April 2013), Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Faro, Genoa, Glasgow-International, Grenada, Jersey, Kingston, Lanzarote (begins 31 March 2013), Las Vegas, Málaga, Malé, Manchester (ends 30 March 2013), Marrakech, Mauritius, Naples, Nice, Orlando, Port of Spain, Punta Cana, Rome-Fiumicino, St Kitts, St Lucia, Salzburg, San Juan (ends 31 March 2013), Tampa, Tenerife-South (begins 31 March 2013), Tirana, Tobago, Tunis, Turin, Venice-Marco Polo, Verona Summer Seasonal: Bari, Catania, Ibiza, Paphos, Pisa, Pristina, Thessaloniki Winter Seasonal: Friedrichshafen, Geneva, Innsbruck	North
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal: Varna	South
Caribbean Airlines	Port of Spain	North
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb Seasonal: Split	South
EasyJet	Aberdeen, Agadir, Alicante, Amman-Queen Alia, Amsterdam, Antalya, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Belfast-International, Bologna, Budapest, Catania, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Geneva, Gibraltar, Glasgow-International, Hurghada, Innsbruck, Inverness, Isle of Man, Izmir, Krakow, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lisbon, Luxor, Lyon, Málaga, Malta, Marrakech, Moscow-Domodedovo (begins 18 March 2013), Murcia, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Porto, Prague, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sofia, Tallinn, Tenerife-South, Valencia, Verona Summer Seasonal: Bari, Bastia, Biarritz, Bodrum, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kefallonia, Kos, La Rochelle, Mykonos, Nantes, Rhodes, Santorini-Thira, Split, Zakynthos, Winter Seasonal: Grenoble, Salzburg, Turin	North
EasyJet	Almería, Athens, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Luxembourg, Madrid, Marseille, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Montpellier, Munich, Nice, Palermo, Pisa, Rome-Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela (begins 18 June 2013), Seville, Thessaloniki, Toulouse, Venice-Marco Polo, Vienna, Zagreb, Zürich Summer Seasonal: Ajaccio, Dubrovnik, Kalamata (begins 6 July 2013), Minorca, Olbia	South
EasyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva	North
Emirates	Dubai	North
Estonian Air	Seasonal: Tallinn	South
Flybe	Belfast-City, Guernsey, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newquay Seasonal: Bergerac	South
Garuda Indonesia	Jakarta-Soekarno Hatta(resumes October 2013)	TBA
Gambia Bird	Banjul, Freetown	South
Hi Fly	Charter Sal, Ascension Island, Mount Pleasant	South
Icelandair	Reykjavik-Keflavik	North
Iraqi Airways	Baghdad, Sulaimaniyah, Najaf (begins 1 February 2013)	South
Jat Airways	Belgrade (resumes 8 July 2013)	South
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt	South
Meridiana Fly	Seasonal: Olbia	North
Monarch	Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Friedrichshafen, Funchal, Lanzarote, Málaga, Minorca, Palma de Mallorca, Sharm el Sheikh, Tenerife-South, Venice-Marco Polo, Verona (begins 2 May 2013) Seasonal: Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Grenoble, Heraklion, Ibiza, Larnaca, Paphos Seasonal charter: Banjul, Chania, Corfu, Goa, Grenada, Hassi Messaoud, Heraklion, Huesca, Innsbruck, Kefalonia, Kittilä, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Luxor, Malé, Mombasa, Montreal-Trudeau, Mytilene, Orlando-Sanford, Preveza, Rhodes, Skiathos, Sofia, Tobago, Volos, Zakynthos	South
Montenegro Airlines	Tivat, Podgorica	South
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Aalborg, Ålesund, Alicante (begins 6 April 2013), Barcelona (begins 4 April 2013), Bergen, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik (begins 6 April 2013), Faro (begins 6 April 2013), Gothenburg-Landvetter, Gran Canaria (begins 7 April 2013), Helsinki, Lanzarote (begins 2 September 2013), Málaga (begins 8 April 2013), Marseille (begins 6 April 2013), Nice (begins 5 April 2013), Oslo-Gardermoen, Oslo-Torp, Palma de Mallorca (begins 7 April 2013), Rome-Fiumicino (begins 6 September 2013), Split (begins 6 April 2013), Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tenerife-South (begins 5 September 2013), Tromsø (begins 3 April 2013), Trondheim	South
Nouvelair	Summer Charter: Djerba, Monastir	South
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca (resumes 27 March 2013)	North
Ryanair	Cork, Dublin, Shannon	South
SATA International	Ponta Delgada-João Paulo	South
Small Planet Airlines	Summer Charter: Corfu, Chania, Faro, Heraklion, Kalamata, Kefalonia, Kos, Lemnos, Preveza, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos, Volos	South
SunExpress	İzmir (begins 18 May 2013)	South
Sunwing Airlines	Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson	North
Syphax Airlines	Enfidha (begins 25 May 2013)	South
TAP Portugal	Funchal, Lisbon, Porto	South
Thomas Cook Airlines	Charter: Antalya, Bodrum, Cancún, Cayo Coco, Dalaman, Enfidha, Fuerteventura, Holguín, Hurghada, Izmir, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Montego Bay, Paphos, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South Seasonal Charter: Acapulco, Agadir, Almería, Banjul, Barbados, Brescia, Burgas, Corfu, Djerba, Faro, Geneva, Goa, Grenoble, Heraklion, Ibiza, Innsbruck, Lleida-Alguaire, Kalamata, Kefalonia, Kos, Larnaca, Lemnos, Luxor, Malta, Minorca, Naples, Olbia, Orlando-Sanford, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Reus, Rhodes, Rovaniemi, Salzburg, Santorini, Skiathos, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Turin, Varadero, Zakynthos	South
Thomson Airways	Agadir, Alicante, Antalya, Aswan, Banjul, Boa Vista, Cancún, Dalaman, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Girona, Heraklion, Holguín, Lanzarote, La Romana, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Luxor, Málaga, Malé, Malta, Marrakech, Marsa Alam, Mersa Matruh, Mombasa, Monastir, Montego Bay, Orlando-Sanford, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Puerto Plata, Phuket (begins 5 November 2013), Punta Cana, Sal, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Sharm el-Sheikh, Taba, Tenerife-South, Varadero Seasonal: Acapulco, Alghero, Aruba, Barbados, Bodrum, Burgas, Catania, Chania, Colombo, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Faro, Ibiza, Ivalo, İzmir, Jerez, Kalamata, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kittilä, Kos, Larnaca, Minorca, Mykonos, Mytilene, Naples, Pisa, Plovdiv, Preveza, Pula, Reus, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Tivat, Venice-Marco Polo, Verona, Zakynthos	North
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen Airport [begins 1 May 2013]	North
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil	South
US Airways	Charlotte (ends 30 March 2013)	South
Vietnam Airlines	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City	North
Virgin Atlantic Airways	Antigua, Barbados, Cancún, Grenada, Havana, Las Vegas, Montego Bay, Orlando, St Lucia, Tobago (ends 1 May 2013)	South
Vueling	Barcelona (begins 31 March 2013)	TBA
WOW air	Reykjavik-Keflavík	South

Busiest routes

Busiest international routes to and from Gatwick Airport (2011)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2010 / 11
1	Spain, Malaga	1,125,333	23.8
2	Ireland, Dublin	921,872	9.5
3	Spain, Madrid	796,541	32.3
4	Spain, Alicante	738,593	9.9
5	Switzerland, Geneva	710,122	13.8
6	Portugal, Faro	685,514	2.5
7	USA, Orlando International Airport	633,261	6.4
8	Netherlands, Amsterdam	627,486	14.4
9	UAE, Dubai	617,100	2.0
10	Spain, Palma de Mallorca	614,889	22.2
11	Spain, Tenerife-South	606,516	13.2
12	Spain, Barcelona	517,633	37.7
13	Italy, Rome-Fiumicino	477,458	26.7
14	Turkey, Dalaman	469,635	11.7
15	Italy, Venice-Marco Polo	441,440	4.5
16	Barbados, Bridgetown	428,864	0.1
17	Denmark, Copenhagen	413,763	16.7
18	Egypt, Sharm el-Sheikh	379,744	34.5
19	Cyprus, Paphos	367,865	0.0
20	Italy, Milan-Malpensa	358,388	7.4
21	Italy, Naples	349,541	5.2
22	France, Nice	323,907	11.1
23	Spain, Lanzarote	316,825	10.2
24	France, Marseille	294,867	11.2
25	Italy, Bologna	292,121	46.7
26	Malta, Malta	283,705	2.8
27	USA, Las Vegas	273,453	0.9
28	France, Toulouse	273,312	4.3
29	Germany, Berlin-Schönefeld	270,044	14.3
30	Cyprus, Larnaca	269,682	4.4
31	Canada, Toronto-Pearson	260,544	39.0
32	Norway, Oslo-Gardermoen	258,933	3.1
33	Turkey, Antalya	258,032	7.7
34	Hungary, Budapest	253,786	11.5
35	Portugal, Oporto	252,035	16.8
36	Sweden, Stockholm-Arlanda	243,682	146.0
37	Morocco, Marrakesh	242,622	12.2
38	Germany, Munich	233,525	1.7
39	France, Bordeaux	229,454	21.9
40	Mexico, Cancun	228,330	43.1

Busiest domestic routes to and from Gatwick Airport (2011)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2010 / 11
1	UK, Edinburgh	669,068	10.8
2	Jersey, Jersey	574,113	7.5
3	UK, Glasgow-International	565,787	15.8
4	Guernsey, Guernsey	356,368	6.1
5	UK, Belfast-International	341,744	15.1
6	UK, Belfast-City	247,907	13.2
7	UK, Manchester	232,739	5.7
8	UK, Inverness	222,737	7.7
9	UK, Aberdeen	177,765	36.8
10	Isle of Man, Isle of Man	127,097	4.0
11	UK, Newquay Cornwall	100,902	4.2
12	UK, Newcastle	95,122	2.3

Ground transport

North Terminal A23 roundabout

Gatwick has set the objective that 40% of passengers should be using public transport by the time the annual throughput reaches 40 million (estimated in 2015), from the 2006 figure of 35.3%.

Road

The airport is accessed by a motorway spur road at junction 9A of the M23, which links to the main M23 motorway 1 mi (1.6 km) east at junction 9. The M23 connects with London's orbital motorway, the M25, 9 mi (14 km) north. This gives access to much of Greater London, the South East and beyond. The M23 is the main route for traffic to the airport. Gatwick can also be accessed by the A23, which serves Horley and Redhill to the north and Crawley and Brighton to the south. The A217 provides access northwards to the local town of Reigate.

The airport has long and short-stay car parks – at the airport and off-site – although these are often full in summer. Local planning restrictions limit car parking at and around Gatwick.

Rail

Gatwick Express route
London Victoria Gatwick Airport Haywards Heath Burgess Hill Hassocks Preston Park Brighton

Gatwick Airport railway station

The Gatwick Airport railway station is next to South Terminal and provides connections along the Brighton Main Line to London Victoria and London Bridge stations, as well as Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne and Portsmouth to the south. The Gatwick Express to Victoria, operated by Southern, is the best-known service from the station, but other companies, including First Capital Connect and First Great Western, use the station as well, and Southern provides services to Victoria and London Bridge under its own brand. First Capital Connect provide direct trains to Luton Airport and First Great Western trains provide a direct rail link with Reading and connections with Oxford and the West.

Foot passengers can reach Heathrow by a X26 Express Bus from outside East Croydon station, which is an intermediate stop for semi-fast train services to London.

Bus and coach

National Express Coaches operates coaches to Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport, as well as cities and towns throughout the region and country. Oxford Bus Company operate direct services to Oxford. EasyBus operates minicoaches from both terminals to Earls Court/West Brompton. (National Express Dot2Dot used to operate a service to central London, but this ceased in 2008.)

Local buses connect North and South terminals with Crawley, Horley, Redhill, Horsham, Caterham and other destinations. Services are offered by Metrobus and Fastway, a guided bus rapid transit system which was the first of its kind to be constructed outside a major city.

There are at least two sets of stairs for foot-passengers to leave South Terminal to ground-level (near the cycle route) from Zone L and the train-station area (steps are labelled Exit Q and Exit P on the ground). These allow access to bus stops for local services.

Taxis and Minicabs

Taxis and Minicabs are also used for transfer.

Cycle

Route 21 of the National Cycle Network passes under South Terminal, allowing virtually traffic-free cycling northwards to Horley and southwards to Three Bridges and Crawley. A goods-style lift runs between the terminal and ground level (signed "Lift to Cycle Route"), near Zone L.

Terminal transfer

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Gatwick Airport inter-terminal transit

The satellite pier transit system in 1988

Gatwick Airport's North and South terminals are connected by a 0.75 mi (1.21 km) elevated two-way automated people mover track. The shuttle system is normally operated by two automatic, three-car driverless train vehicles. Although colloquially referred to widely as a "monorail", the shuttle system runs on a dual concrete track with rubber tyres and is not technically a monorail.

The original Gatwick transit system opened in 1983 when the circular satellite pier was built, connecting the pier to the main terminal building, and was the UK's first automated people mover system. A second transit track was constructed in 1987 to link to the new North terminal. The original satellite transit line was later replaced with a walkway and travelator link, but the inter-terminal shuttle remains in operation.

The original Adtranz C-100 people mover cars remained in continuous operation until 2009, in which time they travelled a total of 2.5 million mi (4 million km). In September 2009 the vehicles were withdrawn from service to allow the transit system to be upgraded. Meanwhile, the two terminals were connected by a temporary free bus service. A new operating system and shuttle cars consisting of six Bombardier CX-100 vehicles was installed and the guideway and transit stations were refurbished at a cost of £45 million. The new system opened for use again on 1 July 2010, two months ahead of schedule.

Development

In 1979, an agreement was reached with West Sussex County Council not to build a second runway before 2019.

In its original consultation document published on 23 July 2002 the Government decided to expand Stansted and Heathrow, but not Gatwick. However, Medway Council, Kent County Council and Essex County Council sought a judicial review of this decision. The judge reviewing the lawfulness of the Government's decision ruled that excluding Gatwick from the original consultation was irrational and/or unfair. Following the judge's ruling and the Secretary of State for Transport's decision not to appeal, BAA published new consultation documents. These included an option of a possible second runway at Gatwick to the south of the existing airport boundary, leaving the villages Charlwood and Hookwood to the north of the airport intact. This led to protests about increased noise and pollution, demolition of houses and destruction of villages.

Gate area inside the North Terminal, showing flight information screens

Prior to the change of ownership, BAA planned an £874 million investment at Gatwick over five years, including increased capacity for both terminals, improvements to the transport interchange and a new baggage system for the South Terminal.

In April 2008, Gatwick began work on a new inter-terminal shuttle which signalled the first major development in a £1 billion programme aimed at modernising the airport. The project included the installation of a completely new shuttle system, new shuttle cars, refurbishment of the rubber track and transformation of the terminal stations. The launch took place in July 2010 and attendees included James van Hofton, from the board of directors. The shuttle cost £43 million and features included live journey information and the use of sensory technology to count the number of passengers at stations.

On 2 December 2009, the House of Commons Transport Select Committee published a report entitled The future of aviation. With regard to Gatwick, it calls on the Government to reconsider its decision to build a second runway at Stansted, in the light of growing evidence that the business case is unconvincing and that Gatwick is a better location.

Passengers passing through the airport are being made aware of the redevelopment programme in a number of ways, including through the use of giant mobile barcodes on top of construction hoardings. Scanning these results in content about the construction work being transferred to the user's smartphone.

Plans

Several options to expand Gatwick have been considered, including a third terminal and a second runway to the south of the existing runway. This would allow Gatwick to handle more passengers than Heathrow does today. If a second, wide-spaced (as opposed to close parallel) runway is approved, a new terminal could be sited between the two runways. This could either complement or replace the current South Terminal, depending on expected future traffic developments.

A less ambitious alternative would extend the North Terminal further south, with another passenger bridge to an area currently occupied by aircraft stands without jet bridges (Pier 7). However, figure A.12 in Gatwick's new draft master plan released for consultation on 13 October 2011 seems to discard the earlier-mooted Pier 7 option in favour of a mid-field satellite adjacent to the control tower that would be linked to the North Terminal if built as part of an expanded single-runway, two-terminal airport scenario around 2030. There are also plans to extend Pier 6.

In October 2009, BAA submitted planning applications for Gatwick to handle an extra six million passengers a year by 2018 and for an extension to the North Terminal to provide new check-in facilities and additional baggage reclaim hall capacity, along with a 900 space short-stay car park. Crawley Borough Council's decision to approve these plans was upheld in November 2009 by the Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry despite objections from local environmental protesters.

Speaking at the first Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (Gatcom) meeting since GIP's takeover of the airport (held on 28 January 2010 at Crawley's Arora Hotel), Gatwick's chairman Sir David Rowlands ruled out building a second runway for the foreseeable future, citing the high cost of the associated planning application – estimated to be between £100 million and £200 million – as the main reason for the new owners' lack of interest. At that meeting, Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate stressed GIP's preference for increasing the existing runway's capacity and confirmed GIP's plans to request an increase in the current limit on the permitted number of take-offs and landings. However, in 2012, Gatwick's new owners reversed their initial lack of interest in building a second runway at the airport for the foreseeable future. On 3 December 2012, chief executive Stewart Wingate argued in front of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee that allowing Gatwick to add a second runway to relieve the growing airport capacity shortage in the South East of England once the agreement with West Sussex County Council preventing it from doing so had expired in 2019 served the interests of the 12 million people living in its catchment area better than building a third runway at Heathrow or a new four-runway hub airport in the Thames Estuary. In support of his argument, Wingate stated that expanding Heathrow or building a new hub in the Thames Estuary was more environmentally damaging, more expensive, less practical and risked negating the benefits of ending common ownership of Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted by the erstwhile BAA. Wingate contrasted this with the greater range of flights and improved connectivity including to hitherto un-/underserved emerging markets that would result from a second runway at Gatwick by the mid-2020s as this would enable it to compete with Heathrow on an equal footing to increase consumer choice and reduce fares. In this context, Wingate also accused his counterpart at Heathrow, Colin Matthews, of overstating the importance of transfer traffic by pointing to research by the International Air Transport Association showing that fewer than 20% of passengers using airports in South East England actually changed flights there.

In October 2010, Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) received planning permission from Crawley Borough Council to adapt both terminals to handle the Airbus A380 on a regular, commercial basis. At the Gatcom meeting held on 26 January 2012 at Crawley's Arora Hotel, GAL announced that its board had approved construction of A380 pier infrastructure that was expected to be ready by summer 2013. This will feature a new three-bridge gate at Pier 6.

'Heathwick' rail link

Main article: Heathwick

In late-2011 the Department for Transport began studying the feasibility of a high-speed rail link between Gatwick and Heathrow Airport. This rail link would form part of a plan to combine the UK's two biggest airports into a "collective" or "virtual hub" dubbed Heathwick. The scheme envisages a 35-mile high-speed rail route linking the two airports in 15 minutes, with trains travelling at a top speed of 180 mph parallel to the M25 and passengers passing through immigration or check-in only once.

Incidents and accidents

• 15 September 1936 – a British Airways Ltd de Havilland DH 86 operating a night mail flight to Germany crashed on takeoff, killing the airline's chief pilot and two members of the aircraft's crew.
• November 1936 – a British Airways Ltd Fokker F 12 crashed in a wood 4.5 mi (7.2 km) south of Gatwick whilst executing its final approach to the airport under a low ceiling in poor visibility, killing both pilots and severely injuring the engineer.
• 17 February 1959 – a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount 794D (registration: TC-SEV) on an international charter flight crashed in heavy fog at Newdigate, Surrey, whilst approaching to land at Gatwick. The plane hit some trees. Fourteen of 24 on board died. Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was amongst the survivors.
• 2 September 1963 – an Iberia Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration: EC-AMQ) leased by Aviaco and operating a charter flight from Barcelona, Spain, brushed trees on Russ Hill while on final approach to London Gatwick. Although the aircraft sustained minor damage as a result of this incident, which occurred during the descent, ca. 220 ft (67 m) above and 1.75 NM (3.24 km; 2.01 mi) from the runway threshold, it landed safely and none of the 75 passengers on board were injured.
• 5 January 1969 – a Boeing 727-113C (registration: YA-FAR) operating flight 701 of Ariana Afghan Airlines arriving from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport, Germany, crashed into a house in Fernhill near Horley, Surrey, in low visibility. The flaps were not extended to maintain flight at final approach speed. Forty-eight of the 62 on board died as well as two on the ground.
• 28 January 1972 – a British Caledonian Vickers VC10-1109 (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow, where the aircraft had been diverted due to Gatwick being fog-bound and where all passengers had disembarked. A survey of the aircraft's damage revealed that its airframe had been bent out of shape and that it required extensive repairs to be restored to an airworthy condition. The airline's senior management decided that these repairs were not cost-effective. The aircraft was written off and a decision taken to have it scrapped. It was eventually broken up at Gatwick in 1975.
• 20 July 1975 – a British Island Airways (BIA) Handley Page Dart Herald 201 (registration: G-APWF) was involved in a runway accident while departing on a scheduled flight to Guernsey. The aircraft lifted off from runway 26 after a ground run of 2,490 ft (760 m) and appeared airborne for 411 ft (125 m) with its landing gear retracting before the rear underside of the fuselage settled back on to the runway, bringing the aircraft to a stop. The investigation concluded that the landing gear was retracted before the aircraft had become established in a climb, contributed by use of an incorrect flap setting and incorrect takeoff speeds. Although the aircraft suffered substantial damage, none of the 45 occupants were hurt.

See also

• List of airports in the United Kingdom
• World's busiest airports by passenger traffic
• Busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic

Notes and Citations

Notes

Citations

References

• Gwynne, Peter. (1990) A History of Crawley (2nd Edition) Philmore. ISBN 0-85033-718-6
• King, John, with Tait, Geoff, (1980) Golden Gatwick – 50 Years of Aviation, British Airports Authority.
• King, John, (1986) Gatwick – The Evolution of an Airport, Gatwick Airport Ltd. and Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society. ISBN 0-9512036-0-6
• Bain, Gordon, (1994), Gatwick Airport, Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85310-468-X
• Tait, Geoffrey, (1984), The Gatwick Express, G. Tait & Associates Ltd. ISBN 0-95088-020-5
• Eglin, Roger, and Ritchie, Berry (1980). Fly me, I'm Freddie. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-77746-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Thomson, Adam (1999). High Risk: The Politics of the Air. London, UK: Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99599-8.
• Simons, Graham M. (1993). The Spirit of Dan-Air. Peterborough, UK: GMS Enterprises. ISBN 1-870384-20-2.
• Simons, Graham M. (1999). It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe. Peterborough, UK: GMS Enterprises. ISBN 1-870384-69-5.
• Branson, Richard (2006 [2nd reprint]). Losing my Virginity – The Autobiography. London, UK: Virgin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7535-1020-0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Financial Times, 26 October 2007. London, UK: UK Edition.
• Skyport – Gatwick edition (Iyengar, K., "Bermuda Bloomers", "Golden Gatwick", p. 18). Hounslow, UK. 8 February 2008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Skyport – Gatwick edition (Iyengar, K., "The only way is up", "Golden Gatwick", p. 14). Hounslow, UK. 11 April 2008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Skyport – Gatwick edition (Iyengar, K., "Heading North", "Golden Gatwick", p. 16). Hounslow, UK. 9 May 2008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Skyport – Gatwick edition (Cooper, B., "Got your number", "Golden Gatwick", p. 12). Hounslow, UK. 6 June 2008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Skyport – Gatwick edition (Dixon, A., "Second runway plans to remain grounded", pp. 1, 3). Hounslow, UK. 26 February 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Financial Times, 10 February 2010. London, UK: UK Edition.

External links

• Official website
• Google Maps: Gatwick Airport
• Old images of Gatwick Airport and the old airfield