Gatwick Airport handled nearly 4.4m passengers in August, a rise of 8.2% setting a new monthly record since it was first opened.

 

The airport also set another world first by handling 906 air traffic movements in a single day (August 29), as its North Atlantic routes performed strongly and Norwegian Air committed to doubling its transatlantic services to New York and Los Angeles from next summer.

 

A total of 4.362m travellers flew through Gatwick with the aforementioned 8.2% increase equivalent to an increase of 330,300 passengers.

 

Over the summer, business and leisure traffic to Europe continued to perform strongly. Popular business routes included Geneva, which was up 16.8%, while routes to emerging economies, such as Turkey, also grew fast. Passengers travelling to Istanbul Ataturk, the city’s main airport, were up 34.8% year-on-year.

 

Gatwick management adds that the launch of Norwegian Air’s new low-cost long-haul flights to New York and Los Angeles have proved popular with passengers and have helped bolster traffic to the North Atlantic by 3.8%.

 

 

STILL HOPING FOR A SECOND RUNWAY

It also points to a 14% year-on-year increase for Other Long Haul, thanks to increased travel to Dubai. Gatwick’s routes to the UAE, which includes a daily A380 service with Emirates, saw a 13.6% increase in August.

 

Commenting, Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick, said: “Passenger numbers at Gatwick are rapidly increasing and this growth is only expected to continue as we compete for new airlines and open new routes, such as Garuda operating a Gatwick-Jakarta route in September.

 

“Airports and airlines competing for traffic are delivering tangible benefits for passengers. This is most notably demonstrated by the increasing demand to fly with Norwegian Air on their affordable flights to New York and Los Angeles. The popularity of the routes has seen Norwegian Air announce that it will be doubling the frequency of those flights next year.

 

“Building a second runway at Gatwick will promote even greater competition among airports and airlines, delivering reduced fares, better services and more choice for passengers. Building a third runway at Heathrow will diminish the choice available to British passengers, making it more expensive to go on holiday, to travel for business and to export goods and services.”

 

Gatwick management adds that despite its wish for a second runway, it is nevertheless proud of operating the busiest single runway airport in the world, with its 906 movements in one day still ahead of the second biggest contender at San Diego Airport, which boasts 700.