Gatwick achieved its 19th successive month of growth in September, with more than 3.8m passengers flying through the airport. This was 7.7% up on last year, representing an additional 274,000 passengers, and Gatwick’s busiest ever September.

 

Long haul saw the highest growth in September. North Atlantic traffic, which has recently been bolstered with new routes to New York and Los Angeles, increased by 12.6% while travel to Other Long Haul destinations was up 12.5%.

 

This included a 5.6% increase in passengers flying to Vietnam and a 12.4% increase on traffic to Dubai. Gatwick’s links to the east saw an additional boost in September with the launch of Garuda Indonesia’s new Jakarta services.

 

A YouGov poll released in September found that Gatwick is the favoured expansion option for small business leaders in the UK. Four times as many small business leaders (43%) said that expanding Gatwick would be better than a bigger Heathrow for creating a balanced airport system that would deliver more competition and choice between airports.

 

London Gatwick South Terminal.

 

‘COMPETITION GOOD FOR UK’

Nick Dunn, Chief Financial Officer at London Gatwick, said: “Gatwick continues to prove that competition in the London market is working for passengers and airlines. More people than ever are choosing Gatwick over other airports and new short and long haul routes continue to open and prosper.

 

“In September, we have seen significant growth on the UK’s only direct route to Vietnam and the start of a new service to Jakarta from Gatwick.

 

“Building a second runway at Gatwick would enable the benefits of competition to continue to flourish. We must look to the future when it comes to making a decision on where new airport capacity goes and Gatwick is the only airport that can provide the balance between low-cost short haul and long haul growth which can deliver economic benefits to UK PLC from 2025.”

 

A key segment of passenger growth at Gatwick continues to be business travel. This was particularly notable in European scheduled traffic, which was 11.6% up – or 234,400 passengers.

 

London Gatwick South Terminal.

 

GATWICK: ‘THE ONLY VIABLE OPTION’

On 9 October, Gatwick Airport was due to visit the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce to outline why plans for a second runway would offer a bigger economic boost and greater connections for UK businesses.

 

The visit comes in the week that Edinburgh Airport CEO Gordon Dewar, speaking at a party conference event, called Gatwick “the only viable option” in the UK airport expansion debate. The comments follow Edinburgh Airport’s support for Gatwick’s plans announced last year.

 

A second runway at Gatwick is among the options shortlisted by the Airports Commission for the UK’s next runway. Gatwick will outline to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce why its expansion plans would deliver greater benefits and connectivity for UK businesses including.

 

Gatwick has highlighted Edinburgh Airport as a key example of the benefits of greater competition among airports. Since Edinburgh Airport was bought in 2012, competition between airports in Scotland has delivered significant benefits.

 

This comes after CEOs of Birmingham Airport and Gatwick Airport joined together to call on the Airports Commission to ensure any new runway developments promote competition and choice across the UK.

 

Speaking after the fringe event, Birmingham Airport CEO Paul Kehoe said: “Passengers and businesses tell us they want to fly direct. With our region attracting over a quarter of the UK’s foreign direct investment, we are clear that the answer is a network of national long-haul airports, plugging all regions into global growth opportunities.”