A one-off backdated contract amendment in 2024 affected stated retail revenue at Gatwick Airport.

Retail revenue at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) contracted slightly last year to £239m/ $277m, down -1%, mainly due to what it described as “a one-off backdated contract amendment in 2024”. Within retail, duty-free declined by -6.7% to £85.3m while net retail income per passenger was flat at £5.46. Avolta is the core duty-free operator at LGW.

Excluding the amendment, there was a +2.5% increase in total retail revenue as the UK’s second-busiest airport saw the benefit of north and south terminal refurbishments. This represents a strong uplift given that total passenger traffic in 2025 fell by -1.1% to 42.8m. Applying the same adjustment to duty-free means that underlying revenue increased by +2.8%. Catering saw the highest growth in 2025, with revenue up by +3.4%, while specialist shops grew by +1.8% (see chart).

Among the retail and dining highlights of the upgrades were the opening of stores for jeweller Pandora, chocolatier Venchi, fashion brand Monsoon, Pret and Starbucks in F&B, and a Gail’s bakery, the first in an airport. As of 31 December 2025, 116 outlets were operating across both terminals, including a range of premium options.

Gatwick’s retail components in FY25.

On paper, all four of LGW’s revenue streams were lacklustre. The largest – airport and traffic charges – grew the best at +1.3%, helping the gateway to a marginal +0.2% increase in total revenue reaching £1.13bn/$1.31bn (see chart below). However, profit fell by -2.4% to £334.7m with EBITDA down -1.2% to £671.6m.

London Gatwick’s CEO, Pierre-Hugues Schmit, said: “In 2025, we completed an upgrade to the departure lounge in our South Terminal, alongside welcoming a variety of new retail partners, and also opened our newly refurbished assisted travel lounge. London Gatwick is continuing to invest and innovate while driving productivity and efficiency.”

Gatwick makes long-haul gains

Last year, capacity-constrained LGW – owned by VINCI Airports (50.01%) and Global Infrastructure Partners (49.99%) – expanded its long-haul offer with traffic increasing by +3.3%, while short-haul traffic declined by -1.9%. The strongest growth was on routes to Sub-Saharan Africa (+22%), Asia (+24%), and the Middle East and Central Asia (+17%). The airport now has a network of 227 global destinations. Eight new airline partnerships were secured, including Jet2, which will fly six aircraft serving 29 destinations starting later this month.

Gatwick’s total revenue was flat last year.

With only one runway for more than 40 million passengers, optimisation of air traffic control and the airfield will see an increase from 55 scheduled aircraft movements per hour in 2025 to a maximum of 57 in 2026. London Gatwick also became the world’s first single-runway airport to introduce time-based separation, allowing an increase in the number of arrivals and departures per hour.

The good news is that LGW’s £2.2bn privately financed Northern Runway Project has been green-lit by the UK government, which should add much-needed additional capacity, which will drive extra retail spending. Schmit said: “The development plans for the Northern Runway detail how we intend to unlock further growth. I am very excited for 2026, which is set to be a transformative year.”

In its recently published 2025 Capital Investment Programme, LGW has detailed comprehensive £1.9bn pre-Northern Runway investment plans, including projects to expand both departure lounges, add new taxiways and decarbonise airport operations. One key element is laying the groundwork for the airport’s Pier 6 extension, which will provide eight new aircraft stands, ready for summer 2027.

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