Gatwick’s best half-year ever with $130m retail/26.4m pax
By Doug Newhouse |
Gatwick Airport today reported its retail income up +8.3% to £98.1m ($130.6m) for the six months ending 30 September, as income per passenger grew by 3.1% to £3.67 ($4.88).
This latest six-month period to the end of September 2017 was Gatwick’s ‘busiest ever’, handling 26.4m passengers – a rise of +5.1% to 1.3m passengers.
MAJOR RETAIL HIGHLIGHTS
The retail highlights during the airport’s half year saw the September North Terminal opening of the airport’s new World Duty Free walk-through store, while further retail offerings arrived in the form of clothing brand Reiss last May, followed by a new Jack Wills store in the North Terminal alongside new shops for Cath Kidston and Superdry.
The facility also retained s crown as the world’s busiest single-runway airport while it also reported +12.4% long-haul passenger growth with eight new long-haul routes ‘commenced or announced’ in last six months to various destinations, including Singapore, Taipei and Buenos Aires.
POST-BREXIT LONG-HAUL LINKS ‘CRITICAL’
Commenting on the performance, Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick now serves 45.5m passengers each year and is playing a vital role for Britain.
“As we prepare for Brexit, it is critical that we continue to grow our long-haul links in addition to connections within the UK and Europe. Our results show significant cargo growth on the back of our ever strengthening long haul network.”
“We have ambitious plans to build on these results to reach 50m passengers per year and beyond which will further set the standard for a single runway airport.
AIRPORT OF THE YEAR
“This will be done while continuing to deliver the best passenger experience which is at the heart of everything we do at Gatwick. This was illustrated this month when Gatwick was crowned ‘Airport of the Year’ at the National Transport Awards and the ‘UK’s Best Airport’ at the Airport Operators Association Awards.
“We are currently preparing our full submission to the Government’s re-opened National Policy Statement consultation. We are planning future submissions to support the Aviation Strategy in which we will detail the plans we have to continue to make best use of the airport’s existing facilities.
SEVERAL NEW ROUTES
“Gatwick is ready to play an increased global role for Britain as we grow. Gatwick is prepared to build our financeable and deliverable second runway scheme, so that Britain can reap the benefits of greater global connectivity faster.”
Total revenue at the airport rose by 5.5% to £469.7m ($625m) while EBITDA increased 9.9% to £290.6m ($386.7m) and profit before tax came in at £140.7m ($187.2m).
Meanwhile, recently-commenced services from Gatwick include: Norwegian to Singapore, Seattle and Denver and RwandAir to Kigali, while newly-announced services include China Airlines to Taipei and Norwegian to Buenos Aires, Chicago and Austin.
At the same time Gatwick has also been granted the green light to design and plan a new extension to Pier 6 to help provide additional aircraft stands to meet passenger forecast demand – raising the total to 17.
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