About London Gatwick Airport
London Gatwick Airport is located 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and 45.7 km (28.4 mi) south of Central London. It is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Gatwick has the world's busiest single-use runway and is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights. Charter airlines generally do not operate from Heathrow and use Gatwick as a base for London and the South East. 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.(As of 2010, Delta Air Lines and US Airways are the only US carriers to continue serving Gatwick from the US.) The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe and Virgin Atlantic. The airport is also a base for charter airlines including Monarch Airlines, 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 air transport provider business models, i.e. full service, low/no frills and charter. 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 South East England. 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 Airport, for £1.51 billion. Of this amount, £55 million will depend on the airport's future traffic development and its owners' future capital structure (£10 million and £45 million respectively). 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 South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). 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. FacilitiesGatwick 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 Gatwick 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. Major airlinesBA and easyJet are Gatwick's 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). By summer 2010, easyJet further reinforced its position as Gatwick's leading airline by increasing the number of destinations served from the airport to 83, using a fleet of 42 aircraft. Gatwick is the airline's largest base, where its 10 million passengers per annum account for almost 30% of the airport's yearly total. On 30 March 2008, airlines began down-sizing transatlantic operations due to the new EU-US Open Skies Agreement. Continental Airlines is 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. As per the CAA's April/May 2009 passenger statistics, more UK domestic passengers flying to and from London Gatwick during April 2009 chose Flybe than any other airline. From a peak of 40% in 2001, BA's share of Gatwick slots declined by 50% to 20% by summer 2009. Airlines and destinationsGatwick 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. In March 2008, EasyJet split its Gatwick services between both terminals, with many routes taken over from GB Airways now departing from the North Terminal. The following list includes all scheduled services to and from Gatwick Airport, as well as seasonal charter flights. Ground transportGatwick 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%. RoadThe airport is accessed by a motorway spur road at junction 9A of the M23, which links to the main M23 motorway a mile (1.5 km) east at junction 9. The M23 connects with London's orbital motorway. The M25, 9 miles (14 km) north, gives access to Greater London and the South East. The M23 is the main route by traffic to reach the airport. Gatwick is accessed locally 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. RailThe 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 and Worthing to the south. Gatwick Express to Victoria is the best-known service from the station, but other companies, including Southern, First Capital Connect and First Great Western, use the station as well. 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. Bus and coachNational 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 Gatwick to London Victoria. (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 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. Future plansSeveral options to expand Gatwick have been considered, including building a third terminal and second runway to the south of the existing runway. This would allow Gatwick to handle more passengers than Heathrow does today. In the case of a second, wide-spaced (as opposed to close parallel) runway being given the go-ahead, 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 centres on extending the North Terminal further south with another passenger bridge to an area currently occupied by aircraft stands without jet bridges (Pier 7). There are also plans to expand the capacity of the North Terminal and to extend Pier 6. As of late 2008, both terminals are being adapted to handle the Airbus A380 on a regular, commercial basis. The South Terminal airside lounge is currently undergoing refurbishment, with hope of increasing the amount of retail space and viewing areas. In October 2009, BAA submitted planning applications for Gatwick to handle an extra six million passengers annually 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 recently appointed 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. London Gatwick Airport links» London Gatwick Airport Wikipedia Information |
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