London Gatwick Long- and short-haul expansion signals positive recovery
“Since the reopening of the South Terminal, we’ve had really strong performance from our incumbent airlines; new airlines choosing to fly to Gatwick and, with more in the pipeline, it’s a really positive time for Gatwick following a turbulent couple of years.” explains Stephanie Wear, Gatwick’s VP of Aviation Development
Recent developments:
This summer, Gatwick’s largest airline, easyJet, alongside British Airways, Vueling and Wizz Air all expanded their number of short haul routes. BA launched its Euroflyer brand - while Vueling and Wizz started new based operations.
In August, Gatwick welcomed its first new long-haul airline of 2022, Norse Atlantic, which launched daily flights to New York, and JetBlue continued its growth at Gatwick adding a daily Boston flight.
More recently at the start of the winter season JetBlue added a second daily service to New York and Bamboo launched a weekly service to Hanoi, which is followed by Ho Chi Minh City in December. (Image of Bamboo inaugural) & (JetBlue ‘Frank Sinatra’ celebration of 2nd JFK)
Anticipated long haul growth:
“With almost 40 long-haul routes, we continue to welcome more new airlines to Gatwick, expanding our connections. Airlines are continuing to take advantage of Gatwick’s large catchment area, close proximity to London and competitive pricing “ adds Wear.
“In addition to JetBlue and Bamboo, BA will be launching a route to Cape Town from December, while Emirates are increasing its schedule to operate three daily services to Dubai. Looking ahead, to summer 23, Delta has announced their return to Gatwick with a daily JFK service and Norse are planning to launch additional Trans-Atlantic services.”
“To support our return to growth, Gatwick is undergoing and planning extensive investments in its infrastructure, including resurfacing the main runway, a multi-million-pound upgrade of Gatwick Airport train station which, pre-pandemic, was used by more than 40% of passengers, and renewing our departure lounges, making for a better experience for our airlines and passengers.”
“We are also anticipating capacity increases, through enhancing the efficiency of our operations, which will allow for more growth in the constrained London airspace. This is a unique opportunity for airlines as slot availability has been limited at Gatwick for several years. The future is bright at Gatwick! We look forward to working with airlines to take advantage of the many fantastic opportunities we offer.”
