Growth of long-haul boosts passenger traffic at Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport has announced its 28^th consecutive month of passenger traffic growth thanks to a surge in long-haul routes.

The latest passenger traffic figures for Gatwick Airport reveal the busiest June on record with 3.8 million passengers travelling through the airport, a five percent increase on the previous year.

An 8 percent increase in long-haul routes recorded over the last 12 months aided the continuation of growth. This prompted Gatwick to highlight its case for expansion, underlining that it can cater for all types of flights by all types of airlines.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said: “The growth of our transatlantic routes, which from May will include Boston, is the latest demonstration of the way the industry is moving – with a new generation of carriers and aircraft fuelling the low cost long-haul revolution.  We will continue to engage actively with government at all levels to show why Gatwick expansion is the only means by which we can sustain the low cost revolution that has driven aviation growth over the last two decades, and the only choice which can actually deliver the aviation capacity that the UK desperately needs.”

Destinations contributing to this significant long-haul growth include North Atlantic routes with a 14.3 percent increase and USA routes which have seen a 20.6 percent increase. This has been largely driven by passenger take up of Norwegian’s low cost long-haul routes. Such passenger demand has driven a new Norwegian route London Gatwick to Boston which will be starting May 2016.

Significant growth was also seen by Caribbean and Latin America routes with 8.1 percent year on year growth. In addition, long haul growth was recorded on Middle East and Central Asia routes, with an increase of 9.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Stewart Wingate added: “Gatwick remains the best option for expansion as it can cater for all airline types flying to all types of destination – this is clearly illustrated by the growth in the numbers of passengers choosing long-haul services at Gatwick. The growth of our transatlantic routes, which from May will include Boston, is the latest demonstration of the way the industry is moving – with a new generation of carriers and aircraft fuelling the low cost long-haul revolution. 

“We will continue to engage actively with government at all levels to show why Gatwick expansion is the only means by which we can sustain the low cost revolution that has driven aviation growth over the last two decades, and the only choice which can actually deliver the aviation capacity that the UK desperately needs.

“The UK needs extra capacity that can meet the needs of all travellers and Gatwick remains the only deliverable option for expansion.”