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Contents

At a Glance
Brief History
Airport Facts and Figures
  - CAA Airport Statistics 2009
  - CAA's 2006 Passenger Survey
Aeronautical Data
Control of Noise
Looking Ahead

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Brief History

For centuries the land now occupied by the Airport was part of a manor owned by the Gatwick family who acquired it in the 13th century. It is from them that the name of the Airport comes.

In the 1890s the land was sold for use as a racecourse and indeed during the First World War it was used as the venue for the Grand National normally run at Aintree.

The land continued to be used as a racecourse but in 1930 a small flying club was opened which allowed owners, trainers, race-goers and jockeys to travel to and from race meetings by air.

In 1933, the race course was acquired by investor Morris Jackman who formed Airports Limited and drew up plans for an Airport. By 1936 scheduled flights were operating to several overseas destinations including Paris, Belfast, Malmo, Hamburg and Copenhagen. A circular terminal called "The Beehive" was built, with a subway connecting it to Gatwick railway station – opened in 1935 - so that passengers could use the Brighton line to travel to the Airport without braving the elements.

During the Second World War the airport was taken over by the Air Ministry for RAF use. After the war the airport – still with grass runways - was taken over by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

During the late 50’s, to meet ever the growing demand for air travel in London and the South-East, it was decided to develop Gatwick as London’s second main airport. Between 1956 and 1958 the airport was closed for an extensive (£7.8 million) renovation. The new Gatwick was the world's first airport with a dedicated railway station, and was one of the first to use a fully enclosed pier-based terminal design with covered jetbridges connecting directly to the aircraft.

The Queen opened the airport in 1958. Its first full year of operation saw 368,000 passengers pass through its terminal, which today equates to a busy weekend. Since then the Airport has grown apace.  The highlights of the rest of the Airport's story are as follows:

• 1962 - two more piers built.
• 1964 - the runway extended to 8,200 feet. (The runway was extended again in 1970 then again in 1973)
• 1965 - British Airports Authority established
• 1968 – passenger throughput reaches 2 million for the first time. 1983 - work begins on building the £200 million North Terminal - completed in 1988
• 1979 - agreement with West Sussex County Council preventing the construction of a second runway at Gatwick before 2019
• 1984 – the Gatwick Express rail service launches its non-stop service from Victoria station.
• 1984 - new Control Tower built (still among the largest in Europe).
• 1984 - Pier 2 opens providing extra jetty-served stands.
• 1985 - construction starts on the new Gatwick airport northern runway - built for use if the main runway is not available.
• 1986 - Airports Act provides for the for privatisation of the British Airports Authority with the transfer of its property, rights and liabilities to a new company, BAA plc
• 1987 - BAA plc floated on the Stock Market
• 1994 - new North Terminal International Departures Lounge opens and the first phase of the new South Terminal International Departures Lounge.
• 2000 - new £29.5m extension to the international departure lounge in the South Terminal opens offering increased seating capacity and new shops and restaurants.
• 2000 - BAA Gatwick published its Sustainable Development Strategy for the
  airport setting out how the airport is to develop over the next nine years.
• 2001 - new £35m extension to the North Terminal international departure lounge opens offering passengers extra seating and a wider range of shops and catering facilities.
• 2001 - legal agreement signed with West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council to protect local communities from the impacts of future airport growth.
• 2003 - Government publishes its White Paper The Future of Air Transport which which sets the policy for future airport capacity across the UK , including the South East. It says that land should be safeguarded for a possible second wide-spaced runway at Gatwick after 2019.
• 2004 - first phase of Pier 6 completed. (The Pier 6 passenger bridge is the largest air passenger bridge to cross a taxiway in the world, and the only one of its kind in the UK. The £100 million Pier 6 project at the North Terminal creates a satellite building providing 11 pier-served aircraft stands. Construction work on the pier continues and it will be open for passengers in Spring 2005.)
• 2005 – BAA Gatwick publishes for consultation its Outline Airport Master Plan . The plan, a potential blueprint for the airport in 2015 and in 2030, has been developed in response to the Government's White Paper The Future of Air Transport published in 2003 - see above. Consultation on the draft master plans will continue until 30th June 2005 before BAA Gatwick publishes a final version at the end of the year.

• 2009 - BAA sells Gatwick Airport to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a reputed £1.5bn.

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Airport Facts and Figures

CAA Airport Statistics 2009

1. These figures are drawn from the CAA's Annual Airports Statistics 2009 which can be accessed at their website  The Annual statistics are usually issued in the March or April following the end of the calendar year in question.  These firgures will, therefore, be updated again in March or April 2011.
2.  A "terminal passenger" is a passenger joining or leaving an aircraft at the airport. A passenger who changes from one aircraft to another, carrying the same flight number (change of gauge) is treated as a terminal passenger, as is an interlining passenger.
3.  A "transit passenger" is a passenger who arrives at and departs from the airport on the same aircraft which is transiting the airport. Each transit passenger is counted once only and not both on arrival and on departure.
4.  Click the thumbnails to see larger charts

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Flights

The total number of flights in 2009 was 251,879 (2008 263,653 - down 4.5%). This number can be broken down as follows:

Air Transport Movements 246,690 (97.94%) including Air Taxi  (1,313)
Business Aviation  - 361 (0.14%)
Positioning Flights  - 4,497 (1.79%)
Military  - 19
Official  - 9
Aero Club  - Nil
Private  - 56
Local Movements  - 10
Test and Training  - 73
Other Flights  - 164

Notes: (1) "Air transport" movements are landings or take-offs of aircraft engaged on the transport of passengers, cargo or mail on commercial terms.
(2) An "air taxi" movement is a movement by an aircraft of less than 15 tonnes MTWA operating on a non-scheduled service. These are predominantly sole-use charter operations.

Chart 1 shows the total number of aircraft movements at Gatwick year by year since 1988.  It will be seen that by 2000 there had been a 43% increase in flights. After that the number of flights fell off slightly and it was not until 2005 that the 2000 level was again reached. Because of the recession the number of movements fell again in 2008 and 2009. 2009 the number of movements was 37.7% higher than in 1987

Chart 2 shows the total number of scheduled and charter air transport movements for 2009.  Scheduled movements made up 80% of the total.  Just under 78% of air transport movements at Gatwick are by UK airlines (Chart 3) .

1. Total Aircraft Movements 1988 - 2009		2. Air Transport Movements - Scheduled and Charter 2009
3. Air Transport Movements by Nationality of Airline 2009		4. Carriage of Freight 2009
5. Carriage of Mail 2009		From Charts 4 and 5 it will be seen that a good deal more freight, and most mail, is carried on scheduled rather than charter flights.

The number of flights diverted for weather or other reasons totalled 90 - see Chart 6. This represents just 0.07% of the total number of landings.  Chart 7 shows the airports to which these flights were diverted - Birmingham, Stansted, Luton, Manchester, East Midlands and Heathrow were the most popular places followed by Bournemouth, Kent International Southampton, Aberdeen and Exeter.

6. Diversions 2009 - Monthly Totals

7. 2009 Diversions - Destinations

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Passengers

In 2009 the total number of passengers using the airport was 32,392,520, a decrease of 1813, 367 (5.3%) over the previous year

8. Terminal Passenger Totals 1988-2009		9. Scheduled and Charter Terminal Passengers 2009
10. Terminal Passenger Totals 2009 - EU, Other International and UK Domestic destinations		11. Total Passengers by Nationality of Airline 2009

In 2009 just over 80% of passengers flew on scheduled services while the remainder used charter flights (Chart 9).  Charts 10 shows that in 2009 11% of passengers flew to or from UK destinations, 58% of passengers to or from EU destinations and the remainder (31%) to or from the rest of the world. Just over 78% of passengers used UK airlines, 13% other EU airlines and the remainder (9%) other foreign carriers (Chart 11). 

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CAA's 2006 Passenger Survey

This Survey was conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority at 11 Airports in the UK. Here are some of the findings for Gatwick:

Business Passengers: 17%
Leisure Passengers: 83%
UK Passengers: 73%
Foreign Passengers: 27%
Terminating Passengers: 87.7%
Interlining Passengers:12.3%
Average passenger age: 42
Average business passenger salary: £64,102
Average leisure passenger household income: £53,910

For more information about Gatwick, and the other Airports covered by the survey visit the CAA's website

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Aeronautical Data

Follow this link to the web based information services run by the UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS). Here you can find an Aerodrome Chart for Gatwick Airport and the latest navigation charts including Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Arrival Routes (STARs). 

 Note:Many of the pages are in Acrobat .pdf format and you will require an Acrobat Reader to see them.  (You can obtain a Reader free of charge by clicking the Adobe Icon to the right)

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Control of Noise

In common with Heathrow and Stansted, Gatwick Airport is designated under section 80 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 for the purposes of the regulation of noise.  Noise from aircraft using the ‘designated’ aerodromes is regulated according to notices and directions made under section 78 of the 1982 Act. This gives the Secretary of State powers to direct aircraft operators using these airports, or the airport operators themselves, to adopt procedures which limit noise and vibration.

There are two notices relevant to Gatwick.  The Noise Abatement Procedures are published as part of UK Aeronautical Information Package (AIP) which is part of the Aeronautical Data published by NATS - section EGKK AD 2.21 on page 12 of the document refers. The Night Noise Restrictions are referred to below.

In case of problems hard copies of these directions can be obtained from the Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR, Tel: 020 7944 8300

Noise Exposure Contours

The latest Noise Exposure Contours for Gatwick were published in July 2008

Night Noise Restrictions

In July 2004 the Government launched a Stage I consultation exercise in relation to proposals for the next night noise restrictions regime for these Airports which would apply for six years.  GATCOM's response is attached.

Stage 2 of the consultation process was launched on 10th June 2005 - the attached report by GATCOM's Technical Adviser was considered by GATCOM at its meeting in July 2005.

The new Night Noise Restrictions were finally published in June 2006.

Noise Action Plan

The Airport has launched a 16 week public consultation on its draft noise action plan. The noise action plan, which is to be published to comply with the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006, is a five year plan highlighting the actions London Gatwick Airport will take to manage and mitigate noise arising from aircraft departing from and arriving at the airport. The plan will be in line with guidance issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in March this year.

The draft noise action plan has been sent to around 250 interested parties to canvass opinion and around 5000 local residents are also being contacted. The plan is available online on the Airport's website. Further information is also available by calling 01293 504625 or by emailing gatwicknoiseconsultation@baa.com.  The deadline for responses is 7th October 2009

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Looking Ahead

Sustainable Development Strategy and Legal Agreement

In February 2001 BAA Gatwick signed a legal agreement with the two planning authorities for the airport, West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council, designed to protect local communities from the impacts of future airport growth.  The legal agreement, which followed three years of close consultation with the local authorities and communities around Gatwick, underpins the Airport's Sustainable Development Strategy published in 2000.

In force until 2009, the legal agreement has more than 140 sustainability commitments and progress against these is independently monitored each year. The strategy allows the Airport to develop sustainably and with the consent of its local communities to around 40 million passengers a year by 2008. The agreement requires BAA Gatwick, West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council to prepare an Annual Monitoring Report of all the commitments and legal obligations for subsequent independent consideration and verification by an environmental consultant. The Committee is one of the consultees in the monitoring process and suggests specific commitments/obligations for independent verification.

Attached is a Committee note outlining in more detail the Airport's Sustainable Development Strategy and the 2001 legal agreement.

Among other things the 2001 legal agreement provided for the setting up of the Gatwick Airport Community Trust in which BAA Gatwick agreed to invest £100,000 a year for nine years for the support of community and environmental projects in areas affected by the airport’s operation. The Fund is index-linked and the Trust also receives money raised through fines on airlines that infringe noise limits. The Trust is managed by nine trustees who operate entirely independently of BAA Gatwick. GATCOM nominates one of the trustees. [More Details about GACT]

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The White Paper -"The Future of Air Transport"

In its White Paper The Future of Air Transport, published in December 2003, the Government says that land should be safeguarded for a wide-spaced runway at Gatwick to the south of the existing runway both on its own merits and in case the conditions attached to a new Heathrow runway cannot be met. However, the Government has confirmed that it will not act to overturn the 1979 planning agreement preventing a second runway before 2019. The Government has likewise confirmed it does not support the option for two new runways at Gatwick.

The Government also asked airport operators to produce an airport master plan or, where appropriate, to update existing master plans to take account of the conclusions on future development as set out in the White Paper. Airport operators were asked to begin the master plan preparation process immediately.

You will find general information about the White Paper on the website of the Liaison Group of UK Airport Consultative Committees. Click here for more details of its application to Gatwick - paras 11.69 - 11.83 refer.

In 2005 the Government promised that a progress report on the White Paper would be issued at the end of 2006 and this was published on 14th December 2006.

The progress report reaffirms the Government's commitment to the strategy set out in the White Paper, that is, support for the development of the aviation sector across the UK, predominantly through making the best use of existing capacity, and ensuring where new capacity is required its provision is in line with environmental obligations.

As part of this, the Department announced a new mechanism to help inform decisions on major increases in aviation capacity. The 'emissions cost assessment' will consider whether the aviation sector is meeting its external climate change costs. The Government says it expects to consult on the development of this assessment in the first half of 2007.

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Airport Master Plan

On 29th March, 2005 , BAA Gatwick published for consultation its Outline Master Plan (.pdf 1.2mb) - see also the BAA's Press Release on the Outline Plan . In line with Government guidance on the Preparation of Airport Master Plans, the primary purpose of the master plan is to explain how BAA Gatwick proposes to take forward the future development of Gatwick in accordance with the Government's White Paper policies.

Gatwick was identified for a possible new runway, but only after 2019, and only if a third runway at Heathrow proves to be undeliverable. The Air Transport White Paper honours the 1979 legal agreement between BAA and West Sussex County Council not to build a second runway before 2019.

The outline master plan described how the airport will develop up to the year 2015 and, in far less detail, to 2030 with a single runway with the potential to handle around 45 million passengers a year (20 million passengers through the South Terminal and 25 million passengers through the North Terminal). Developments would be contained within the existing airport boundary.

The plan also explained BAA Gatwick's thinking about the alternative scenario for a second runway at Gatwick, in 2030. That would be based on a runway spacing of 1,035 metres south of the existing runway, and a mixed mode operation, as presaged in the White Paper. A second runway would require additional land and many new airport facilities such as aprons and a third passenger terminal. With two runways Gatwick could handle around 80 million passengers a year.

Gatwick currently handles more than 31 million passengers a year. BAA Gatwick already has support in principle to develop the airport to handle around 40 million passengers a year, through a ground- breaking legal agreement signed with West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council in 2001. This endorsed the airport's Sustainable Development Strategy for a two terminal one-runway operation, developed within the current airport boundary.

Although the Master Plan would replace the Sustainable Development Strategy, the 144 commitments, which set out how BAA Gatwick would manage the impacts of the airport's growth, will remain in force until 31st March, 2009 . BAA Gatwick undertook to discuss with local authorities the possibility of updating the commitments and extending the current legal obligations associated with the Sustainable Development Strategy beyond their planned expiry in 2009.

Consultation on the outline master plan ended on 30th June, 2005. The response of GATCOM (.pdf. 144kb) is attached.

Having taken account to the responses received in consultation BAA Gatwick in October 2006 will published an Interim Master Plan. This can be seen, along with an Executive Summary and the Airport's Press Release on the Airport Expansion page on their website. The interim plan will be updated to reflect the outcome of a number of local studies in the area, including for example the Crawley Local Development Framework and the future of the Gatwick Express.

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GATCOM

Page last modified:8th April 2010
Pictures and Charts by Clare Jones, Stuart Innes & Natalia Nosova