Gatwick breaks its own global record
Gatwick Airport is now in a league of its own as it breaks its own record for the number of passengers travelling on a single runway - more than 42 million passengers now travel through the airport annually - whilst experiencing its busiest-ever August at Gatwick as 4.8 million passengers travelled through the airport, +5.7% on last year, as long-haul routes grow 25% on August 2015.
Courtesy Gatwick Airport / photographer Jeffrey Milstein
This new record was achieved on the same weekend that Cathay Pacific’s new route to Hong Kong joins the airport’s wide range of long-haul connections, further boosting Gatwick’s links to China and the Far East.
A total of 4.8 million passengers travelled through the airport in August, +5.7% on last year.
As Cathay Pacific’s new route to Hong Kong commenced this week, long-haul routes at the airport have grown 25% versus August 2015, with North Atlantic routes driving this growth +51%. Vancouver routes were +96%, Montreal routes +63%, and Los Angeles routes +51%.
Long-haul summer holiday destinations proving popular included Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands +64%, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands +42% and Aruba +29%. Whilst significant growth was seen from short-haul summer holiday destinations including Valencia +56%, Tivat +56% and Gibraltar +50%.
Routes to Ireland grew 13% while destinations in the UK and Chanel Islands grew 9% with Belfast International +102%, Newquay +39% and Inverness +18% contributing to this growth.
Average load factors were consistently strong at 91%.