Gatwick's cargo tonnage up in busiest ever October
London Gatwick achieved its busiest ever October as 3.9 million passengers travelled through the airport during last month, with long haul growth also driving cargo tonnage at the airport.
Long-haul traffic continues its booming growth +13.3% in the month. This long-haul growth drove soaring cargo tonnage +32.1% on October 2016. This cargo rise is the result of Gatwick’s continually increasing global connectivity with 22 new long-haul routes added in the last 12 months including Cape Town, Kigali, Singapore, Hong Kong, Chicago, Austin, Denver and Seattle.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is performing strongly, +44%, as passengers utilise the daily connection offered from Gatwick. Other popular destinations included New York +46.5%, Los Angeles +44.5% and Vancouver +22.2%.
Regional connectivity continued to perform strongly from Gatwick in October with Inverness +11.0%, Edinburgh +7.3%, Isle of Man +7.1% and Newquay +5.9%.
Alongside this traffic growth,the passenger experience provided by Gatwick has scooped a string of top accolades this month, including Airport of the Year (National Transport Awards) and UK’s Best Airport (Airport Operators Association Awards).
Passenger growth at Gatwick in October was affected by Monarch ceasing trading, with year-on-year traffic growth being 1.4% in October as compared to 2.7% in September - Monarch accounted for 4.5% of the airport’s flights in September, averaging of 285 flights per week. Annual traffic growth remains robust at 6.5% on a moving annual basis, and there is strong interest amongst airlines to take over the slots operated previously by Monarch.
Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick was this month named the UK’s Best Airport by the Airport Operators Association and Airport of the Year at the National Transport Awards which serve as the most recent acknowledgement of our market-leading success and also reward the commitment and hard work of our staff and partners right across the airport.
“October’s soaring cargo growth is the latest by-product of Gatwick’s ever increasing long-haul network, providing passengers with more choice of connections globally.
“We’re on the verge of serving 45.5 million passengers this year, up from 31.4 million in 2010. That’s a 45% increase in total passenger numbers in just seven years.
“Alongside this passenger growth we’ve also invested to improve experience at the airport, reducing queuing times, adding more choice in retail, improving our on-time performance and achieving record-levels of passenger satisfaction. Improvements all recognised in Gatwick’s recent award wins.
“Passengers are voting with their feet to choose Gatwick - all we need now is a way to satisfy their growing demand.”