Bank holiday bonanza boosts Gatwick's spring numbers

Bank holiday bonanza boosts Gatwick’s spring numbers

Monday, 11 May, 2011 0

Gatwick airport is reporting record load factors and large passenger number growth for April as Brits seized the bundle of bank holidays to travel abroad.

The airport recorded an additional 702,500 passengers passing through its doors in April this year compared to April last year – a 34.2% growth.

Last April’s figures were affected by the ash cloud debacle caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland when air space was closed for six days and some 600,000 passengers could not travel by plane.

Load factors for April this year reached a record high, increasing 3.2% points to 79.7% from 76.5% last April.

This was prompted by Norwegian launching its twice weekly service to Alesund in Norway and Easyjet bringing Seville into its destination portfolio, with four flights a week.

by Dinah Hatch