Gatwick ‘ready for expansion’ after record growth
Gatwick Airport says it is ready for expansion after another record month of growth.
According to figures released today, 2.6m passengers travelled through the Sussex airport in November, up 7.3% on the previous year.
CEO Stewart Wingate said: "Britain has a clear choice on airport expansion: get on with growth at Gatwick or yet more delays and inertia with an illegal Heathrow scheme that continues to stall.
"With 12 new long-haul routes starting in 2016 and significant growth across all sectors, from both existing and new airlines, it is clear why expansion at Gatwick needs to go ahead now."
He said the introduction of Hong Kong services by Cathay Pacific next year and WestJet’s new four times daily Gatwick to Canada services are ‘an impressive endorsement of Gatwick being the airport of choice for additional long-haul routes serving the UK’.
Other long-haul routes are also seeing growth, with Jamaica up 14.2% year on year, Barbados up 15.5% and Trinidad up 12.8%.
November also saw Norwegian Air Shuttle’s new Puerto Rico service start from Gatwick, the UK’s only direct route to the island.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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