Hello? Where have all the long-haul passengers gone?
Gatwick Airport saw more than a 6% drop in long-haul traffic last month, although overall its passenger numbers were up 6.8% compared with May last year.
Flights to Europe and Ireland were much busier than in May 2010, with passenger numbers up about 14%, and domestic travel was up almost 5%. The airport pointed out that flights in May 2010 were affected by sporadic closure of airspace due to the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption.
Gatwick handled 3.5% more transatlantic passengers last month compared with May last year, although it attracted 6.5% fewer long-haul passengers than in May 2010.
A new long-haul carrier, Sun Country, started flying from Gatwick to Minneapolis last month and the national carrier of Nigeria, Air Nigeria, will start operations from the airport in September. The daily flight from London to Lagos will be the airline’s first international service outside Africa.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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