Gatwick sees 5.1% increase in passengers for March
There were nearly 1.8 million passengers on European routes - an increase of 6.1% on the prior year. A major part of this growth was on flights to business destinations such as Moscow, Istanbul, Stockholm and Copenhagen. There was also significant growth on flights to Spain, Portugal and other popular leisure destinations.
The number of passengers flying to North Atlantic destinations was down 21.7% compared to the prior year, mainly because US Airways ceased to fly from Gatwick in 2013. This summer’s launch of three new Norwegian Air Shuttle routes to the US (New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale) will help reverse the trend of lower traffic to this region.
Other long-haul growth was 13.1%, mainly on leisure routes such as the Caribbean and the Canary Islands.
A number of domestic routes have seen a growth in traffic since last March – most notably flights to Newquay, which were boosted by Gatwick’s decision to waive charges on additional flights to support the South West following the Dawlish rail line closure. Total domestic traffic was 1% below the prior year, as some routes – most notably British Airways to Manchester – did not fly in March 2014.
Load factors - showing how full the average flight was - were at 83.1%, in line with the prior year.
Passenger numbers for the 12 months ending 31 March 2014 were 4.8% higher than the prior year. European routes alone accounted for 1.4m additional passengers in the year, of which more than half were on flights to Spain. The Nordic countries have also proved more popular this year, with 600,000 more passengers; and flights to Russia have also seen a significant increase, largely thanks to easyJet’s Moscow route, introduced in March 2013.
Stewart Wingate, London Gatwick Chief Executive, said: “This has been a successful and exciting year for Gatwick that has seen steady growth, the completion of spending over £1 billion on improving the passenger experience and offering new routes that satisfy the demands of business and leisure travellers.
“These successes only add to the obvious case for expansion at Gatwick. A new runway could be delivered at Gatwick more cost effectively than at Heathrow, with significantly less environmental impact. It would also provide the connections and economic benefits the UK needs much more quickly.”