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Recording-breaking March sees Gatwick race towards full capacity a decade ahead of predictions

Gatwick announces that it expects to serve more than 40 million passengers next year – a decade ahead of DfT predictions made in its January 2013 UK Aviation Forecast.


Nearly three million passengers travelled through Gatwick Airport in March, a 9.2 per cent increase on last year, and the busiest March the airport has ever had in its 57-year history.

The March figures mark the 25th consecutive month of growth. Gatwick now expects to serve more than 40 million passengers next year, which is more than a decade ahead of the DfT’s 2013 predictions.

Some 250,000 more passengers travelled through Gatwick in March compared to 2014. Passenger growth is the result of more air traffic movements per hour and larger aircraft being used on average across the airlines.

Long-haul traffic grew by 7.4 per cent, with Dubai the biggest growth route seeing passenger numbers increase by 14.7 per cent as Gatwick continues to serve high-growth markets. Emirates have taken advantage of the A380 facility that has been in place since March 2014 with passengers able to fly daily on the superjumbo.

European scheduled services increased 12.1 per cent over March 2014 with Barcelona the biggest growth destination and Geneva the biggest destination in terms of passenger numbers across the whole network.  The success of Geneva is largely because of the ski season.

March also saw the launch of two new airlines at Gatwick. Passengers are now able to benefit from Iberia Express flying direct to Madrid and SmartWings flying direct to Prague.

Gatwick Airport’s Chief Executive Officer, Stewart Wingate said: “March is our 25th consecutive month of growth, and in just one year we expect to hit more than 40 million passengers per year, which will see us reach this milestone a decade ahead of when the DfT forecasted we would.

“Our continued growth has limits, and we urge the new Government to act swiftly after the election to unlock the capacity challenges for the South East. Expanding Gatwick would promote competition in the airport sector and keep travel affordable at a time of economic recovery.

“The figures speak for themselves – we need to build a second runway in order to realise our potential and to maximise the nation’s connectivity to the rest of the world. Let us deliver against our promise to build a new runway sooner, at lower cost, and without the environmental obstacles that Heathrow would face.”

London Gatwick Becomes the First Airport to Go Paperless for ID Pass Applications
Human Recognition Systems‘ (HRS) MTrust is reducing pass rejections and waiting times, streamlining Gatwick’s ID Centre operations to increase security and improve service

By selecting MTrust, a revolutionary Airport ID Pass Application vetting and issuance solution, hosted in the Cloud, London Gatwick Airport has become the world’s first airport to go paperless for its Airport ID pass applications and issuance.

The previous paper-based processes would not have been able to support Gatwick’s plan for an additional 1,200 on-airport jobs by 2021/22. MTrust provides streamlined ID Pass management with absolute certainty of identity. Developed in close partnership with Gatwick, MTrust is now live with 2,500 Authorised signatories (employees at on-airport companies who can apply for Airport ID passes), providing them with the tools they need to submit and track pass applications without the need for paper.

As Michael Ibbitson, CIO at Gatwick explained, “As we continue to grow and plan for a second runway, it was vital that our internal processes were in position to cope with the additional numbers of staff. We worked with Human Recognition Systems on MTrust and the benefits of the system to not just ourselves, but to our partners and on-airport customers were obvious.”

Through the creation of online profiles and auto-completion of pass application forms, MTrust ensures pass applications are completed correctly first time. Gatwick ceased accepting paper applications in January, since then MTrust has processed over 16,000 pass applications with a pass rejection rate of less than 2%.

Neil Norman, CEO at HRS, said, “MTrust gives total visibility of an application’s progress to both the ID Centre and the Authorised Signatory. This reduces the number of calls and enquiries, speeding up the process and allowing passes to be issued in as little as a week from beginning the application process to issuing the pass. Furthermore, MTrust has created a unique community of community of Airports, Authorised Signatories and Employees who are able to transfer and share information between them for mutual advantage.”

Michael Ibbitson added, “MTrust has enabled us to issue passes faster, whilst taking the frustrations away from our on-airport customers and providing more time for important security checks which will reduce risk.”

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Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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