Gatwick boasts record June numbers as Lords prepare to grill Sir Howard Davies over Heathrow decision
Gatwick airport today revealed significant growth in long-haul traffic, as the company said June was its 28th consecutive month of passenger growth.
In total, 3.8m people travelled through Gatwick last month, making it the busiest ever June. The south-of-London airport said that 184,000 more passengers passed through it last month, compared to the same time the year before,
The figures come amid the fallout from Sir Howard Davies’ review into airport expansion, which gave the nod to a third runway being built at Heathrow.
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick chief executive, says that today’s figures support the case for his airport, not Heathrow, being expanded.
Wingate commented:
Gatwick remains the best option for expansion as it can cater for all airline types flying to all types of destination – this is clearly illustrated by the growth in the numbers of passengers choosing long-haul services at Gatwick.
The airport still believes that it is very much still in the running to ultimately get government approval for expansion.
“We will continue to engage actively with government at all levels to show why Gatwick expansion is the only means by which we can sustain the low cost revolution that has driven aviation growth over the last two decades,” Wingate added.
Davies will be hauled in front of the House of Lords economic affairs committee on Thursday, to explain his decision to back Heathrow.
The committee is led by the Labour peer, and former chief executive of United Business Media, Lord Hollick.
It will question Davies on the need to develop Heathrow, the UK’s ability to meet its climate change commitments with increased aviation capacity, and why hub capacity at both Gatwick and Heathrow has not been recommended.
Davies will become chairman of RBS in September.