About Gatwick Airport
30 miles outside of the bustling centre of London, Gatwick is the 2nd busiest airport in the United Kingdom, behind Heathrow.
The airport takes up over 250,000m2 of land. This includes 75 hectares of green space inhabited by a thriving range of species, as well as two terminals serving it’s single runway. Although there is a second runway available, due to how close it is to the main runway, it can only be used as a backup—not that this matters.
Gatwick has been certified as the most efficient single-runway airport in the world, channelling over 40 million customers a year to 220 destinations in 80 countries. September 2016 was a record-breaking month for Gatwick, and the excess of 20,000 people who work there: over 4 million passengers travelled through the airport.
In a report written by the Airports Commission, it was predicted that the airport would need a concurrent runway in order to reach more than 50 long haul services – and this target would not be reached until 2050. Today Gatwick Airport, and the men and women who work there, help over 50 of these long haul services get to their final destinations, with the use of just a single runway.
Although a 40-year agreement was made with the local county council not to build a second run way, that deal will expire in 2019, allowing Gatwick to expand further. A proposal has also been put forward to connect the airport with Heathrow, via the use of a High Speed Rail Link. Needless to say, the future is looking bright for Gatwick.