Gatwick today revealed £250 million plans to cut carbon emissions and become net zero for its buildings and vehicles by 2030 – a decade ahead of its previous commitment.
This will be achieved through moving to an electric vehicle fleet and replacing gas boilers and refrigerants with low carbon alternatives.
The airport will also continue to reduce overall energy use, invest in on-site renewable energy, including solar power, and source renewable electricity.
More details on plans to deliver against climate goals will be provided in the coming months, Gatwick said.
The disclosure came as the airport confirmed a return to the black last year with a bounce back in passenger numbers following the pandemic.
The airport reported a 2022 profit of £196.5 million compared to a loss of £370.6 million for the previous year.
Revenue increased from £192.7 million in 2021 to £776.6 million last year, with increases across all revenue streams.
The airport said in an investor report for 2022 published today (Thursday): “To support the recovery, we started to recruit staff and reopen infrastructure.
“This resulted in higher operating costs compared with 2021. Operating costs, excluding exceptional items, increased from £393.8 million in 2021 to £494.5 million in 2022 (25.6%).”
As previously reported, annual passenger numbers increased by more than 420%, from just 6.3 million in 2021 to 32.8 million, reaching over 70% of 2019 levels.
“This extraordinary bounce back was a result of three key factors: the lifting of government restrictions on travel, strong demand from passengers, and airlines putting significant capacity back into the market,” the report said.
“In our short-haul market the recovery was slightly higher with passenger levels reaching 77% of 2019 levels.
“We expect the long-haul market to take longer to reach 2019 levels due to the slower lifting of restrictions in destinations such as Australia, India and Thailand. In 2022, it reached 44% of 2019 levels across 38 passenger routes served by 11 airlines. This compares to 62 passenger routes served by 14 airlines in 2019.”
Delta Air Lines is returning to Gatwick this summer, Lufthansa is starting two daily services to Frankfurt, and Air India launching 12 flights a week to Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Kochi from at the end of March.
Chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “The decisive actions we took early last year allowed us to offer good levels of service to passengers who travelled through Gatwick.
“Thank you to all colleagues across our airport, who supported the operation last year as travel restrictions eased and passengers started to travel.
“This year we will have even more choice of airlines and destinations for travellers, whether flying for business or leisure.
“While we still have some way to go to reach a full recovery, we know long-term sustainable investment is critical to the future of our airport and provides a significant boost to the regional and national economy.
“This year we are pushing forward with a number of projects to improve resilience and the overall passenger experience, including preparing our planning application to bring the existing Northern Runway into routine use.
“Central to this is our commitment for our business to be net zero for scope 1 and 2 by 2030. The aviation industry is addressing the challenges, and we are working closely with our stakeholders to ensure we create a sustainable airport for the future.”