The low-cost, long-haul flying revolution from Gatwick is boosting August bank holiday passenger numbers as the airport continues to push for a second runway to meet the growing demand.
The airport has seen a 14% rise in long-haul passengers over the holiday weekend compared to last year.
More than 300,000 passengers are due to fly out as part of a record 631,000 expected to use the airport this weekend – an increase of almost 1%.
Three of the 10 biggest-growing long-haul routes are to the US – Oakland up 124.8% year-on-year, New York up 54.9% and Los Angeles up 28.9%.
Boston is in 11th place with a 16.2% increase on the same weekend in 2016.
However, Dubai will be the most popular long-haul destination this weekend, up 10.7% year-on-year.
Almost a third of the airport’s leisure passengers (31.9%) will be heading off on four-day trips.
Head of airline relations Stephen King said: “As more American destinations are added to our growing long-haul route network, it’s clear that passengers are making the most of it with thousands heading across the pond for the bank holiday weekend.
“Later this year we’re set to give our passengers even more choice with the launch of new routes to Denver, Seattle, Austin and Chicago.
“Gatwick is already the world’s busiest single-runway airport and we are exploring new and innovative ways to make best use of our existing facilities so we can continue to forge new connections and increase Britain’s global connectivity when it’s needed most.”
He added: “Our August bank holiday figures demonstrate that, while we continue to provide new services for our growing number of passengers, we are also keen to expand.
“We stand ready to build our financeable and deliverable second runway scheme instead of, or in addition to, Heathrow should the government give us the green light.”
Gatwick’s top ten biggest-growing August nank holiday long-haul destinations
• Kingston
• Oakland, San Francisco
• Punta Cana
• Lima
• New York
• Cape Verde
• Hurghada
• Los Angeles
• Providenciales
• Tobago
Top ten biggest-growing August bank holiday short-haul destinations
• Ljubljana
• Pristina
• Varna
• Brindisi
• Kos
• Algiers
• Cork
• Tunis
• Florence
• Lisbon