Image via Shutterstock
Passenger numbers using Gatwick rose by 5.8% in November to give the airport its 21st successive month of growth.
The airport handled a record of more than 2.4 million passengers last month over November 2013.
Gatwick’s growth comes as the airport was officially accredited for ‘Airport Collaborative Decision Making’ – a process which allows Gatwick and third parties to share data allowing aircraft to turn around and take off quicker and more efficiently.
The accreditation means that the airport can operate 55 runway movements an hour which helped contribute towards achieving 168 extra flights in November compared to the same period last year.
Long haul continues to play a key role in Gatwick’s growth with an increase of 9.9% – thanks mainly to Norwegian Air’s low-cost flights to New York and Los Angeles helped push up long haul growth by almost 10% while travel to Dubai rose by 9.2% due to Emirates three fligts a day. Orlando also saw a 10.6% in passenger numbers.
European travel was up by 113,000 passengers with Copenhagen, Paris and Brussels being the fastest growing destinations.
Chief financial officer, Nick Dunn, said: “Twenty-one months of growth across a range of airlines and destinations is another telling reminder of the benefits of greater competition between London airports.
“Being accredited for our efforts to create a more efficient runway is also a significant milestone for Gatwick.
“But greater competition and efficiency can only take us so far and with Gatwick already unable to meet demand across much of the year, we are fast approaching full capacity.
“Gatwick is the only airport that presents both a clear need for more capacity and a clear plan for a new runway that can actually be delivered. As we approach a crucial year in the expansion debate, Gatwick remains the obvious and only deliverable solution to meet the UK’s needs.”