Gatwick is gearing up to handle more than 1.7 million passengers over the Christmas and new year period between December 19 and January 5.
The Christmas getaway will ramp up this weekend with 58,000 passengers departing this Friday, followed by around 60,000 passengers on Saturday and 64,000 passengers flying out on Sunday – Gatwick’s single busiest departure day over the festive season.
Christmas Day itself will see more than 15,000 expected passengers arriving and departing from Gatwick.
Around 66,000 passengers will arrive back at Gatwick on January 4 on the single busiest day for arrivals at the airport.
Geneva, Barcelona and Dublin are the top three destinations followed by Amsterdam, Tenerife, Dubai, Madrid, Edinburgh, Copenhagen and Belfast.
Wayne Tomlinson, of terminal operations at Gatwick, said: “After Gatwick’s record-breaking year of passenger growth we’re getting ready to end 2014 with a busy Christmas period.
“We want passengers to have a stress-free festive break and huge improvements have been made throughout the airport.
“We’ll be helping passengers get through security in under five minutes, family assistance lanes and play areas will help our younger travellers, while new shops and restaurants will offer people even more choice.
“We look forward to welcoming passengers to Gatwick over the festive period and hope the improvements we’ve made and the entertainment we’re providing will help create a welcoming gateway to their Christmas getaway.”