The number of passengers using Gatwick rose by 5.5% to 2.3 million last month to give the airport its busiest-ever January.
The additional 124,000 passengers handled gave the airport its 23rd successive month of growth.
Long-haul transatlantic travel grew by 11.4% year-on-year, mainly due to Norwegian’s low-cost flights to New York and Los Angeles which were introduced last summer. Dubai traffic was up 12.3% following Emirates bringing an Airbus A380 onto the Gatwick route last March.
Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen were the top European destinations as overall scheduled and charter numbers grow by 98,600 passengers.
Turkey attracted an additional 5,000 passengers over January last year, an increase of 19.8%.
Overall air traffic movements at Gatwick rose by 138 in the month following more efficient use of its single runway.
Chief financial officer, Nick Dunn, said: “As the world’s busiest single runway airport, we are achieving great things, and our continued investment in optimising every aspect of both the passenger experience and the operation of the airport, continues to pay off.
“The pattern of growth is set to continue but will come at a price and we will struggle to meet demand in future years.
“When looking at airport expansion, only Gatwick can deliver the economic benefit and the extra capacity the UK needs at an environmental cost it can afford.
“Gatwick expansion will also deliver more competition between airports serving London and the UK, as well as greater competition within airlines, offering passengers more choice and helping keep airfares lower.”