Former Virgin Atlantic Asia Pacific boss Stephen King has been named as head of airline relations at Gatwick.
He moves to the airport after ten years at the airline and will be responsible growing its carrier base – Gatwick already serves 200 destinations in 80 countries
King said: “Gatwick is a completely unique airport in so many ways.
“Serving more passengers from one runway than any other airport in the world with a mix of low-cost, charter airlines and full services – providing passengers with more choice than any other UK airport.
“Long-haul at Gatwick continues to go from strength to strength.
“I’m looking forward to working with the airport’s existing airlines and the queue of airlines who would like to bring in new routes.”
Chief commercial officer Guy Stephenson added: “Gatwick continues to grow strongly – breaking records as passengers respond to the variety on offer at the airport, low-cost, charter airlines and full services airlines.
“This year Gatwick has added new routes to destinations in China, Peru, Canada, Costa Rica, Nigeria and the US.
“We’re seeing a particularly strong passenger response to our connections to Asia. Most recently Cathay Pacific announced that their four times weekly service would go daily.
“Stephen’s experience will be an important asset in Gatwick’s continuing long-haul success story and further route expansion.”