Almost 20 million passengers travelled through Gatwick airport in the first half of 2024, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period in 2023.
The airport said its growth to 19.9 million passengers was thanks to new long-haul routes and strong demand for travel.
Its 2024 interim results also showed that revenue reached £488 million, up 15.3% year on year, while net profit for the period was £106 million, up 33.8%.
Peak holiday times are continuing to attract more people to travel, representing a 90% recovery on 2019 levels, added the airport.
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It said in a statement: “A focus on developing new long-haul routes across the Middle East, Asia and North America is attracting a wider range of passengers and continues to build on the airport’s vision to be the airport for everyone.
“Recent new services include the June introduction of Singapore Airlines flights from Gatwick plus new routes by flag carriers to key cities across China and India.”
Its short-haul network has seen new services to destinations including Gothenburg, Sweden (Norwegian), Vagar in the Faroe Islands (Atlantic Airways), Ponta Delgada in the Azores (Azores Airlines), Varna, Bulgaria (Wizz Air), and Salerno, Italy (easyJet).
The airport said 96.6% of passengers passed through security in five minutes or less, while “continued collaboration with air traffic control provider, Nats, has ensured the tower is operating well and has the required resources to deliver this year’s busy summer schedule for airlines and passengers”.
We’ve announced our 2024 interim financial results after a strong start to the year, with 19.9 million passengers travelling through our airport. Read the full story in our press release: https://t.co/qzXWX6hFqGpic.twitter.com/hPQvJ5pCSZ
— London Gatwick LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) August 22, 2024
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick chief executive, said: “With the growing demand for travel, we are experiencing one of our busiest summers yet.
“Thanks to robust planning and close collaboration with our partners we’ve had a strong start to 2024, ensuring a reliable and enjoyable experience for our passengers.
“I am delighted that we have once again achieved good service levels, as evidenced by meeting 100% of our service measures.
“At the same time, through our Northern Runway Project, we are demonstrating our commitment to growing sustainably, in line with our Decade of Change sustainability strategy and government policy.
“Our teams have worked incredibly hard to achieve these results. As we continue to grow our network and offer more choice for passengers, we are working towards our vision to be the airport for everyone, whatever your journey.”
The examination phase for Gatwick’s planning application to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use will end next week (August 27).
If successful, the Northern Runway could be in routine use by the end of the decade.
The plan would lift annual capacity to 75 million passengers by the end of the 2030s, from less than 50 million now.