Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is London's second largest airport and second busiest in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. It is the world's 25th busiest in passengers per year (7th for international passengers).[3] It is often cited as the world's busiest single-runway airport, although it has a stand-by runway, used only when the main runway is out of use. Gatwick is 2.7 NM (5.0 km; 3.1 mi) north of central Crawley, West Sussex (originally Charlwood, Surrey), 24.7 NM (45.7 km; 28.4 mi) south of London.[1] Gatwick is owned and operated by BAA, which owns and operates six other UK airports,[4] including Heathrow, and is itself owned by an international consortium led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group.[5]
With 200 destinations the airport handled 34 million passengers with 263,363 aircraft movements[2] in 2006. In 2007 Gatwick passed 35 million for the first time.[6] In 2008 Gatwick celebrated 50 years - Queen Elizabeth II opened the airport on 9 June 1958.[7] Charter airlines generally do not operate from Heathrow and use Gatwick as a base for London and the South East. For 30 years flights to and from the USA have also used Gatwick because of restrictions on Heathrow in the 1977 Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. The airport is a base for British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic and from spring 2009 Aer Lingus as well. The airport is also a base for charter airlines including Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. London Gatwick has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P528) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
On 17 September 2008, BAA said it would sell Gatwick following a report by the Competition Commission into BAA's dominance, especially in London and the South East. The airport has been valued at £1.8 billion by regulators.[8] Potential bidders include Australia's Macquarie Group,Vancouver Airport Services Vancouver Airport Authority, German transport company Fraport and Manchester Airports Group, the largest UK-owned airport group. |
