New flight patterns mean Gatwick will not pass 2019 peak this year

Gatwick airport has said it expects passenger numbers this year to remain below their pre-pandemic peak as a shift towards longer tourist flights means airlines are using the UK’s second-busiest airport less intensively. The London airport on Thursday said it expected to handle 44.3mn passengers this year, up from 43.2mn in 2024. The figure is below the 46.6mn who used the airport in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic swept through the aviation industry. Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s CE insisted that flying demand was strong and that all the take-off and landing slots at the busiest times at the airport were taken. However, Gatwick was quieter than before the pandemic during some parts of the day, Wingate added. He attributed the change to a shift by airlines towards flying longer routes, which meant they could cram fewer flights into each day. “What we are finding on our European network is that the airlines tend to fly longer sector lengths than before the pandemic . . . such as to Greece or north Africa,” Wingate said. “As a result, particularly in the middle of the day, there is less intensive use of the runway.” Some other big UK airports have already recorded higher passenger numbers than their pre-pandemic peaks. London’s Heathrow airport reported record passenger numbers in 2024, as did London Stansted and Manchester airports. However, Gatwick said it had experienced “significant growth” in long-haul services in 2024, including services to China, Africa, India and the Middle East. Wingate said he was also in talks with Virgin Atlantic about a possible return to Gatwick, after the long-haul only airline moved all its operations to Heathrow airport during the pandemic. Gatwick reported a 9% year-on-year rise in profit after tax to GBP342.9m in 2024, after revenue rose 11% to GBP1.1b. The airport has outlined plans to expand passenger capacity by bringing its standby runway into regular use.<br/>