Gatwick Airport ‘could take four years’ to fully recover from coronavirus crisis

Air travel in and out of Gatwick Airport could take up to four years to get back to the level it was before the coronavirus crisis struck.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A report out today shows that business was growing at the airport - with just under 37 million passengers using it - in the nine-month period up until December 2019.

But the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the aviation industry hard with Gatwick bosses now saying that the airport is unlikely to see the same level of passengers for between 36 and 48 months after the virus outbreak ends.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Gatwick Airport chief executive officer Stewart Wingate said: “My message is one of hope. We will work really hard to get us through this crisis.”

SUS-140619-104433001SUS-140619-104433001
SUS-140619-104433001

He said the world had ‘changed dramatically’ since December and “Gatwick has taken decisive action to ensure that it remains in a strong position to recover from the dramatic fall in passenger numbers and the wider impacts of Covid-19.”

Actions taken include furloughing 90 per cent of eligible airport staff, cutting a number of other jobs, and all staff taking salary reductions.

The airport’s north terminal has been shut with limited flights operating daily from the south terminal between 2pm-10pm.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Gatwick’s capital investment programme has been suspended ‘for the foreseeable future’ and the airport has taken out a £300 million loan from a consortium of banks.

However, it says, it still plans to go ahead with bringing the airport’s current emergency runway into full-time use.

The airport maintains its actions will ensure a ‘quick recovery’ from the crisis.

Stewart Wingate said: “The Covid-19 crisis has been unprecedented and our priority has been, and continues to be, maintaining the health and safety of our passengers and employees.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We also have a resilient business and by taking steps to reduce costs, we have protected jobs and expect to recover from this crisis.

“One measure we took to reduce costs was to defer spending on our capital investment programme to secure improved resilience, however for future growth we still expect to progress many of these projects including our plans to bring the existing Northern (stand-by) runway into routine use to offer more travel choice for passengers and new jobs for Gatwick and the wider region.

“Of course, any growth must be sustainable, and we also remain focused on our ongoing efforts to reduce the airport’s impact on the environment.

“I’m pleased to say that we continue to make significant progress in this area, and we are committed to reducing our environmental impact even further in the years ahead.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.