About Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport is the busiest single runway airport in the world, and the second largest airport in the UK and the sixth biggest and busiest international airport in the world.

The airport handles over 31 million passengers a year and is forecast to rise to around 40 million by 2010/11. Over 100 airlines fly to almost 200 destinations worldwide from Gatwick. The most popular route from Gatwick is to Malaga, and the most popular airline (by passengers carried) is British Airways.

Gatwick recently won the "Best UK Airport" award for the tenth time since 1994. The Travel Weekly Globe Awards are regarded as the "Oscars" for the travel industry.

A Brief History of Gatwick

The name Gatwick can be dated back to 1241 when Richard de Warwick assigned his rights to some of his land to John de Gatwick and his heirs. The land was part of what was later known as the Manor of Gatwick.

Gatwick was later purchased by the Gatwick Race Course Company in 1890, it wasn't until 1930 when Gatwick began life as a small flying club (Surrey Aero Club).

On 17 May 1936 the first scheduled flight service started. The flight from Gatwick to Paris cost four pounds and five shillings (around £160 today) and included first class train fare from London Victoria. After the Second World War when the airport was requisitioned for military use, the airport was given approval by the government for the proposed development of Gatwick as an alternative to Heathrow.

On 9 June 1958, Her Majesty The Queen officially opened Gatwick Airport. It was the first airport in the world to combine air, rail and road in a single close knit unit. It cost £7.8 million and took two and three quarter years to build.

in 1988, five years after construction started, The £200 million North terminal was completed and opened by Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

BAA Gatwick launched it's ground-breaking Sustainable Development Strategy in 2000, which, following close consultation with local authorities and communities, outlines how Gatwick Airport should develop over the next 10 years.