GATWICK RETURNS TO PROFIT AFTER COVID RECOVERY

Gatwick Airport is revising its 2022 traffic forecast to 32.8 million passengers following a better than expected first half of the year.

Despite encouraging signs, the airport notes that current macro-economic uncertainty such as inflation could yet impact these forecasts.

Passenger demand for the second quarter of this year, following the removal of all UK travel restrictions, was almost 75 percent of pre-pandemic, 2019 levels, while for the half year it was just over 59 percent.

In total, 131 million passengers passed through the airport during the first six months of 2022, generating a revenue of £291.5 million for the six months ending June 30.

This has seen the airport return to profitability for the first time since the pandemic, with a profit after tax of £50.6 million.

The airport has also completed the resurfacing of its main runway, and wider developments at the airport are on track to be completed in 2023. In March, the South Terminal opened for the first time since June 2020, an operation likened to opening a medium-sized airport overnight.

While chaotic scenes have been observed at a number of UK airports, Gatwick avoided many of these issues by gradually increasing its declared capacity and hiring more than 400 new security staff.

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, Gatwick Airport said: “We still have some way to go, but strong demand has fast-tracked Gatwick’s recovery from the pandemic.”