cover story

Gatwick Airport – ready to build back better

As discussed in the last update from Gatwick back in the summer, it continues to be an incredibly difficult and unprecedented time for all involved in the aviation industry and beyond. I joined Gatwick in September as Chief Commercial Officer under no illusion about the challenge which lay ahead, but ready to embrace it, nonetheless. The aviation industry has proven its resilience in the past and this will likely be no exception, if we adapt quickly to changes and behaviours in a time and cost-effective manner.

Over the past months, Gatwick as an organisation has explored different ways to help safeguard as many jobs as possible and keep the business in a strong position, ready to build back better as demand increases and continue acting as the single biggest driver for the local economy.

Unfortunately, due to a dramatic 66% decline in passenger numbers in the first six months of this year, the airport had to make the very difficult decision to restructure the company, losing around 600 job roles in the process. Even now, just over eight months into the crisis, passenger volume continues to be approximately 90% down versus last year. While delivering a programme of redundancies isn’t something that anyone would wish to have to implement, the process of restructuring will better align the business to passenger and air traffic forecasts while allowing it to remain agile should demand recover faster than expected. It also means Gatwick will continue supporting significantly more jobs than it needs to operate at current levels.

Another decision we have recently announced is the introduction of forecourt charging in 2021. This will be in the form of a £5 charge for vehicles using the forecourt to drop off passengers directly outside the terminals - as most UK airports have done for many years. The revenue raised will help the airport continue its recovery from the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis and will also help Gatwick continue to meet its commitment to reduce ‘Kiss and Fly’ - the least sustainable type of journey to the airport, which currently accounts for 15% of all airport journeys. We are continuing to look into solutions for staff, rail users and Blue Badge holders.

On the subject of the railway station, Gatwick’s recovery plan includes a multimillion-pound, two-year upgrade of Gatwick Airport railway station. This work will help relieve crowding, improve accessibility and reduce delays for international passengers, commuters and leisure travellers across the south east.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Network Rail have been working throughout the Covid-19 pandemic – taking advantage of the significant downturn in rail and air passenger footfall – and platform 7 was successfully re-opened on time on 1 November 2020, having been initially closed (and then removed) on 18 May.

In further positive news for not only Gatwick, but associated business partners and the regional economy, myself and colleagues remain in constructive and encouraging talks with new and existing airlines, who continue to show considerable appetite at operating – or expanding operations - from Gatwick.

Already in recent weeks, we’ve seen Wizz Air – an existing carrier at Gatwick – base an aircraft at the airport and launch a number of new routes as a result, to the likes of the Canary Islands, Malta, Naples and Athens, while TUI has already launched its winter ’21 and summer ’22 schedule from Gatwick, rubber-stamping its commitment to the airport.

Returning airlines, routes and passengers is also positive news for our retailers. Within

the North Terminal, the vast majority of shops have now re-opened following the national November lockdown. We are also hopeful more of our restaurants will be reopening over the coming weeks, although if you are flying from Gatwick soon, there are already a number of places to grab a pre-flight meal, snack, coffee or beer.

What remains evident is passengers’ desire to travel. Following the removal of quarantine restrictions for passengers arriving in the UK from the Canaries in October, airlines immediately added 137 additional flights to these destinations throughout November, with many flights during October half-term almost at capacity. While the majority of flights didn’t operate due to subsequent travel restrictions, the move to add such a substantial number of flights highlights the appetite for travel and our airlines’ ability to act swiftly to meet this demand.

We at Gatwick welcomed the work of the Global Travel Taskforce and the Secretary of State’s recent announcement that a test to release system will be in place in time for Christmas. This will help improve consumer confidence in flying by reducing selfisolation restrictions for those arriving from a non-exempt country and will help people to take well-earned and much needed breaks whether visiting family and friends for Christmas, a ski trip or simply getting away for some winter sun.

The aviation industry across Europe is also starting to coalesce behind a single, harmonised approach to testing predeparture that would ultimately eliminate quarantine altogether. We look forward to working with Government and the Taskforce on this as it would help end the current international patchwork of approaches to testing and safely open up most of the UK’s travel routes, while preserving thousands of aviation jobs.

To help provide further confidence and reassurance for passengers, Gatwick opened its own COVID-19 screening facility at the end of November. Located within the airport’s Long Stay Car Park at the South Terminal, the facility offers a fast and accurate and lab-analysed PCR swab test to passengers, employees based at Gatwick and also the general public, including local residents.

Looking further ahead, we are also asking government to help the UK compete internationally and to help us to build back better. As part of this, we would like government to reverse plans to scrap tax-free shopping, bring in a temporary cut in Air Passenger Duty, and make sure government support mirrors the best being offered overseas, to ensure the vital UK aviation sector is given a fighting chance.

We would also encourage government support and investment to ramp up the use of sustainable aviation fuels and provide a clear strategy for hydrogen and electric technologies to help us build back better.

From our perspective at Gatwick, the airport is committed to achieving net zero by 2050 for its buildings and fleet – and we are already halfway there, having made great strides to date.

Gatwick has been carbon-neutral accredited for several years and is a committed member of Sustainable Aviation, which brings the industry together to find ways to ensure sustainable growth, and has published its own detailed roadmap to net zero by 2050.

“We at Gatwick welcomed the work of the Global Travel Taskforce and the Secretary of State’s recent announcement that a test to release system will be in place in time for Christmas.”

Jonathan Pollard

Chief Commercial Officer, Gatwick Airport

Finally, to enable not only Gatwick but the UK aviation industry and regional economy as a whole to build back better, we remain committed to our Northern Runway Scheme. Initially, we had planned to launch an extensive consultation in spring 2020 to engage with local communities and other interested parties, but obviously in the interests of public health, this couldn’t go ahead as scheduled. However, we hope to start consulting with interested and affected parties next year.

The Northern Runway Scheme is a nationally significant infrastructure project, and we believe progressing a scheme like this is in the best interests of both the country and the local and regional economy. The Project itself has both capacity and resilience benefits and will help give greater resilience not only at Gatwick, but also across London and the South East. The Project is consistent with government policy to make best use of existing runways.

We know how difficult it is to get consent for new runways, but our scheme enables modest growth, improved resilience and significant economic benefits whilst having little overall environmental impact compared to alternative projects.

We will, of course, issue more information about this in due course and will invite as many people as possible to have their say.