AIRPORT REPORT: GATWICK
Gatwick’s makeover
CEO, Stewart Wingate, talks to Oliver Clark about the revolution taking place at London’s Gatwick Airport.
W
hen Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) bought Gatwick Airport for €1.65 billion in December 2009, there were high hopes a change of ownership would herald a new era of competition between London’s main airports – the
crucial question was how GIP would make it happen. On the up side, Gatwick was the UK’s second busiest airport with
more than 32 million passengers passing through its doors in 2009 with more than 70 airlines serving 200 destinations; on the downside, some of its infrastructure was more than 50 years old and its single runway was operating at near maximum capacity. The solution for Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s CEO since the December
takeover, has been to launch a root and branch upgrade of Gatwick’s facilities and processes through the existing €1.2 billion Capital Investment Programme, reduce waiting times, improve throughput, baggage handling and increase capacity, while putting customer satisfaction, both airline and passenger, first. “We allowed our vision, that Gatwick should become London’s
airport of choice, to be our priority from day one and we have not wavered since. We wanted to develop the airline relationships, which were strained at the start, we asked ourselves how do we invest in as well as drive efficiency and establish our voice, transform our position while also encouraging new airlines to come here,” explains Wingate. To achieve it, the South Terminal is undergoing a major facelift
including a new entrance, a remodelling of Pier 1 to include five new stands, a 4,645sqm extension of the departure hall, a new integrated baggage system and immigration hall. North Terminal projects include a €86.6 million terminal expansion,
a new multi-storey car park and work to increase its capacity to allow the airport to handle up to 40mppa. “This is the busiest airport in the world, at least from a building and
capacity point of view,” jokes Stephen James, Gatwick’s capital investment programme development leader as he explains the limitations the airport needs to overcome. “The airport has got one runway and two terminals. We had
21 million passengers last year and 21.5 million forecast this year, all coming through the South Terminal, while JFK has four runways and eight terminals,” he explains. However, before any changes could be implemented, Wingate and his new executive management team faced an immediate and pressing
30 AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010
issue – smoothing over relations with staff who, in some cases, were concerned about their job security following the takeover. Throughout the sale negotiations, which Wingate describes
as a long drawn out process, GIP kept in regular contact with the airport’s three principal unions: Unite, Prospect and PCS and kept all staff updated. Once the sale was complete, GIP agreed to take over the contracts and pension arrangements of Gatwick’s existing work force. “We made a big effort to communicate with staff concerning the
changes being made in the early days, we had a very positive first day and things have remained upbeat since then,” he explains. Wingate notes that the process was not just about drawing up new
contracts, it was about instilling a new confidence in the team that Gatwick would now have its own vision, independent of BAA. “There has been genuine excitement, some people had been
working here for five to 10 years and they were excited to see Gatwick at the centre of the picture for the first time. Absolutely everyone responded well to this,” he says. A complete overhaul of the South Terminal’s security zone is now
taking place including the introduction of new processing techniques not seen at a UK airport.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100