Gatwick
with airlines, Routes is one of the tools we use, but it is by no means the only one. It’s not uncommon to meet the airlines in their own backyard,” Wingate adds.
Perhaps unfairly viewed for years as a ‘bucket-and-spade’ airport, Gatwick has the biggest O&D market in Europe, over 200 destinations and good transport links to central London that are soon to benefi t from a €60.5 million rail station revamp. It is now keen to reposition itself as a competitive gateway for both leisure and business traffi c.
Wingate admits that following the Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) takeover and long-standing wranglings over airport charges, airline relations were “strained at the start”. By listening to carriers’ concerns and trying to offer a better service the situation has been improving, says Wingate. The airport recently inaugurated a new
inter-terminal shuttle service. It is working to rationalise security and bag drop facilities and is planning to open a new integrated baggage system to make it easier to transfer transiting luggage.
“Just take a step back for a moment, each of London’s three main airports has its own fl avour, Heathrow has its alliances, Stansted is dominated by one carrier, we are in a very different position.
“EasyJet is our biggest airline, followed by BA, Monarch, TUI, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian, we have a good mix of carriers. This is a very different situation from Stansted. We are not looking at any time to consolidate the market, instead we are working hard to maintain that mix.” Wingate believes Gatwick is as at ease handling LCCs and charter traffi c as it is the biggest legacy carriers, because it is prepared to adapt its operations to meet specifi c needs. He says he is “cool” with easyJet not using jetties to achieve faster turnarounds, partnering with fl ag carriers to provide more fast-track check-in facilities
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New owners GIP plan to improve the travel experience at London’s second busiest airport.
for frequent fl yers or providing better bus parking for charter operators.
New long-haul opportunities Gatwick is also looking to the east. Emirates, Qatar and United Airways of Bangladesh already operate routes to the Middle East and Asia, but Wingate believes there are many more interested carriers out there. “We are talking to a lot of Asian carriers, we know there is a need for connections to the business markets of Asia, a lot of trade is taking place that needs to be catered to. “Discussions are also taking place with North American carriers. There will be no new runways at Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick. We [Gatwick] have limited slot capacity and I think there is going to be a race to fi ll those slots.”
Asked if Gatwick would ever want a similar direct route to the one operated by AirAsia X between Stansted and Kuala Lumpur, Wingate’s eyes light up: “That would work very well, a number of carriers could put a route like that in place. Already we have a number of
direct routes to the Middle East, with the likes of Emirates and Qatar.” While the gateway works hard on its long-haul market, its short-haul and charter segments are doing well. Ryanair is handling a million passengers a year from the airport and overall traffi c was down just 1.3% in August, which, Wingate points out, is not a bad result given the economic conditions and the negative results at other airports. “Flybe has a lot of domestic passengers, the short-haul business has been working well over past few years. In the charter segment there has been a lot of consolidation with TUI and Thomas Cook. Talking to them, you get a sense of over confi dence – they’ve over consolidated a little perhaps.”
In October Gatwick was granted local government approval to operate the A380 from its single runway, opening up new opportunities to develop long-haul services and Wingate has hinted that we can expect to see plenty of new routes in the future. “We anticipate announcements in the next three months,” he enthuses. So watch this space.
RN
www.routes-news.com
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