‘A hugely significant moment for the airport’
‘We are really getting back to normal in 2022’ says Gatwick Airport chief as South Terminal reopens
The reopening of Gatwick’s South Terminal - after nearly two years of being closed has been hailed as ‘significant moment’ for the airport.
Gatwick and its partners – including airlines, shops, cafes and bars - have spent months refurbishing, cleaning, updating and testing facilities and equipment that has not been in use since the terminal closed during the pandemic on 15 June 2020.
Many airlines that had been flying from the airport’s North Terminal for the last 21 months, have or are in the process of switching terminals between Monday and Tuesday this week, including major airlines such as British Airways, Wizz Air, Vueling, Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Norwegian. easyJet, which will fly 120 routes from Gatwick – the most ever from the airport – will operate from both North and South Terminals.
And on Monday, Gatwick’s chief executive Stewart Wingate was joined by Aviation Minister Robert Courts and managing director of Wizz Air Marion Geoffroy to celebrate the reopening of the terminal.
And Mr Courts said there was a ‘massive buzz’ at the airport. He said: “this is a hugely significant moment for the airport and for everyone who works here and for the wider area around Crawley because of the enormous amount of jobs that support it. There’s a massive buzz here today and a real feeling of excitement. There’s a real feeling of having triumphed over two of the most difficult years in the aviation sector’s history.”
Gatwick - and the surrounding area - suffered more than most over the last two years because of the pandemic with the loss of jobs and impact on the local economy. Mr Courts said: “It’s been enormously challenging, I am the Minister of Aviation, I want to see people able to fly. I want people to be able to connect with each other,
“I want them to be able to go abroad on holiday, I want them to be able to attend to their businesses.
“We have had to protect public health of course but we have also been doing everything we can so we can get people flying again in safe and secure way but flying nonetheless.”
It has taken a lot of work for the terminal to be ready for opening, and Mr Wingate was delighted to see passengers back in the building.
He said: “It’s been a proper transformation for both myself and all the staff here at the airport.
“We are absolutely delighted that on Sunday we reopened the South Terminal.
“The teams at the airport have put an awful lot of effort into making sure we are prepared. We have been testing the security systems, the baggage systems, just making sure all the travelators and the lifts work for weeks now.
Then of course we had to make sure we had the teams of people in the right place to serve the passengers. Everything went to plan, everything went smooth with the opening.”
And Mr Wingate said he was ‘astonished’ but how many bookings there are for the summer season and says they are getting back to normal.
“The summer season started yesterday and instantly went from 300 flights on the last day of the winter season, operating from the runway to 600. “By the end of this week will be operating between 700 and 800 flights.
“By the peak of the season we will be very close to the number of movements we saw back in 2019 before the pandemic. Things will essentially revert back to normal - normal operations similar to how life was before the pandemic.
“We are really getting back to normal in 2022.”