London Gatwick Airport released Q1 2013 financial results

2013-06-26 — /travelprnews.com/ — London Gatwick Airport has delivered financial results in line with expectations as challenging economic conditions continue. The airport has performed well operationally, building volume with its existing carriers, competing to attract new airlines and routes, and delivering record passenger satisfaction.

Key highlights of the year:

• Traffic of 34.2 million passengers reflects 1.2% growth.
• New airlines such as Air China and Turkish Airlines opened links to high-growth markets including Beijing and Istanbul, alongside new routes from existing carriers such as easyJet to Moscow. Vietnam Airlines expanded its services and Garuda Indonesia announced it will start Europe’s only direct route to Jakarta from October 2013.
• Gatwick was the first major London airport to achieve 100% service quality targets for the year, which in turn delivered record passenger satisfaction.
• Turnover is up 4.2% to £538.9m. Combined with continued careful cost management, this resulted in EBITDA up 2.5% to £227.1m although a loss in the financial year of £29.1m reflects the asset-intensive nature of the business and the continued investment being made across the airport.
• Investment of £226.7m in the year to transform the airport was in line with expectations. Projects included the complete resurfacing of the runway and taxiways, while the airport remained fully operational. This included the innovative installation of LED lights. Other major projects have focused on improving the retail offerings in North Terminal, bringing in brands such as Jamie’s Italian. The total investment over the last five years is £938.5m.
• Gatwick began detailed work on the options for a new runway. Submissions made to the Airports Commission this year include papers on Aviation Connectivity and the Economy, Making Best Use of Existing Capacity in the Short and Medium Term, and Aviation and Climate Change.
• Gatwick put forward a ‘new deal’ to the CAA. The ‘Contracts and Commitments’ framework would be a landmark change from regulation and offer a better deal for both passengers and airlines. Following the CAA’s assessment of this work, Gatwick has today submitted a revised offer.

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer of London Gatwick Airport, said:

“Although economic headwinds have remained strong, Gatwick has delivered financial results in line with expectations. This year we saw passenger growth of 1.2% and this compares favourably with our competitor airports. While our turnover has increased by 4.2% to £538.9 million and EBITDA improved by 2.5% to £227.1 million, the airport made a loss in the financial year of £29.1 million.

“We have also continued to invest heavily across the airport, spending £226.7m this year, to ensure our passengers enjoy a better experience every time they travel.

“We are proud of our excellent operational performance this year, particularly through major events such as the Olympics, and we are the only major London airport to have achieved 100% of our service quality targets. This led to record passenger satisfaction.

“It has also been a positive year for welcoming new airlines to Gatwick and attracting new links to key growth markets including China, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, adding to existing routes which have been expanded such as our services to Vietnam.

“In retail, we have seen good year-on-year results, which compare favourably to performance on the high street. Thanks to the opening of Europe’s largest World Duty Free store in South Terminal and major updates in both South and North Terminal departure lounges, we have seen income per passenger increase.”