Passenger numbers at Gatwick up by 0.2% in December

2013-01-11 — /travelprnews.com/ — Over 2,280,000 passengers flew through Gatwick in December – 5,600 more than the prior year

December 2012 traffic performance summary

	Month				Moving Annual Total
			Growth		Jan-12	Jan-11	Growth
	Dec-12	Dec-11	(%)		Dec-12	Dec-11	(%)
Total terminal passengers (000s)	2,280.4	2,274.8	0.2		34,211.2	33,652.3	1.7
Market Analysis:
UK + Channel Islands	294.7	290.9	1.3		3,828.1	3,732.5	2.6
Ireland	100.6	100.2	0.4		1,284.7	1,292.1	-0.6
European scheduled	1,180.5	1,198.0	-1.5		18,516.8	17,640.3	5.0
European charter	180.8	177.7	1.7		4,076.9	4,570.0	-10.8
North Atlantic	110.0	118.3	-7.0		1,846.5	1,947.6	-5.2
Other long haul	413.8	389.7	6.2		4,658.2	4,469.8	4.2

Note: Origins and destinations are classified according to ultimate origin or destination of aircraft in the case of multi-sector flights.

Key points:

Passenger numbers increased by 0.2% year-on-year with 5,600 more passengers flying through Gatwick in December 2012. This was in spite of school holidays starting two days later for the Christmas period and industrial disputes in Greece and Germany, which affected more than 10 airports.

• Gatwick continued to see growth on domestic routes with 3,800 more passengers flying than the prior year.
• Long haul routes also continued to grow with 15,800 more passengers travelling to destinations including China and Vietnam.
• The trend of achieving high load factors continues. Load factors in December of 78.3% were 1.7 percentage points higher than the prior year.

This month:

• The top three Christmas destinations were Geneva, Edinburgh and Dubai.
• Around 1.5 million people travelled through Gatwick between 17 December and 2 January.
• Gatwick welcomed back the London Ambassadors from the London 2012 Games to ensure smooth, stress-free journeys for passengers travelling over the festive period.

Commenting, Gatwick Airport’s Corporate Affairs Director James Colman, said: “During December we continued to sustain year-on-year passenger growth, despite later school holidays than usual, strikes on the continent and the challenging economic environment.

“Long-haul carriers contributed significantly to our December increase – with Dubai being one of the top three choices for passengers travelling over Christmas – and routes to key markets such as China and Vietnam continuing to perform well.

“Our other top festive destinations – Geneva and Edinburgh – highlight the diversity of destinations Gatwick serves, which total more than any other UK airport.”