Passenger numbers at Gatwick up by 4.2% in November

2012-12-10 — /travelprnews.com/ — Passenger numbers at Gatwick up by 4.2% in November

November 2012 traffic performance summary

	Month				Moving Annual Total
			Growth		Dec-11	Dec-10	Growth
	Nov-12	Nov-11	(%)		Nov-12	Nov-11	(%)
Total terminal passengers (000s)	2,226.30	2,137.30	4.2		34,205.20	33,271.80	2.8
Market Analysis:
UK + Channel Islands	324.1	301.6	7.5		3,824.30	3,666.80	4.3
Ireland	101.3	104.6	-3.2		1,284.30	1,266.60	1.4
European scheduled	1,143.10	1,111.90	2.8		18,534.20	17,377.40	6.7
European charter	129.2	124.3	3.9		4,073.80	4,561.30	-10.7
North Atlantic	121.8	128.3	-5.1		1,854.70	1,942.60	-4.5
Other long haul	406.8	366.5	11		4,634.10	4,457.00	4
Air transport movements	15,965	16,237	-1.7		241,469	242,473	-0.4
Cargo (metric tonnes)	8,930	7,526	18.7		96,364	88,011	9.5

Note: Origins and destinations are classified according to ultimate origin or destination of aircraft in the case of multi-sector flights. Figures for the market sectors have been rounded. Totals as per traffic summary.

Key points:

Gatwick’s growth rate increased this month with 89,000 or 4.2% more passengers flying from Gatwick compared to the prior year. This was driven in part by the timing of the autumn half-term holiday which crossed into November this year. In 2011, the half-term was in October.

• Traffic on domestic routes saw strong growth with 23,000 more passengers flying than the prior year.
• Scheduled services to Europe also continued to increase versus the prior year at a growth rate of 2.8%. This was complemented by growth in European charter flights of 3.9%.
• Long haul carriers increasing London’s connectivity to key business growth markets in Beijing, Seoul and Vietnam contributed over 24,000 passengers of the November traffic increase.
• The trend of achieving high load factors continues. Load factors in November were 2.3% higher than the prior year at 80.8%.

This month:

• easyJet announced the launch of new routes to Santiago in Spain and Kalamata in Greece. Both routes will commence from summer 2013.
• BA confirmed the expansion of its summer leisure routes to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands.
• Korean Air announced the suspension of flights to Seoul for the winter season. Flights stop from mid-January and recommence in April 2013.

Commenting, Gatwick Airport’s Chief Financial Officer Nick Dunn said: “We continued to see growth in November at a rate of 4.2% with an additional 89,000 passengers flying from Gatwick compared with last November. This was due in part to the end of the autumn half-term falling into early November, whereas last year the whole holiday was in October.

“As the winter season is often a challenging time of year for airports, it is positive that our traffic figures are showing growth and we continue to focus on delivering the best experience to these additional passengers.

“We look forward to the spring, when passengers will have even more choice of where to fly from Gatwick, including new destinations with Norwegian Air, British Airways, Vueling and – significantly – easyJet’s new route to Moscow.”