London Gatwick Airport

London Gatwick Airport
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gatwick_Airport,_North_Terminal.jpg
Author: Martin Roell


London Gatwick Airport (LGW) is the second busiest airport in the United Kingdom, and also the second largest in London. It is also the world's busiest single runway airport, the world's 22nd busiest airport in terms of passengers numbers, and the world's 7th busiest in terms of international passengers.

London Gatwick Airport is located in Crawley, West Sussex 46 km (28 miles) south of London. The site has been used as an aerodrome going back to the 1930's. For much of its early existence, it was the site of flying school. During the war years, it was used by the British Air Force for aircraft maintenance. It already had an underground train connection since 1936.

Gatwick Airport on Google Maps Street View

Arriving at Gatwick Airport

If you arrive at London Gatwick, you have the following options to reach London:

History of London Gatwick Airport

The decision to make in 1950 to use Gatwick as the second international airport after Heathrow. It closed for extensive renovation in 1956, and was reopened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. The renovated airport became the world's first passenger airport with railway connection. Today it is served by two terminals, North and South Terminal. Pier 6 at North Terminal, opened in 2005, is the world's longest air passenger bridge. It spans an aircraft taxiway, allowing passengers excellent views of the airport and planes.

Gatwick is owned and operated by BAA which is owned by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. BAA owns and operates six other UK airports including Heathrow. There are 263,363 aircraft movements at Gatwick in 2006. In 2007 the airport surpassed the 35 million passenger milestone.

In 2008, Gatwick celebrated 50 years of operations. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 June 1958. Today it is the main London base for charter airlines. Many flights to and from USA also use Gatwick due to restrictions at Heathrow. The airport is also a major operational base for British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic, and the base for charter airlines including First Choice Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomsonfly and XL Airways.

List of Airports in London and Airports in the United Kingdom

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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

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