Gatwick renews call for second runway after announcing leap in traffic, turnover and profit
The airport saw a 5.5% rise in passengers to 40.8 million during the last financial year when turnover was also up 5.5% to £673.1 million.
Earnings before interest and tax rose 9.7% to £331 million and pre-tax profit for the 12 months to the end of March was £141 million.
CEO Stewart Wingate said Gatwick had ‘entered the premier league of airports with more than 50 long-haul routes’.
Making a renewed call for planning permission for a second runway on the anniversary of the publication of the Airport Commission’s report recommending additional capacity was added at Heathrow instead, Wingate said: "Aviation growth is outstripping forecasts. In uncertain times and after decades of delay, only Gatwick can now give Britain certainty that airport expansion can finally happen. Gatwick can have a spade in the ground by 2020 and the first planes flying from a new runway in 2025.
"Today’s results offer a glimpse of the benefits a two-runway Gatwick would deliver for the UK – guaranteed growth with limited environmental impacts and at a cost the country can afford. The time is fast approaching to give expansion at Gatwick the green light so Britain can get the benefits."
Wingate said he expected passenger numbers to continue to rise, despite Brexit. "We have to get on with life," he told BBC Radio 5, "from a volume point of view, we expect to see continued growth. The case remains for a second runway."
PM David Cameron has indicated he will leave a decision on extra runway capacity to his successor, meaning there will be no announcement likely before October.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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