[textarea]Gatwick earnings up on lower passengers

Gatwick Airport had fewer passengers last year, partly as a result of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, but made more money out of those that did pass through its two terminals. In the 12 months to April, Gatwick's first full year under the ownership of Global Infrastructure Partners, 31.6 million people passed through the airport, 2.3% lower than the previous year. During that time, the airport's earnings before tax, interest and other exceptional items jumped 12.2% to £189.4 million.

The airport's turnover was flat at £476.3 million. Interest on its £1.2bn of debts saw it report losses of £62.5 million, much lower than the £183 million over the previous 15 months.It is currently investing £20 million a month in the airport, including new security facilities and check-in zones.

Gatwick's chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said: ‘We delivered strong performance in our first full year of new ownership despite the challenging environment and extraordinary events that affected major airports across Europe. Resilient passenger traffic combined with our relentless focus on cost efficiency helped us achieve solid financial results.’

Source[/textarea]
 
Not good news for Gatwick.....

[textarea]Passengers stranded on a plane at Gatwick for NINE hours following heavy fog

Last updated at 7:28 PM on 16th October 2011

Passengers were left stranded on a plane for nine hours today at Gatwick Airport after their flight was diverted because of heavy fog.

The Air India plane, which was flying from Mumbai to Heathrow, was redirected to Gatwick at 8am but did not take off again until just before 5pm.

Waiting travellers, who included small children and a heavily pregnant woman, begged to be allowed to get out, according to one passenger.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1ayGhrYDk[/textarea]
 
Passengers standed on diverted Air India aircraft at Gatwick

Re previous post, this seems a shocking situation.

Passengers were kept on board the aircraft for eight hours with little food and drink.

At one point Police had to go on board to defuse the situation as tempers became frayed amongst the passengers - I'm not surprised given what they apparently had to put up with.

Presumably one of the problems was that Air India has no handling staff at Gatwick and it seems the flight crew was out of hours to continue the short hop to Heathrow when the weather relented.

Good public relations from Air India (not) - no-one available for comment.

In such situations I wonder what would have happened if a large number of passengers became ill because of the stress (or said they were anyway). Would they have been allowed off or would a team of doctors and nurses been sent on board the aircraft?

And what happens then if the medical people believe several passengers are ill and in need of treatment away from the aircraft? Would they be allowed off then? If so, why not the remainder of the passengers?

Some airlines seem to go out of their way to generate awful publicity for themselves.
 
An advantage of using a European carrier who would have been obliged to provide a minimum basic service such as adequate food and water.

I'm still trying to work out why there was a need to leave all the passengers on board for so long. I don't understand why the passengers weren't just disembarked and bused the last part of the journey the few miles up to Heathrow. It must have cost the airline more to have the aircraft stuck on the ground for 9 hours than the cost of the additional ground transport to Heathrow.
 
[textarea]Hong Kong Airlines confirm Gatwick flights



Gatwick has been confirmed as the London airport for new daily business-class only flights to Hong Kong, Travelmole reports. Hong Kong Airlines officially unveiled its plans at World Travel Market, saying it will offer an alternative to British Airways and Cathay Pacific.

The service will launch next March using the Airbus A330-200 operating from Gatwick’s newly renovated North Terminal. The airline's general manager UK, Gerard Clarke, said: ‘The concept for the all Club Class aircraft will provide passengers with a private jet style ambience and an exceptional crew to guest ratio. We are confident that we have the right knowledge and experience to make a success of the new all Club Class daily service.’

Source[/textarea]
 
Plans for major emergency ambulance base near Gatwick


A specialist ambulance station is being proposed near Gatwick Airport to be able to deal with any major emergency incidents at the hub, the Crawley Observer reports. The site would be home to a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), trained to respond to mass casualty incidents, industrial accidents and natural disasters.

Staff at the new base will be trained to enter areas contaminated by chemical, biological or nuclear materials as part of Government counter-terrorism strategy to improve emergency responses. The site was chosen for its position near Gatwick and will also meet obligations to support the 2012 Olympic Games.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) made the application to change the use of a unit Gatwick Gate Industrial Park on Old Brighton Road. The application asks for a temporary five-year home while a permanent HART facility is built. It would be the base for 42 staff and 15 emergency vehicles and be on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Source





Air China to launch Gatwick – Beijing flights


Air China will launch direct flights between Beijing and Gatwick from May 2, 2012. The flights, CA851/2, will be operated on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday using an Airbus A330-200 plane.

The flights will depart from Beijing at 01:35 and from London Gatwick at 13:15 (local times). The new services mean that Air China will operate to both Heathrow and Gatwick. A spokesman for the airline the new services will not only offer more flight options for passengers, but also make it easier for passengers to transfer at its Beijing hub.

Source
 
Air Zimbabwe suspend Gatwick flights

Air Zimbabwe, has suspended all flights to Gatwick with immediate effect, the airline's chairman, Jonathan Kadzura, has announced.

The airline is 100 percent owned by the Zimbabwe government. The decision follows an incident at Gatwick last month when one of Air Zimbabwe’s planes was impounded by American General Supplies until the airline settled a $1.5 million account for spares and other equipment.

The airline will maintain flights to China, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Mr Kadzura said the Zimbabwe Government does not want to rescue the national airline.

Source
 
Air Asia X axe Gatwick route


Air Asia X has announced that it will no longer fly to Europe at the end of March, axing its flights from Kuala Lumpur to both Gatwick and Paris. The budget airline blamed falling demand in Europe, the high oil price and the added costs of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the European emissions trading scheme (ETS) for the decision.

Air Asia X only switched service from Stansted to Gatwick in October, hoping to gain more transfer passengers and to appeal to the wealthier catchment area of the south London hub. Its last flight from Gatwick will operate on March 31, with passengers who have bookings after this date offered the choice of a full refund or switch to an alternative airline. It will continue to operate between Kuala Lumpur and Australasia, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan and plan new routes within these core markets.

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: ‘Air Asia X has made the reasons behind its decision clear. As a founding member of the Fair Tax on Flying Alliance, we are campaigning for the cost of the Emissions Trading Scheme to be offset against those of APD in the March 2012 Budget. We believe the Treasury must pay far closer attention to the impact of this issue. The decision by Air Asia X is clear evidence that the burden of additional taxation is a material consideration for long haul airlines flying to the UK.’

Source


All this tax is getting beyond a joke now the APD and the EU emissions scheme.
 
[textarea]Investigation after man dies at Gatwick train station

A 33-year-old man who died yesterday after he stabbed himself in the neck with a broken bottle at the Gatwick Airport train station had been tasered by police, the Argus reports. The man was pronounced dead shortly after 03.30 yesterday after self-harming with the glass. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has confirmed it is investigating his death.

The IPCC said officers had deployed the taser as they tried to restrain the man in order to give him first aid. He suffered a serious wound to his neck and was treated by ambulance crews but was later pronounced dead.

Sussex Police first spoke to the man at about 02:50 after reports he had been acting strangely at a shop in the South Terminal. The man spoke in a foreign language, via a telephone interpreter service, and at about 03:25 he was asked to leave the terminal. Officers walked him to the train station concourse where he tried to cut himself. They tried to restrain him but he was later pronounced dead.

The police believe they have identified the man and are trying to trace his family. Investigators from the IPCC are examining the circumstances leading up to his death because of the contact officers had. The station concourse was closed for several hours following the incident.

For more information on this airport news story visit: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9518081. ... n_s_death/[/textarea]
 
London Gatwick confident on approval for A380 plans


London Gatwick airport is likely to gain approval from local government next week to begin modifications to its North Terminal to allow pier-served access to Airbus A380 aircraft.

The airport submitted consultative documents to Crawley borough council on 12 January detailing the changes it is planning to make to two non-pier-served "push and hold" positions - stands 125 and 110 - at the western end of pier 6.

Owing to the nature of the development, Gatwick does not need planning permission but the council could still raise an objection.

However, planning officials indicate they are likely to rubber-stamp the proposal next week.

The pier comprises mostly ICAO Code C stands for Airbus A320- and Boeing 737-sized aircraft and is connected to the North Terminal via a high-level link bridge over taxiway L.

Gatwick's plan sees the two stands merged into a single Code F position with the provision of two air bridges, with the possibility of adding a third at a later date.

Although the A380 is permitted to land at Gatwick following a 2010 decision, at present the type can only be disembarked at two remote, non-pier-served stands in the north-west of the airport.

In its consultation document, the airport says: "A380 aircraft are expected to serve Gatwick in the near future and hence the proposed development will ensure this can happen in a way that provides passengers with pier service."

The airport operator hopes that A380 operators will begin using the airport from summer 2013.

Separately, Gatwick has submitted a planning application to redevelop pier 1, the airport's oldest, at its South Terminal and extend and upgrade the terminal's departures baggage system. A decision on the proposal is expected in the next two months.

Source
 
I can't believe London Gatwick has been so far behind with it's plans to handle the A380 especially with it been the UKs second airport, but you wouldn't believe it reading that story.
 
Its just one of this things really!!

[ Post made via Android ]
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Concorde Lover said:
Well the fact that the airport is still waiting for the go ahead is just one of those things, its a waiting game, although they could go straight ahead with the build

[ Post made via Android ]
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Thanks, yes I know it's planning issues but really the airport should have started the ball rolling much sooner. The A380 took years to develop and other major airports around the world and the UK (eg. Manchester) were prepared, so why not London Gatwick. :nea:
 
Got to remember the airport changed hands recently, and BAA, the previous owners, were always concentrating on LHR not LGW so that could be reason in why the planning and permission didnt go ahead way back in 2006/2007

[ Post made via Android ]
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Fair point I suppose but any sensible business would continue to plan ahead even during the run up to a sale if it's in the interest of the business to do so. :plums: Blrrr what do I know. :whiteflag:
 
BBC News and Sky News are both reporting that London Gatwick Airport is currently closed due to a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330 aircraft making emergency landing and been evacuated by the slides on the runway after smoke was reported in the cabin.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-17730154

Virgin aircraft in emergency landing at Gatwick Airport

Flights in and out of Gatwick Airport have been suspended after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing after smoke was reported in the cabin.

Virgin flight VS027 had left the West Sussex airport and was bound for Orlando in the US when it had to return to make the landing on Monday.

Passengers were being evacuated by emergency services, an airport spokeswoman said.

A Gatwick Airport spokeswoman said: "It has made a safe emergency landing."

She added: "The emergency services are on the scene and the aircraft is safe and passengers are being disembarked."

A statement from Virgin Atlantic confirmed the flight had returned to the airport and been evacuated.

It said: "Due to a technical problem on board the aircraft, the captain decided as a precautionary measure to immediately evacuate the aircraft.

"Our teams at Gatwick are now looking after our passengers and assisting with their immediate requirements."

The airline said the Airbus A330-300 aircraft had 13 crew and 299 passengers on board.
 
looking at flight radar, it got to just short of 22,000ft over the english channel before it returned to Gatwick.

The aviation hearld are saying it was a cargo fire indication
 

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