London Gatwick Airport

London Gatwick Airport is Top Single-Runway Airport in World

London Gatwick Airport may have only one runway, but it makes optimal use of it - so much so that it is known as the busiest single-runway airport among the world's single-runway airports. It is the second-biggest airport in the United Kingdom alone and presently ranks as the seventh-busiest of the world's international airports. Not bad for an air travel facility with just one runway.

It has two terminals from which you can hop on any flight offered by around 90 carriers who currently serve over 200 destinations - all originating from London Gatwick Airport. Shopping at London Gatwick Airport Let's face it, everyone loves to shop. If you are at London Gatwick Airport, be sure to ask about the Shopping Collection Service of this airport. With this service, passengers who plan to return to London Gatwick Airport on their return flight can buy as much as they want before their flight out of London Gatwick Airport. The service allows them to request for their purchases to be stored for them at the airport, for pick up by them on their return journey. This means you can stop worrying that you bought too much, or that expensive and fragile purchases will be broken en route to your destination. To avail of the service, you need to ask for a special receipt from the airport retailer, so you can pick up your purchases from either the South Terminal or the North Terminal. However, this service is provided only to travelers who are confined to European Union countries.

Another option is the fly-with-everything-you-buy service. This other service allows you to buy items from concessions located after the security control checkpoints which you may then bring along with you on your flight out of London Gatwick Airport.

Oh, and one more thing - all airport purchases are tax free, meaning you save big bucks from your airport purchases. Currency exchange service It is possible to pre-order currency to be exchanged at the airport currency exchange service. This means you need not look around for a bank to exchange your currency for you. This service can handle exchanges of over 50 types of currency.

Expansion plans of London Gatwick Airport

The growth of London Gatwick Airport hinges on the expansion plans of two other UK airports - Stansted Airport and Heathrow Airport. According to the White Paper called The Future of Aviation, Stansted should eventually add on a second runway while Heathrow needs to hurdle environmental requirements before it can construct a new runway. If Heathrow fails to meet environmental requirements, then London Gatwick Airport is projected to look for land to build a second runway on by 2019.

If London Gatwick Airport succeeds in growing into a two-runway air travel facility, then passenger capacity and airport employment should increase as well. The White Paper explores the future operations of London Gatwick Airport as a two-runway airport by 2030. But London Gatwick Airport is not going to pursue this growth as a lone wolf - it will seek input from MPs, business leaders, councils, and the nearby community as well before it pursues growth plans.

Comments (0) Add Comment