Airport News
London Gatwick made a profit before tax of £127.3 million for the first half of 2012, it has revealed in its financial results for the period.
Turnover was up 10.7% to £360.6 million, which resulted in an EBITDA of £196.7 million, up 14.4% on the same period last year.
Traffic grew 4.4% to 20.8 million, from 19.9 million, but underlying growth was 3.5% as the Olympic Games reduced traffic by 170,000 in 2012.
Growth has comemainly from European short haul, particularly from Norwegian, which launched 12 new routes, and increasing business services from easyJet and Turkish Airlines.
Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick, says: “Our results today show a strong financial performance but we must not become complacent. We must continue to invest and ensure we remain competitive.
“Gatwick continues to attract new airlines and routes, which were once only the domain of Heathrow. We now serve routes as diverse – and strategically important for the UK – as Moscow, Beijing, Istanbul and key cities in Vietnam.
"Substantial growth continues to come from our extensive European network. Next year, we will continue to grow our long haul network with routes including Jakarta, New York and Los Angeles.
“This is just the start of what Gatwick has to offer. A new runway here would deliver the routes that passengers actually want at a better price, more quickly and with significantly less environmental impact. The UK’s next runway has got to be at Gatwick.”
Gatwick is undergoing a £1 billion investment programme with projects including a £45 million transformation of the South Terminal’s retail offering, which has contributed to a 2% increase in income per passenger to £3.55.
