Gatwick airport lifts 2022 passenger forecast

Gatwick Airport lifted its passenger forecast for this year on Tuesday following strong demand.

The airport now expects 32.8m passengers in 2022, up from a previous forecast of 30.6m. However, it also warned that continued macroeconomic uncertainty, including inflationary pressures on costs and passenger demand for the winter season may impact its forecast.

In addition, Gatwick announced the end of its passenger cap, just a week after Heathrow extended its cap to the end of October.

"With additional resources across the Gatwick operation in place no further moderation of flying programmes is necessary," it said.

The airport said passenger demand in the second quarter was at 74.3% of pre-pandemic levels, after all UK travel restrictions were removed, and 59.1% for the half year period.

Chief executive Stewart Wingate said: "We still have some way to go, but strong demand has fast-tracked Gatwick’s recovery from the pandemic, particularly in the last quarter since all UK travel restrictions were removed. Air traffic volumes have reflected this strong passenger demand and have bounced back to around 75% of pre-Covid levels.

"The unprecedented growth in traffic led to short term operational issues in June, however our decisive early action to limit the airport’s capacity in the crucial school holiday period of July and August has ensured passengers have experienced reliable flight timetables over the summer months. We are now very much operating business as usual and do not see any reason to extend the capacity declaration."