EasyJet has also taken up more take-off and landing slots, as it plans to run its busiest flying schedule from the airport.
Gatwick described the increase in flights as “positive news” for the local job market, and said that nearby communities were “some of the country’s worst affected by the impacts of the pandemic”.
Heathrow Airport reported that demand for flights in January was 57% down on pre-pandemic levels.
Just 2.6 million people travelled through the west London airport last month. That is nearly a four-fold increase on January 2021, when international leisure travel to and from the UK was banned.
However, the total is less than half of the 6.1 million recorded in January 2020 before the pandemic hit the aviation industry.
More than 1.3 million passengers cancelled or did not book flights to or from the airport in December and January because of restrictions related to the omicron variant, according to Heathrow.
‘Removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers offers a ray of hope’
John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of the airport, said: “After a tough Christmas, omicron has continued to bite and this has been a weak start to the year.
“As short-lived as the additional travel restrictions were, they ruined the travel plans of more than 1.3 million passengers in the last two months.
“Today’s removal of restrictions for vaccinated passengers in and out of the UK offers a ray of hope, but the omicron hangover proves demand remains fragile, and at risk to new variants of concern.
“Government needs to set out a playbook for managing future variants that allows travel and trade to keep flowing.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/11/gatwick-airport-reopen-south-terminal-meet-surge-demand-summer/
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See earlier:
Gatwick Airport will consolidate operations into the South Terminal from 1 April and limit runway opening hours
March 28, 2020
Gatwick will close its North Terminal and consolidate operations into the South Terminal from 1 April, for a month, due to the lack of demand for air travel because of COVID-19. The runway to be in use between 1400 and 2200 for scheduled flights, but will be available for emergency landings and diversions only, outside these hours. The situation will be reviewed after a month, by 1st May. A decision on reopening the North Terminal will be taken when airline traffic eventually increases and Government public health advice – including on social distancing – is relaxed. Gatwick is hoping to make out that it is being “responsible” in closing, to protect the health of its staff and passengers, while it has been quite happy to have as many flights as it can, to and from other countries suffering high levels of Covid-19 infection, up until now. It is only closing because of the economics, and to “protect its business.” In addition London City Airport has announced that it was suspending all commercial and private flights until the end of April. It is also possible that Birmingham Airport could serve as a mortuary during the Coronavirus crisis.
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2020/03/gatwick-airport-will-consolidate-operations-into-the-south-terminal-from-1-april-and-limit-runway-opening-hours/
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