[AMcWhirter]

Today I came across this historical and fascinating video.

It show the opening of Gatwick’s Beehive terminal in 1936 followed by the opening of today’s South Terminal in 1958.

Back then Gatwick was billed as “Britain’s number two airport.”

All too easy to forget that with its terminal linked to the mainline Gatwick was ahead of its time in today’s trend for rail-air connections.

Two Gatwick Airport openings – 1936 & 1958.

1st is the opening of the 'Beehive' terminal – prior to this, Gatwick (opened 1928) was merely an aerodrome.

The second was a major redevelopment, which saw the airport relocated to an adjacent site.

The Beehive survives as offices. pic.twitter.com/7MBvnnTDr9

— Captain Brent 🇬🇧 (@Birdseed501) December 23, 2021

9 users thanked author for this post.

Bullfrog, Greg, WilliamRead, Swissdiver, transtraxman, cwoodward, Frederic, givemeabreak, ASK1945

[Greg]

1969 ?? flew from Heathrow to Malaga with British Eagle (1-11) who went bust while we were there. We were flown home on a Dan-Air comet arriving at Gatwick. Car was at Heathrow, no M25, No Buses, No train, No Gatwick link only alternative was to get into central London and get a taxi next day. Ahead of its time?

Fond Fond memories though.

2 users thanked author for this post.

AMcWhirter, Bullfrog

[AMcWhirter]

Hello Greg – I don’t know what time of day you were using LGW but I can assure you that its rail station opened at the same time at the terminal (now called the South Terminal).

There definitely was a rail link from Victoria (every 15 mins if I recall correctly) although it wasn’t the Gatwick Express (at that time).

My early flying days started in the late 1960s and I was a fan of BUA (later to become B.Cal) and the latter had its own terminal at Victoria.

Passengers checked in at the BUA terminal (located above the train tracks) and luggage was then placed onto the train below and taken to Gatwick.

I used BUA and its Victoria station terminal a number of times in the late 1960s.

[Author]

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