News

Gatwick turns 50

9 Jun 2008 by Mark Caswell

Gatwick airport is this week celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of its South Terminal.

The £7.8m facility was officially opened by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh on June 9, 1958, with the inaugural flight being a British European Airways DC3 flying to Jersey and Guernsey. A total of 368,000 passengers passed through the airport in its first full year of operation, compared to over 35 million in 2007.

The £200m North Terminal followed in 1987, at which point Gatwick was the world’s second busiest airport, ahead of New York JFK. It remains the busiest single-use runway, although it faces challenges ahead, with the demise of low-cost carrier Oasis (which flew between Gatwick and Hong Kong), and the recent decision by Delta to withdraw its New York JFK route from this August.

For a look at what lies ahead for London’s second airport, read Gary Noakes' report in the June 2008 edition of Business Traveller.

Visit gatwickairport.com.

Report by Mark Caswell

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls