Gatwick Airport in major upgrades

A new £45m security area has opened at Gatwick South.  Passengers should be able to pass through its confines in under five minutes.  With 19 lanes the target is 5,000 people per hour.  There are 15 standard access points, two dedicated for families with young children and passengers with reduced mobility, and in what in fairness is no more than a marketing move, two lanes for premium travellers (or what is likely to be called by most people “Fast Track”).

The security section upgrade is part of a £1.2bn investment programme to improve the overall airport experience.  To further enhance “its vision for the future” the airport has launched a three-month consultation of its draft master plan that will look ahead to 2020, by which time 40m passengers are expected to use the airport (currently 33m). For September numbers are by 4.9%

Also last week British Airways celebrated the opening of its highly sophisticated new check-in area in the North Terminal, including for the first time what it calls a ‘Fast Travel’ service.  Passengers can now not only self check-in but can do so for their luggage too, the special kiosks printing out destination tags.  AERBT will be taking a close look at the ‘new’ Gatwick in a few weeks' time. www.gatwickairport.com

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum