GAIL’s takes off: Beloved brand opens first airport bakery at London Gatwick
- GAIL’s has opened its first ever airport bakery at London Gatwick’s South Terminal
- Passengers can enjoy the London-born brand’s signature baked goods, speciality coffee and exclusive travel-focused gifting range before take-off
- The launch adds to London Gatwick growing line-up of 28 food and drink options for passengers
Passengers flying from London Gatwick are now the first in the world to enjoy GAIL’s before boarding, as the much-loved London brand opens its debut airport bakery in the South Terminal.
Known for its handcrafted baked goods, seasonal sandwiches and expertly brewed specialty coffee, GAIL’s brings craft baking and carefully sourced food and drinks to Gatwick’s departure lounge. The new bakery offers a wide selection of breakfast items, pastries, sandwiches, salads, sweet treats, and hot and cold made-to-order drinks – all made with the quality and care GAIL’s is known for.
The new opening features a spacious seating area, ideal for those looking to relax before their flight, as well as an exclusive travel-focused range designed specifically for airport passengers, including grab-and-go options and new gifting items – perfect for last-minute presents or a taste of London to take abroad.
The opening of GAIL’s will also bring significant benefits to London Gatwick’s local community, with more than 70 new jobs created, including a number of roles through the Rise with GAIL’s programme, which supports career development in hospitality and incorporates 45 different training programmes across the business.
Jonathan Pollard, Chief Commercial Officer, London Gatwick said: “We are delighted to be the home of the first ever GAIL’s airport bakery. GAIL’s is a firm favourite across London and beyond, and its arrival at London Gatwick reflects our commitment to offering passengers a wide range of high-quality, locally-inspired food options to get their journeys off to the best possible start.”
Nick Ayerst, Managing Director, GAIL’s said: “We are thrilled to be opening our first airport location in London Gatwick’s South Terminal, building on the established success driven by new locations in London transport hubs. We’ve developed an extensive range to meet the specific needs of airport passengers and we look forward to sharing freshly baked, high-quality food and specialty coffee to those travelling through London Gatwick and beyond.”
With 43 million annual passengers, London Gatwick is the UK’s second largest and one of Europe’s top ten airports. It is a vital piece of national infrastructure that drives both the national and regional economies by generating £5.5 billion GVA and supporting over 76,000 jobs (2023). Almost 60 airlines fly from the airport to over 150 short-haul and more than 50 long-haul destinations. With a declared capacity of 55 movements an hour, London Gatwick is the most efficient single runway airport in the world.
The airport is located 28 miles south of the UK capital and is extremely well-connected, with more than a quarter of England’s population (15 million people) – including all of London – less than one hour away by road or rail. A six-year, £2bn sustainable growth programme includes an ambitious plan to be a net zero airport by 2030 and to increase capacity by bringing the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use, alongside its Main Runway. VINCI Airports owns a 50.01% stake in the airport, with Global Infrastructure Partners managing the remaining 49.99%.
GAIL’s is a craft bakery that began in the early 1990s, serving top chefs and food venues in London. The bakery is named after founder Gail Mejia, and the bakers are still serving top chefs to this day. The eponymous Gail was joined by Tom Molnar and a few friends in 2003, to help grow the premium wholesale craft bakery. Together they grew the business by opening modern neighbourhood craft bakeries that bring communities together to enjoy chef-quality baking. The first GAIL’s bakery opened in 2005 in Hampstead serving handmade sourdough, fresh sandwiches, salads, pastries and cakes. In the first years, GAIL’s developed further interest in coffee & built a coffee team that is now award-winning and carefully sources house blend speciality coffee and barista made hot and cold drink ranges. GAIL’s mission to make world-class craft baking and coffee a part of every neighbourhood. The bakery now sits at the heart of 160 neighbourhoods across UK including London, Manchester Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton and Bristol.
VINCI Airports, as the leading private airport operator in the world, manages the development and operation of more than 70 airports located in 14 countries. VINCI Airports draws on its expertise as a comprehensive integrator to develop, finance, build and operate airports, leveraging its investment capability and know-how to optimise operational performance and modernise infrastructure while bringing about their environmental transition. In 2016, VINCI Airports became the first airport operator to commit to an international environmental strategy, setting itself the aim of reaching zero net emissions (scope 1 and 2) across the network by 2050 while supporting the territories’ local climate transition.
For more information:
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock, is a leading infrastructure investor that specializes in investing in, owning and operating some of the largest and most complex assets across the energy, transport, digital infrastructure and water and waste management sectors. With energy pragmatism central to our investment thesis, we are well positioned to support the global energy transition.
GIP’s scaled platform has over $170 billion in assets under management. We believe that our focus on real infrastructure assets, combined with our deep proprietary origination network and comprehensive operational expertise, enables us to be responsible stewards of our clients’ capital and to create positive economic impact for communities. For more information, visit www.global-infra.com.
Linked news
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London, UK, 18 August 2025
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