London Gatwick hosts work experience for school students for the first time
- A group of 28 school students took part in a week's work experience at London Gatwick
- The students, aged 14-15, engaged in activities, tours and heard from airport employees
- London Gatwick offers a huge range of career opportunities for the region, from engineering to retail
A group of 28 school students from the local area took part in work experience at London Gatwick for the very first time.
The students’ week (8-12 July) was focused on understanding early career opportunities at the airport, recognising the importance of essential skills in the workplace and learning how to contribute towards a more sustainable future.
London Gatwick hosted students from every Crawley secondary school, aged 14-15, who learnt communication skills, put together group presentations and listened to panel discussions by employees from different areas across the airport, from marketing and airline development to finance and passenger operations.
In addition to workplace and life skills, the students, who came from eight local schools, were taken on behind the scenes tours of the airport, including the airfield, fire station and the terminals.
Sustainability is key at London Gatwick and the students also engaged in a biodiversity session, which included a habitat talk and a seed bomb workshop.
Melanie Wrightson, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, London Gatwick said: “We are thrilled to have offered local school children such a fantastic opportunity this week. It was clear to see how much the students enjoyed themselves and experienced the breadth of career opportunities at London Gatwick. The week itself was supported by more than 100 colleagues involved in the planning and hosting activities.
“Many activities took place in our STEM centre (Science Technology Engineering and Maths), a bespoke, hands-on space to engage and teach school children across the region about STEM and aviation.
“A diverse and skilled pipeline of local talent is critical to a healthy labour market and London Gatwick’s future growth. It’s imperative we promote the opportunities the airport has to offer from a young age. This work experience week is just one of the many ways we are engaging with schools, which includes a regular flow of activities at our STEM centre and an extensive package of career-related support and outreach in local schools.”
For more information on careers at London Gatwick:
Learn Live – Careers Live Broadcasts
We produce free to view 30min monthly broadcasts for the Careers Live channel which can be accessed here: London Gatwick Careers & Jobs | Careers Live | Contact Us Today (careersliveuk.com). These cover a wide range of roles/teams and themes across the airport and feature interviews with diverse colleagues. Students can ask questions in a live chat (written and off-camera) when the broadcast first airs and afterwards all broadcasts are available to watch on demand.
London Gatwick Career Cards
A resource pack of cards with information about roles and skills / qualifications required GatwickCareersPack.pdf (gatwickairport.com)
Work experience was arranged through local schools, any future interest should be directed to schools who liaise directly with London Gatwick.
The students who took part in work experience came from the below schools:
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Oakwood School, Horley
All Crawley secondary schools
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The Gatwick School
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Thomas Bennett Community College
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St Wilfrid’s School
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Hazelwick School
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Holy Trinity School
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Ifield Community College
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Oriel High School
With 41 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, £2 billion 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%.
The world’s leading private airport operator, VINCI Airports operates more than 70 airports in 13 countries. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and manages airports by providing its investment capacity and its know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructure and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to an international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emissions across its entire network by 2050.
For more information:
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) 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 decarbonization central to our investment thesis, we are well positioned to support the global energy transition. Headquartered in New York, GIP has offices in Brisbane, Dallas, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Mumbai, Singapore, Stamford and Sydney.
GIP has approximately $106 billion in assets under management. Our portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of approximately $75 billion and employ over 115,000 people. 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 investors' capital and to create positive economic impact for communities. For more information, visit www.global-infra.com.
