London Gatwick ‘Polar Bears’ prepare for winter weather
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Around 350 London Gatwick colleagues are trained to drive snow clearance and de-icing vehicles on the airfield.
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London Gatwick has committed to investing a further £17m in its winter fleet over the next six years.
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Passengers can fly from London Gatwick to more than 220 destinations this winter.
London Gatwick colleagues have completed more than 4,000 hours of training as the airport prepares to deal with adverse weather conditions this winter.
Around 200 airport staff – primarily from the Security and Passenger Operations teams – have volunteered to be trained as ‘Polar Bears’ – ready to operate London Gatwick’s extensive fleet of winter vehicles, including tractors and snow ploughs, should it snow.
The ‘Polar Bears’ have been trained over the past few weeks on operating the vehicles and how to clear snow and ice from the airfield, in line with the airport’s adverse weather plan.
Mark Johnston, Chief Operating Officer, London Gatwick said: “We put a lot of planning in place for our winter operation, starting as soon as the previous winter ends. Our priority is the always safety of our passengers and staff, and to ensure they can travel through the airport as efficiently as possible.
“We rehearse our processes to make sure we get it right. While we can’t control the weather, it’s vital we have comprehensive plans in place to deal with inclement conditions as best as possible, to ensure the airport can remain operational and people get away on their holidays – particularly over the festive period.”
The ‘Polar Bears’ are just one of several proactive plans London Gatwick has in place to ensure the airport can run smoothly and safely throughout winter. Other preparations include landside volunteers - known as ‘Yetis’ - on standby to grit 27 miles of the airport’s road network, alongside its car parks and bus routes.
The airport has 70 tonnes of grit stored on site, as well 350,000 litres of liquid de-icer, and 25,000kg of solid de-icer, alongside 80 winter vehicles from articulated snow clearing vehicles, to de-icers, gritters and snow cutters.
These preparations will help passengers jet off to more than 220 worldwide destinations this winter, including new long-haul services to Bangkok and Islamabad with British Airways, and new short-haul flights to Luxor in Egypt (TUI and easyJet), Evenes in Norway (Norwegian), and Brest in France (Volotea).
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 14 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.
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