London Gatwick ready to welcome passengers for the Christmas getaway
- London Gatwick is set to welcome passengers this Christmas with the busiest day expected to be 22 December
- Most popular Christmas destinations are Geneva (short-haul) and Dubai (long-haul)
- The airport has specially trained a large number of its staff so they are well-prepared to react to extreme weather conditions such as snow and ice
London Gatwick is ready to welcome passengers travelling over the busy festive period.
The busiest day for departures over Christmas is expected to be Friday 22 December. However, the airport will be open and operating on Christmas Day with an expected 254 flights scheduled.
The most popular Christmas destinations this year are Geneva (short-haul) and Dubai (long-haul).
Meanwhile, highly trained staff have been preparing for the possibility of extreme weather over the winter season to keep the airport running smoothly.
It takes a variety of skills and teams to come together to keep the world’s most efficient single runway open, whatever the weather.
Across the airport there are 350 staff trained in snow and ice clearance, from airfield engineers to fire crews. They use specialist equipment including nine snow ploughs and two snow cutters that are proficient in clearing the runway when it is hit with snow and ice.
A team of 150 specially trained staff, nicknamed polar bears, will step up into the role and clear the aircraft parking stands and surrounding roads. They will operate up to 20 smaller snow ploughs and 30 tractors when required.
The airport has more than 352,000 litres of surface de-icer on standby. There is also more than 25,000kg of solid de-icer, which is used to treat heavily congested areas and walkways to keep passengers safe. Snow clearing and de-icing treatment on the runways can take a matter of minutes but can be longer depending on weather type and vehicle formation.
Alongside the airfield preparations, London Gatwick also has terminal staff on-hand to look after passenger welfare as required.
Graham Alder, Head of Aerodrome, London Gatwick said: “This Christmas everyone at London Gatwick is looking forward to welcoming passengers as they travel over the festive period.
“We can’t dictate the weather or issues outside of our control, but we can plan and prepare for them. Our training schedule starts in August to ensure everyone is ready to react to the unpredictability of the weather. Our hardworking teams have just completed four separate live training days where we test our plans, practice formation driving and use the snow ploughs to rehearse snow clearance on the runway.
“Christmas is a busy time for everyone at London Gatwick and the airport team is working hard with all of our partners to deliver the best possible experience for passengers.”
London Gatwick is the UK’s second largest airport and is a vital piece of national infrastructure that helps drive both the regional and national economy. More than 40 airlines fly from the airport to over 150 short-haul and more than 45 long-haul destinations. The airport is focused on rebuilding and growing sustainably in the long term. It has ambitious plans to be a net zero airport by 2030 and increase capacity by bringing its Northern runway into routine use. Vinci Airports owns a 50.01% stake in the airport, with Global Infrastructure Partners managing the remaining 49.99% interest.
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.
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GIP has approximately $100 billion in assets under management. Our portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of approximately $80 billion and employ over 100,000 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.
