Top Christmas travel tips from London Gatwick Airport
- Most popular Christmas destinations are Geneva (short-haul) and Dubai (long-haul)
- Gatwick’s busiest day over the festive period expected to be 30 December
- Gatwick issues top tips for passengers, including festive items permitted in hand luggage
- Advice also issued for arriving passengers impacted by Border Force strike action
Passengers flying out of Gatwick Airport this Christmas favour a mixture of city breaks and winter sun, with Geneva and Dubai among the most popular destinations.
Famed for the beauty of Lake Geneva and its proximity to some of Europe’s top ski resorts, the Swiss city of Geneva is proving the most popular spot for a Christmas getaway from Gatwick, followed by Dublin, Barcelona and Dubai. Other popular long-haul destinations include New York and Cancun.
Gatwick’s busiest day for departures over the festive period is expected to be Friday 30 December, closely followed by Friday 23 December.
Gatwick has also issued top tips for passengers travelling over the festive period, to help people travel to and from the airport, and through security, as smoothly as possible. Key advice includes:
- Don’t pack wrapped presents in hand luggage
- Passengers can take up to two boxes of unopened crackers in hand luggage
- Festive food – including mince pies, Christmas puddings and even frozen turkeys – can all be taken in hand luggage – just no creams, liquids, gels or pastes above 100ml
Jonathan Pollard, Chief Commercial Officer, Gatwick Airport said: “There is already a fantastic buzz around the airport as we prepare for the first Christmas since 2019 without travel restrictions. It’s encouraging to see so many people jetting off for that long-awaited holiday, or to see family and friends for the festive period.
“We are also delighted to be able to offer passengers even more options for travel this Christmas, having recently launched new routes to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Bamboo Airways, and Cape Town with British Airways.”
Last week, UK Border Force announced staff had agreed strike action over the Christmas period, with full-day walk-outs on 23, 24, 25, and 28, 29, 30 December – and early mornings on 26 and 31.
Despite the industrial action, flights from Gatwick are expected to arrive and depart as normal, with other Government staff assigned to operate passport checks at the border.
However, passport checks for arriving passengers will take longer than usual, so passengers are advised to use e-gates where possible. Gatwick will also have extra staff available to help arriving passengers, who are advised to bring extra food and water in case of significant queues.
Further advice for passengers arriving during the Border Force strikes and travelling to/from Gatwick during rail strikes can be found on the Gatwick Airport website.
Top 10 Christmas destinations (Saturday 17 December 2022 – Monday 2 January 2023)
- Geneva
- Dublin
- Barcelona
- Dubai
- Milan
- Tenerife
- Malaga
- Rome
- Amsterdam
- Madrid
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 65 airports in 12 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. 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 infrastructures and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to a global international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emission across its entire network by 2050.
For more information :
GIP manages the remaining 49.99% interest in Gatwick and is a leading independent infrastructure fund manager that makes equity and debt investments in high quality infrastructure assets in the energy, transport, water/waste and digital infrastructure sectors. GIP manages US$84 billion for its investors. Its 46 portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of US$61 billion and employ nearly 100,000 employees. For more information on GIP please visit http://global-infra.com
