Traffic from Gatwick into Asia has balanced the airport’s drop in traffic from the Olympics, it has announced.
The London airport saw yearn-year growth for August up 0.2%, or 7,700 passengers, with an 8.2% boost on its routes into Asia.
Its European routes saw growth of 4.1% year-on-year with the trend set to continue following new daily flights to Athens by Aegean Airlines and Aer Lingus’ daily Belfast flights.
While Hong Kong Airlines’ exit from the airport will dent its Asian routes, it revealed a new African airline Gambia Bird will operate twice weekly from Gatwick to Banjul from 3 October. In line with the rest of the travel industry, Gatwick’s lates market has also picked up.
“The excitement of the Games saw fewer Britons jet abroad on holiday in the first two weeks of August than last year, although there was an increase in late holiday bookings post the closing ceremony and this has continued into September,” added Nick Dunn, chief financial officer at Gatwick Airport.
