User name
Password
Forgotten Password?
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
 

Gatwick airport history.

History and back ground info for Gatwick Airport supplied by your favourite Gatwick Airport valet meet and greet airport parking contractor - Help-me-park.com- we really do want you to be impressed with our Gatwick Airport parking service.
 

History of Gatwick Airport

Since its foundation as a small flying club in the 1930's, Gatwick Airport has grown to become the 2nd busiest International airport in the UK, not to mention the busiest single runway airport.

Gatwick Airport began life as a small flying club back in 1930, and gained its first public license issued by the Air Ministry in 1934, which allowed Gatwick Airport to be used by commercial aircraft
 

Gatwick Airport Historical Facts

On 17th May 1936, passengers boarded the first scheduled service running from Gatwick Airport to Paris. A single ticket that included the flight and first class train fare from Victoria cost four pounds and five shillings, which is approximately £160.22 by today’s prices.
By the end of 1936, passengers were able to fly to Paris, Malmo via Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen and the Isle of Wight from Gatwick Airport.

From 1939 to 1945, Gatwick Airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry for use by the RAF during the 2nd World War.

In 1952, approval was given by the Government for the proposed development of Gatwick Airport as an alternative to Heathrow. Gatwick Airport then closed down in March 1956 so that the new ‘London’ Airport could be built.
 

Quick reference facts for Gatwick Airport -

2nd busiest airport in the UK
6th busiest internatiuonal airport
Busiest single runway Airport in the World
32 Million passengers per year
Employs 25,000, 2,000 of which are employed by BAA alone
Approximately 90 Airlines fly to over 200 destinations
 
On 9th June 1958, Her Majesty The Queen officially opened Gatwick Airport, after 2 years of building costing £7.8 Million. London Gatwick was the first airport in the world to combine air, rail and road transport, all in a close-knit single unit.

In 1962, work began on enlarging Gatwick Airport which resulted in the existing terminal doubling in size. In 1967, passenger figures had increased to 2 million per year.

Gatwick Airport had soon outgrown the single terminal available, and in 1983, work began on constructing the ‘North Terminal’. The Gatwick North Terminal was to be the largest single construction project to have taken place in the 1980s south of London.

The new £200 Million North Terminal was later officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in 1988.

In July 1985, British Airways Concorde made its first ever commercial flight from Gatwick Airport.

After three years in close consultation with local authorities and Gatwick communities, a Sustainable Development Strategy was launched by BAA Gatwick in 2000, outlining how Gatwick Airport should develop during the next ten years.

In 2001, BAA Gatwick developed a unique legal agreement with West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council, to protect local communities from the impacts of future airport growth. This of course basically gave BAA complete autonomy in their actions and allowed CBC to save public face.

The World-first Pier 6 passenger bridge opened for business in 2005, allowing passengers to walk over the live taxiway.

Gatwick Airport’s development strategy for the future focuses on expansion as a single-runway, two-terminal airport, as it grows to handle approximately 40 million passengers a year by 2010 - 2011.

In response to ‘The Future of Aviation’, a White Paper that set Government policy for future airport development in the UK, in March 2005 BAA Gatwick published an outline master plan showing how Gatwick Airport could develop over the next 10 and 25 years, with the possibility of the development of a 2nd runway in 2019 or 2030.
 
Check out our Gatwick airport parking car valeting and allow your valet meet and greet airport parking contractor to help you and your car look and feel better on your return to Gatwick Airport parking.
 
 
 
 
 
 
contact gatwick airport meet and greet parking
what is valet airport meet and greet parking
car park security gatwick parking