Existing Site and Operations

Gatwick Airport

4.1.1 In 2019, Gatwick Airport served more destinations than any other UK airport and accommodated the following:

46.6 million

total passengers

283,000

commercial air transport movements

150,000

tonnes total cargo

4.1.2 Gatwick Airport currently operates from a single main runway and two passenger terminals: North Terminal and South Terminal. When the main runway is unavailable, the existing northern runway is used as a standby runway. The northern runway was used for 2,842 air traffic movements in 2019. The passenger terminals provide a variety of facilities including check-in desks, departure lounges, immigration and security. In addition, the airport provides hotels, office facilities and car parking. Key elements of the existing site are shown below.

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Existing airfield infrastructure

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4.1.4 The network of taxiways allows aircraft to move around the airfield and access the existing piers where the passengers embark and disembark aircraft (Piers 1, 2 and 3 at South Terminal and Piers 4, 5 and 6 at North Terminal). Each pier has a number of aircraft stands, the number and configuration of which depend on the type and size of aircraft.

4.1.5 Furthermore, there are a number of airfield supporting facilities, including:

airport fire station (airport fire service);
central area recycling enclosure (CARE);
motor transport, surface transport and ground maintenance facilities;
cargo facilities;
fire training ground;
aircraft hangars;
air traffic control tower;
noise mitigation, including the existing bund and noise wall;
internal access routes (including Larkins Road); and
a fuel storage area (known as the fuel farm).
1. Surface water is managed through a series of existing drainage ponds. Rainfall runoff usually drains into these ponds and then flows into one of three watercourses: Crawter's Brook, Gatwick Stream and the River Mole, in accordance with existing discharge consents and necessary pollution control measures.
2. Foul water currently passes to the Crawley Sewage Treatment Works to the south east of the airport or Horley Sewage Treatment Works to the north east of the airport.
3. Gatwick Airport is directly connected to the M23 via the M23 spur road, approximately 25 miles south of central London. Gatwick Airport’s railway station is located at the South Terminal. There is a direct transit link from the railway station to the North Terminal. The station provides over 120 direct rail connections, including direct trains to central London. These include the Gatwick Express service to London Victoria as well as the Southern and Thameslink networks. The station served over 20 million rail journeys in 2019.
4. In 2019, approximately 24,000 staff worked at the airport, of which approximately 3,300 were employed directly by GAL. In 2020 with the prevailing pandemic conditions, the number of GAL staff fell to approximately 1,900 although this is expected to return to previous levels in line with recovering passenger numbers in the coming years.

Predicted Future Changes in Passenger and Cargo Throughput at Gatwick Airport

4.2.1 The COVID-19 pandemic had a very severe impact on the global aviation industry in 2020, with significant reductions in passenger traffic as a result of both Government-imposed restrictions on air travel and reduced passenger demand driven by low consumer confidence. It is expected that Government travel restrictions will continue to have an impact on passenger demand and traffic levels throughout 2021, but that by the end of 2021 traffic levels will start to recover.

4.2.2 Overall, updated forecasts predict that it will take approximately five years for passenger traffic at Gatwick Airport to return to levels seen in 2019 and that by the end of the 2020s, passenger levels at Gatwick Airport will have returned broadly to where they would have been had the pandemic not occurred. This reflects the combination of ongoing capacity constraints already experienced before and during 2019 and underlying market growth across the London system.

4.2.3 It is predicted that by 2038, passenger throughput would increase to approximately 62.4 million passengers per annum in the absence of the Project. These growth projections are based on a set of up-to-date air traffic forecasts that have been prepared by leading independent aviation specialists.

4.2.4 Three main factors influence the predicted change in future passenger numbers, as follows.

Growth in runway utilisation in off-peak periods: whilst GAL is anticipating only minor changes in the number of daily aircraft movements during current peak summer months (July to September), during the off-peak periods – the shoulder months of summer (April to June and October) and in the winter months (November to March) – the number of daily aircraft movements is expected to increase by a greater amount than in the peak months.
Up-gauging of aircraft fleets with larger aircraft: reflecting the trend for airlines to replace their fleets with larger aircraft having more seats.
Increased load factors: an increase in the average occupancy levels of flights.
1. Cargo volumes are also forecast to increase from approximately 150,000 tonnes in 2019 to 254,000 tonnes in 2038.

Future Changes

4.3.1 A number of developments at the airport are proposed in the absence of the Project, including the following.

A western extension to Pier 6 and an associated increase in aircraft stand numbers.
Provision of new car parking including new multi-storey car parks 4 and 7 and introduction of robotics technology within existing long stay parking areas to increase capacity.
Highway improvements, including local widening on the junction entry/exit lanes for both the North Terminal and South Terminal roundabouts, together with signalisation of the roundabouts and provision of enhanced signage.
1. In addition, a number of developments are proposed by others, including an extension to the existing BLOC hotel and reconfiguration of the Hilton hotel. Improvement works to Gatwick Airport railway station, which are currently under construction and would be operational prior to operation of the Project. Table 1 provides a summary of the key parameters.

Table 1: Existing Airport and Future Baseline - Summary of Key Parameters

Element	Key Parameter
Existing Gatwick Airport land ownership	747 hectares
Existing airport passenger throughput (2019)	46.6 million passengers per annum (mppa)
Predicted future baseline airport passenger throughput (2038)	62.4 mppa
Approximate existing commercial air traffic movements (2019)	283,000
Approximate existing non-commercial air traffic movements (2019)	2,000
Approximate existing total aircraft movements (2019)	285,000
Approximate future commercial air traffic movements (2038)	318,000
Approximate future non-commercial air traffic movements (2038)	2,000
Approximate future total aircraft movements (2038)	321,000
Utilisation of existing northern runway (number air traffic movements - 2019)	2,842
Existing cargo (2019)	150,000 tonnes
Predicted future cargo (2038)	254,000 tonnes
Existing number of piers	6
Number of piers (with Pier 6 extension)	6 (with extension to existing Pier 6)
Approximate existing ‘on airport’ short term and long term car parking	40,611 spaces
Approximate existing ‘on airport’ staff car parking	6,090 spaces
Approximate total existing ‘on airport’ parking	46,701 spaces
Predicted approximate future airport car parking (with future baseline car parking improvements)	53,451 spaces
Existing terminal floorspace: North Terminal	98,100 m2
Existing terminal floorspace: South Terminal	119,300 m2
Maximum height of existing terminal building: North Terminal	32 metres
Maximum height of existing terminal building: South Terminal	40 metres
Existing hotel rooms	3,000
Predicted future baseline hotel bed spaces (with future baseline projects)	3,250 (additional 250 beds)
Existing office floor space (in main office buildings)	34,590 m2
Future baseline office floor space	34,590 m2 (no change)

Airspace Management

Future Airspace Strategy Implementation (FASI) South

4.3.3 Airspace within the UK is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority and managed by NATS En Route (NERL), which is a subdivision within the National Air Traffic Services (NATS).

4.3.4 Work is being undertaken to review the airspace over London and the south east of England, with the aim of addressing existing constraints and allowing for future growth in air transport. This work is being undertaken by NATS, in partnership with the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority and is known as the Future Airspace Strategy Implementation (FASI) South.

4.3.5 FASI South will be developed through an airspace change consultation in line with the Civil Aviation Authority airspace change process and will in due course be subject to its own assessment process. This process for the airspace around Gatwick Airport below 7,000 feet has just re-started (July 2021) but it will be some years before the outcome is clear. However, FASI South is not required in order to allow dual runway operations at Gatwick Airport. The EIA process for this Project has therefore been undertaken based on current flightpath information, updated to reflect the movement of the centreline of Gatwick Airport’s northern runway by 12 metres.

4.3.6 Although the proposed FASI South airspace changes lie outside of the scope of this Project, should information on the outcome of the FASI South process become available during the course of the EIA process for the Project (at a time when the information can be taken into account prior to submission), the implications of this, in terms of amended noise impacts, will be reviewed and considered within the EIA process.

Airspace Change due to the Project

4.3.7 In order to ascertain whether an airspace change is required to enable dual runway operations at Gatwick Airport (with the realignment to the centreline of the northern runway), GAL has submitted a Statement of Need to the Civil Aviation Authority. This Statement of Need confirmed that the proposal would not alter traffic patterns. The Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that GAL has met the requirements of the process and that all physical works associated with the Project would be considered through the Planning Act consenting process.

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