Gatwick Airport's South Terminal is set to reopen giving passengers the choice of more than 30 long-haul destinations this summer, including Bangkok, Quebec and Islamabad. The terminal will resume operation on March 27 after being closed during the pandemic.
Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is among several providing new long-haul services from Gatwick in the coming months, as it fully launches its three-weekly service to Bangkok, with an onward connection to Singapore. Norse Atlantic last week became Gatwick’s newest airline, when it announced it would be launching routes between the UK and USA this summer.
Air Transat will begin flying from Gatwick to Canadian cities Montreal and Quebec from May 2 and May 11 respectively. The new route to Quebec will be the only direct flight operating between London and the Canadian city.
British Airways will also be adding a daily service to Islamabad to its Gatwick operations from March 27 and restarting its New York service from May 28. Qatar Airways will resume its daily flight to Doha from Gatwick on June 5.
Tickets to a wide range of other long-haul routes operated by British Airways, TUI, WestJet and Air Transat, are also on sale. Destinations include Tampa, Phuket, Mauritius and Doha – alongside cities across Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, such as Toronto, Vancouver, Cancun, Antigua and Jamaica.
However, passengers are being advised to arrive early for their flights from March 27 because the terminals are expected to be busy. All passengers – regardless of airline - are urged check the terminal they are flying from before they come to the airport.
Stephanie Wear, vice-president of aviation development at Gatwick Airport, said: “ Adding the likes of Bangkok, Quebec, Montreal and Islamabad to the fantastic selection of long-haul routes from Gatwick is great news for our passengers, including tourists and businesses across the south-east. The additions of Scoot and Norse Atlantic highlights the importance of Gatwick to airlines and we are equally delighted to welcome Qatar Airways back to the airport this summer too.
"As we look to grow back following the impacts of the pandemic, we hope to be able to add more long-haul routes to our range of destinations and continue to reconnect people and places across the world.”
Significant increases in short-haul flying programmes from the airport also indicate a strong 2022 summer season, with easyJet’s leasing of BA slots giving the airline its greatest capacity with 120 routes utilising 79 Gatwick-based aircraft. The return of BA’s short haul operations will also see 18 aircraft flying 35 short haul routes under the Euroflyer brand.
Five Gatwick-based Wizz Air aircraft will also support its inbound services for a total of 25 routes and Vueling will serve a total of 16 routes, basing two aircraft at Gatwick.
Passengers travelling through Gatwick Airport will also now be able to take advantage of Vodafone’s next generation 5G mobile network across both North and South Terminals, as Gatwick becomes the first airport in the UK to offer such an extensive 5G service. The improvements to Vodafone’s mobile coverage, deployed over the last 18 months, mean that both Gatwick’s Arrivals and Departure Lounges now benefit from the faster speeds and greater reliability of a 5G mobile network.
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