Friday 27 June 2014

ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY DAILY GLOBAL OUTLOOK - GATWICK AIRPORT

As members and fellows of the RAeS we receive a daily broadcast on a variety of topics - today's is about London Gatwick Airport and is an interesting read. You will probably be aware that I already strongly support the view that both Heathrow AND Gatwick should be allowed new runways, as is mentioned below:


Gatwick Airport Readies Itself For Expansion


Fighting hard against the usual not in-my–back-yard campaigners and others including various Surrey, Sussex and Kent MP’s determined to halt plans to build an additional runway the owners of Gatwick Airport have this morning strengthened their own case for expansion confirming that passenger numbers increased 4.8% to 36 million in the year ended 31st March.

Acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in 2009 from the owners of BAA it is, I believe, suffice to say that Gatwick Airport has, due to the considerable amount of investment put in by the new owners since its acquisition, gone from strength to strength in terms of passenger perception. While there is more improvement work still to be done those of us that use the airport on a regular or occasional basis appreciate the significant amount of effort that has gone in to reshaping Gatwick, not only in terms of making the airport more efficient but importantly, making it more user-friendly.

It will be some considerable time yet before the Airport Commission produces its final report and recommendations on future airport capacity but we do already know that it has in its interim report concluded the need for one additional runway to be in operation in the south east by 2030 and probably another to be operational by 2050.

I guess I am probably not alone in believing that what has been proposed so far by the Airport Commission is 50% of what in reality is really required. Vying for the right to expand with Heathrow, the owners of Gatwick have proposed a new runway to the south of the existing runway.

Meanwhile, there are, I believe, two options under consideration for Heathrow, the first being a new 3,500m runway to the northwest and the other a proposal to extend the existing northern runway to at least 6,000m so that this could then operate as two independent runways. My own view, for what it is worth, is that both Gatwick and Heathrow should be allowed to build one new runway each and the sooner the better.    

Enough said on that; and my hope is that we don’t have to wait another ten years for common sense to prevail. Now for some history. Like many other airports in the UK, Gatwick also started life (in 1930) as a grass strip airfield for use by a group of flying enthusiasts. Four years later Surrey Aero Club was granted a public licence to use Gatwick for commercial aircraft.
As an aerodrome, Gatwick, located close to both Crawley and Horley, West Sussex was officially opened on June 6th 1936. During the second world-war when it was under the control of the Air Ministry the airport was expanded in land terms by the addition of what had, until 1940 and for the previous 50 years, been Gatwick Racecourse. There is an interesting touch of irony here and I wonder how many realise that the Grand National was run at what is now part of Gatwick Airport for three years during the first World-War?

In 1952 the Churchill Government approved the development of Gatwick to be the direct alternative airport to Heathrow and in 1956 the airport closed for a planned redevelopment. At a cost of £7.8 million the new Gatwick Airport, which boasted as being the world’s first single facility airport accessible by all modes of transport – road, rail and air - was opened by Queen Elizabeth ll on the 9th June 1958.

At that time the single new terminal had a 900-foot pier and included a new train station. Later, with the addition of two more piers, the runway was extended from 7,000 to 8,100-feet. On March 18th 1988 the new North Terminal was opened by Queen Elizabeth, and in May of that same year, following British Airway’s £246 million takeover of Gatwick based British Caledonian Airways, it provided a new base for the recently privatised flag carrier airline.   
Gatwick Airport’s history makes an interesting contrast with that of Heathrow which also had its beginnings as an airfield in 1930 when the aerospace engineer, Richard Fairey, paid the Vicar of Harmondsworth the tidy sum of £15,000 for a 150 acre plot of land that I believe was then known as Heath Row. Rather than developing a commercial airport Fairey’s purpose in buying this land was to construct a small aircraft factory to build aircraft, alongside which, he needed an airfield for testing completed aircraft.

Requisitioned by the Air Ministry at the outbreak of the second world-war a new 3,000 yard runway and control tower was built during 1944. Heathrow was released by the Air Ministry as being surplus to requirement in 1945, after which time it would become London’s new civil airport. Opened on January 1st 1946, during the first year 63,000 passengers passed through tented marquees and war buildings spread along the Bath Road that would for several years act as terminals. 


CHW (London) 27 June 2014
Howard Wheeldon FRAeS
hwheeldon@wheeldonstrategic.com
Tel: 07710 779785 


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