London Gatwick expects strong 2010

Gatwick Airport has released passenger figures for December 2009 and announced its ambitions for the coming year.

The base handled 2.12 million travellers in the final month of last year, 1.5 per cent more than in December 2008.

Annual growth was recorded in the number of people catching scheduled flights to the UK, the Channel Islands and Europe from London Gatwick.

December was the third consecutive month of increasing passenger numbers at the airport.

For the year as a whole, however, traffic decreased by 5.3 per cent from 2008 to 32.37 million customers.

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick Airport's chief executive officer, said: "I am pleased to end the year with a third consecutive month of growth in passenger numbers, which demonstrates that Gatwick Airport is recovering well from the economic downturn.

"While overall annual passenger numbers were lower than in 2008, the newly independent Gatwick Airport will compete strongly to become the airport of choice for airlines and passengers in 2010 and beyond."

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