Gatwick Airport saw its profits go up by 43% in the opening half of its financial year, figures from the company have revealed.

An increase in passenger traffic through the airport helped the London hub to achieve this profits boost.

The airport, which offers a range of flights to travellers along with other airports in the area such as Stansted, Luton and Heathrow, now expects to see its profits continue to rise in the closing six months of the financial year.

In the half-year that led up to the end of September, the hub’s operating profit reached £118.6 million, while its overall turnover stood at £314.5 million.

Turnover rose by 15% during the period covered by the organisation’s latest financial results.

Compared with the first half of its previous financial year in 2010, Gatwick’s passenger traffic increased by 8.5%, with 19.7 million people making their way through the airport.

Global Infrastructure Partners, a US investment fund, is the current owner of the airport.

In a statement, the airport said: “While passenger numbers are ahead of expectations for the six months ended September 30, 2011, the expectation for the full year out-turn remains unchanged.”

In the 12 months to the end of March 2012, it expects to see 33.6 million passengers pass through its doors.

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British Airways passengers flying to Mauritius will now have to take a bus to Gatwick rather than Heathrow to catch their flight this winter.

BA has moved its UK base for flights to the popular Indian Ocean holiday destination as part of plans to boost Gatwick’s reputation as a leisure break hub, while return flights from Mauritius will depart 12 hours later this winter to give tourists more time in the idyllic holiday hotspot.

With more time to kill before catching their flight home, Britons will have plenty of opportunity to take a bus to the airport and subsequently arrive at the terminal refreshed and relaxed before boarding the plane.

The move follows the recent completion of a terminal extension at the west Sussex airport, which was commissioned to raise customer service levels and generally improve passengers’ flying experience.

Those air passengers flying out of Gatwick now have the opportunity of carrying out many pre-flight procedures themselves, including checking in, choosing seats and printing luggage tags.

Silla Maizey, BA’s managing director for Gatwick, revealed the measures are all part of plans to transform the airport into a hub for “great high-end holiday destinations”.

She said: “Moving the Mauritius flight here helps us to strengthen this position as it will now sit alongside destinations such as the Maldives and the Caribbean.”

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Airports are the “front door of the UK” and necessary to give visitors a good first impression, ex-Conservative prime minister Sir John Major said as he opened a £73 million extension to Gatwick Airport.

Sir John, who was prime minister from 1990 to 1997, following on from Margaret Thatcher and losing power to Tony Blair’s New Labour administration, toured the North Terminal to which the extension was added. He said Gatwick, by improving its efficiency, is helping UK economic growth and well-being. He pointed out that visitors’ first impressions of the UK are shaped by what they see and experience just after landing.

“That is why the significant investment to improve arrivals infrastructure is so important,” said Sir John. He added that Gatwick in West Sussex will continue to compete with Britain’s EU (European Union) neighbours as well as the increasing challenge from Greater Asia’s new markets.

The extension, which boasts 18 new check-in desks bringing the total number to 144, is part of a plan at Gatwick for the North Terminal to cater for 20 million passengers a year by 2020. Of the check-in desks, 70 are self-service.

In addition, the terminal has four new luggage reclaim belts. Three of these are for international flights and one for domestic flights.

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Vietnam Airlines is to offer two weekly non-stop flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City via Gatwick Airport from December 8.

The new route has prompted tour operators to predict that an increasing number of Britons will opt to fly to the south-east Asian country next year.

People travelling to Vietnam via the UK presently have to make a stop-over en route, so the direct services from Gatwick could reduce journey times by up to seven hours.

Vietnam-bound holidaymakers can reduce the stress of travel even further by taking a bus to Gatwick to ensure that they do not have to worry about paying for parking while they are away.

Vietnam Airlines also offers flights to 23 destination across Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma, with many tour operators offering itineraries that begin at one end of a country and end at the other.

Alex Hepworth, marketing director at Victoria Hotels & Resorts, said: “We’ll see 20% growth in UK visitor numbers, thanks to these new direct flights. It’s a great place for luxury beach breaks.”

Vietnam is easily one of the most picturesque countries in Asia with 3,400km of coastline, and numerous rolling beach resorts such as Phan Thiet and Hoi An. These combine ancient Cham ruins, charming fishing villages and water sports, holidaymakers might not want to come home.

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A new service from Gatwick Airport will make it more convenient for travellers to jet out to Hong Kong on business from 2012.

Gatwick Airport has been chosen by Hong Kong Airlines to run a daily Club Class service to Hong Kong from March next year.

The service out of Gatwick’s newly renovated North Terminal will operate on the Airbus A330-200.

It will provide business passengers in the South East and London with a convenient link to the second largest market in Asia in a stylish Club Class setting.

Gatwick Airport offers airlines access to London via the capital’s second largest airport at less than half the cost.

The airport’s location, within the UK’s most affluent catchment area, and regular rail links to and from London and the south coast make Gatwick Airport highly desirable for airlines.

To maintain its competitive edge the airport is also investing £1.2 billion in its facilities to ensure they enhance each passenger journey, with new and improved facilities.

Alongside Gatwick Airport, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways, both based in Hong Kong, provide services with the A330 and 200 models and the Boeing 737 and 800 aircrafts from Hong Kong to more than 30 cities.

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Holidaymakers flying from Gatwick can relax on the bus ride to the airport safe in the knowledge that checking-in is considerably less stressful and time consuming now that iris scanners have been installed on many e-Gates in the South Terminal.

Passengers passing through both the entrance and exit to the international departures lounge will have their eye and their boarding pass scanned after AOptix Technologies’ InSight VM iris recognition system was installed as part of the airport’s recent £44 million upgrade.

The technology has been installed at 34 electronic gates in the terminal, potentially shaving five minutes off the time it takes to pass through security checks. It also ensures that the right person enters and leaves the airport.

The iris scanning system will be used alongside Human Recognition Systems’ (HRS) MFlow Track system, which employs facial recognition software to track passengers as they spend time inside the airport building.

Dean Senner, AOptix CEO, said: “Iris at-a-distance from AOptix and the HRS MFlow Track is the hassle-free, non-intrusive security experience that passengers are looking for at today’s modern airports.”
He added that the AOptix-HRS approach delivers a “highly accurate match of passenger to boarding pass on a remarkably consistent basis”.

Neil Norman, CEO of HRS, said: “Human Recognition Systems has been deploying iris recognition systems for 10 years now and with the introduction of the InSight iris recognition solution from AOptix, we are able to exploit the full power of iris biometrics.”

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AirAsia X has touched down at Gatwick Airport for the first time following its move from Stansted.

By mid-December the current timetable of five flights a week to Kuala Lumpur will have been ramped up to six, suggesting that more people will be taking airport transfers for the service as Christmas approaches.

Guy Stephenson, Gatwick Airport’s commercial director, pointed out the emerging importance of the south-east Asia market for both business and tourism. He added: “South-east Asia is an important destination for UK business and leisure travellers and so we are excited that AirAsia X has chosen to operate the popular London-KL route from Gatwick and enable us to meet growing passenger demand for travel to this region. Gatwick offers an attractive proposition to airlines and their customers.”

AirAsia’s 327-seat Airbus A340-300 will carry passengers on the new London to Kuala Lumpur route. Also 18 passengers will be able to book premium bed seats.

AirAsia head of commercial, Darren Wright, said: “Our aim has always been to open up travel for all. The popularity of the London-KL route is further testament to the pent-up demand for long-haul travel, provided the fares are low and the quality is high. That is the combination that we at AirAsia X are offering our guests.”

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Gatwick should be able to manage without a second runway for another 20 years or so, the airport’s bosses have said.

Global Infrastructure Partners, which runs the West Sussex airport, revealed that it had no plans to build an additional runway in the foreseeable future, although the situation might change if passenger numbers exceed 45 million a year.

This, it said, would probably not become a reality until 2030, with passenger numbers expected to reach the 40 million mark in 2020.

Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC) vowed to oppose the construction of a second runway at the airport, although the group believes a second runway will “never happen”.

Global Infastructure Partners made the revelation while unveiling its vision for the airport’s future until 2020.

Gatwick, which used to be run by BAA, generated approximately £2 billion to the economies of London and south-east England a year and directly employs 2,500 people, they said.

In addition, the airport supports an additional 23,000 airport jobs and a further 10,500 jobs in the local area.

Global Infastructure Partners aims to create an extra 1,700 jobs at Gatwick by 2020, with more than double that amount in local jobs. It will also generate an extra £300 million in revenue for the economies of London and south-east England.

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A new £45 million security area just opened by transport minister Theresa Villiers at Gatwick Airport should allow speedier passage for passengers.

The new area at the south terminal is expected to mean less than five minutes of processing for each passenger, with the 19 new security lanes letting almost 5,000 people per hour to go straight to the departure lounge.

Big screens will deliver instructions in five languages so passengers can understand what they can and cannot take through security. And at security access, passengers can swipe their boarding card or smartphone displaying the card.

Colour-coded lanes have screens showing their queue times.

The lanes include two just for families with young children and passengers with reduced mobility, and two for passengers travelling first class or business class.The opening is part of a £1.2 billion investment in Gatwick, said the airport’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate.

Ms Villiers said the security stage of the travelling can be the worst part for passengers, adding: “That’s why this Government is committed to reforming the way these necessary checks are regulated, enabling airports to come up with more passenger-friendly processes while still maintaining the same high levels of security.”

Mr Wingate said: “We’re committed to making the airport experience an easier, speedier and less stressful experience for our passengers.”

A pioneer of holography has been hired to create ‘moving’ 3D works of art to keep travellers captivated at Gatwick Airport.

Jeff Robb has been charged with the task of creating lenticular artworks – where a series of images under different lenses add sculptural depth and movement to a picture – to bring the airport’s North Terminal to life.

Robb said: “I’m trying to cross the barrier between painting, photography and sculpture.

“It’s completely undiscovered territory but I’m trying to push the boundaries of it as a medium.”

Gatwick’s newly appointed head of projects, John Briley, approached Robb after seeing his 3D works at Mauger Modern Art in Pimlico in central London.

He said: “It was as if he was voicing what was in my head.”

Robb is in hot demand at the moment, and is currently also working with Donatella Versace to create versions of his floating nudes for the fashion label’s stores next year.

However, he is not the only one making waves with this sort of artwork. Lenticular images by Julian Opie are among the best-selling works at the Alan Cristea Gallery in London’s Cork Street.

Meanwhile, fashion photographer Matjaž Tancic has been experimenting with anaglyph 3D photography – where viewers can only see merged red and blue ’shadow’ images while wearing special glasses. His prints are selling for £700 a time at the Richard Young Gallery in Kensington, west London.

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