oysterPay-as-you-go Oyster

arrives at Gatwick!

lanyard leads

the wayLaunch of lanyard for passengers

with hidden disabilities

travelcare

Celebrates 30 years of helping

passengers in need

Edition 3

birthday specialQueen Elizabeth II steps from a Heron aircraft at Gatwick in 1958, the years have flown as Gatwick now celebrates its 80th anniversary

Gatwick wishes you a Happy 90th Birthday, Your Majesty

Gatwick airmailAirport news for local residents

at the airport

On Sunday, 17 May 1936 Gatwick welcomed its first passengers travelling on a commercial flight from here to Paris with British Airways. The single fare cost four pounds and five shillings (the equivalent of about £160 today) and included a first class train fare from Victoria. As we celebrate our 80th anniversary, we’ve taken a look through the archives at some of the prominent figures who have passed through our

terminals. The remarkable collection shows the Queen opening the rebuilt airport in 1958, Pope John Paul II kissing the ground during the first papal visit to the UK in 1982 and Diana, Princess of Wales, listening to air traffic control dialogue on a visit to the control tower in 1988.

Paris was one of five scheduled routes from Gatwick in its first year, with the others being Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Malmo. Since then, we’ve grown to serve more than 220 destinations, more than any other UK airport and last month marked yet another great achievement for us - we passed the 41 million passenger a year mark for the first time.

Marking another important milestone in the ongoing transformation of Gatwick’s rail services is the launch of pay-as-you-go Oyster and contactless payments for Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink services. This means a single ticketless system links Gatwick with the whole of Greater London so passengers can benefit from seamless connections to and throughout the capital.

Gatwick Airport is growing strongly and leading the way in enhancing the experience of our passengers; we are also a leader in managing a highly efficient and responsible airport. Our Decade of Change strategy is fundamental in ensuring we continue to grow sustainably; and in the final page of this news round-up we give you an insight into our environmental management and sustainability performance.

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive

community@gatwickairport.com

openinG of revamped piers continues Gatwick’s GrowthGatwick has opened revamped piers in both the North and South Terminals as the £2 billion transformation of the airport contuines.

In February, Caroline Ansell MP opened Pier 5 – a new space within the North Terminal – and in June, Steve Reed MP opened a transformed Pier 1.

Both piers now boast bigger gate rooms and better facilities for arriving and departing passenger and the redesign and modernisation of the aircraft stands allows us to handle new and changing types of aircraft.

The piers also have a new look called ‘London Square’ which draws on Gatwick’s role as a major London Airport, incorporating London-themed design into all its gate rooms.

new trainsThe launch of the new fleet of Gatwick Express trains marks the start of a step change in rail services at the airport - doubling services by 2020 and nearly trebling them by 2035.Gatwick is already the best connected airport by rail in Europe – linking 129 stations directly - and the improvements will see up to 175 stations directly connected to the airport. This will bring 15 million people – almost a quarter of the UK population - within 60 minutes of Gatwick by rail.

The new high frequency train service from Gatwick means that every hour there will be:

mFour dedicated Gatwick Express trains to VictoriamSix trains to VictoriamFour trains to BedfordmTwo trains to CambridgemTwo trains to PeterboroughmTwo trains to London Bridge

new routesAirlines will fly 20 new long haul routes from Gatwick this year, moving it into the premier league of European airports that fly more than 50 long haul routes. Our long haul network continues to increase as we take advantage of new aircraft that can fly further.

The 50 long haul route milestone will be passed this year when airlines including British Airways, Norwegian, Cathay Pacific, West Jet and Air Canada fly the 20 new long haul routes to cities located on four continents. This includes a range of destinations across Canada and the USA, and also Hong Kong, Peru, Cuba and Costa Rica.

The 20 new long haul routes this year:

British Airways

1. New York, USA

2. Lima, Peru

3. San Jose, Costa Rica

Cathay Pacific

4. Hong Kong, Hong

Kong

Norwegian

5. Boston, USA

6. Oakland, USA

West Jet

7. Toronto, Canada

8. Saint John’s, Canada

9. Vancouver, Canada

10. Calgary, Canada

11. Edmonton, Canada

12. Winnipeg, Canada

Air Canada

13. Toronto, Canada

Thomas Cook

14. Orlando, USA

15. Cayo Coco, Cuba

Thomson

16. Liberia, Costa Rica

17. Varadero, Cuba

18. Colombo, Sri Lanka

Fly Salone

19. Freetown,

Sierra Leone

Air Via20. Lagos, Nigeria

Gatwick in the community

part of the Gatwick community...Gatwick Travel Care celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer. This independent registered charity has been assisting passengers since 1986 with travel related problems.

The organisation is co-funded by Gatwick and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which it represents on certain occasions. Whether greeting people who are repatriating to the UK or escaping uprisings and unrest, liaising with the counter-terrorist unit or fraud office, or just helping stranded passengers to get on their way, the team offers care and assistance. TravelCare’s team of 6 Duty Managers and

24 Volunteers rely on the co-operation and goodwill of everyone in the airport community and work closely with the airlines, handling agents, consulates, embassies, social services and the police to provide our passengers with the best possible service.

The Gatwick TravelCare team helps to resolve a wide range of issues, from financial difficulties to missed flights or

rectifying passport irregularities with sensitivity and professionalism,

taking into account both the physical and emotional well-

being of passengers.

Happy Anniversary Gatwick TravelCare!

Gatwick strikes GoldGatwick Airport has achieved the Gold Standard Investors in People (IiP) award - jumping up three levels in just three years and becoming one of just over 1000 companies to have achieved the Gold Standard.

Investors in People is the Standard for people management. The international Standard defines what it takes to lead, support and manage people well for sustainable results.

Gatwick has been benchmarking itself against other great companies and brands to ensure it offers passengers a world-class service and develops the airport and its people in the best way possible.

Gatwick airport and the national autistic society team up to host autism awareness dayGatwick Airport and The National Autism Society joined forces to mark World Autism Awareness Week in April by hosting an Autistic Awareness Day for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

In the airport’s North Terminal, two sessions were hosted, attended by over 50 autistic children and their families, to provide a fun and engaging overview of the airport environment and security processes.

Autistic people often see, hear and feel the world in a different, more intense way, which can mean they feel overwhelmed by too much information when out in public. Travelling through an airport can be a particularly stressful experience for people with autism which is why Gatwick and the National Autistic Society have

teamed up to help provide greater assistance for passengers with autism.

Representatives from across the airport community including airlines, immigration, police, security, special assistance and the terminal team (including airport dogs) were on

hand to explain airport processes and answer any questions. The Awareness Day was also attended by the National Autistic Society’s cultural ambassador, Alan Gardner, star of the Channel 4 series, The Autistic Gardener.

To coincide with World Autism Awareness Week, Gatwick has produced an autism friendly visual guide for children travelling through the airport to help guide them through each stage of their journey.

gatwickairport.com/globalassets/documents/passengers/prm/autismguidetogatwick.pdf

surrey cow paradeCowParade Surrey is the world’s largest public art event, which comes to Surrey from June until the end of August. This exciting exhibition will see over 60 full-size, fibreglass cows uniquely decorated by artists and placed around Surrey for all to discover! Gatwick have sponsored their own cow, Amoolia Earhart, a female pilot whose name was chosen in a Twitter vote.

The autumn will see the cows auctioned off for charity with each cow sponsor choosing a charity of their own to benefit from half of the auction proceeds, with the other 50 per cent going to the Surrey Hills Trust Fund, established in partnership with the Community Foundation for Surrey to conserve and protect the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The fund supports local community projects and enterprise schemes that benefit and enhance the Surrey Hills.

A specially designed app is free to download and allows you to ‘check in’ to each cow as it’s found.

For further information on CowParade and to download the app visit

cowparadesurreyhills.com

the nicholas culpeper openinG

The world’s first airport gin distillery is open for

business in the North Terminal. Travellers can

see The Nicholas Culpeper London Dry Gin

being made in the three-metre-by-four-metre

landside distillery before enjoying a tipple in

its namesake bar and restaurant. Nicholas

Culpeper, born less than two miles away from

the airport’s runway, was an English botanist,

herbalist and physician in the 1600s.

This unique gin distilled from an exotic blend of Cassia Bark and Angelica root from India can be purchased for £27.50 a bottle but as it is 700ml, it cannot be taken on to flights. Instead passengers can pick it up on their way back using the airport’s Collect on Return service.

Sign up online to receive future editions of Gatwick Airmail www.gatwickairport.com/

communitynewsletter

Gatwick in the community

As one of the largest companies in our region, Gatwick helps businesses to prosper and tourism to flourish, as well as generating employment for more than 21,000 people. In creating these extensive economic and social benefits, we recognise our responsibility to manage our airport operations responsibly.

That’s why in 2010 we launched our Decade of Change strategy. This strategy describes how we plan to grow sustainably with sound environmental management and performance, coupled with strong community programmes. It also sets ambitious targets on all key environmental topics including energy and water use, waste management, carbon emissions, air quality and biodiversity for us to deliver by 2020.

We have published our Decade of Change report which tracks the airport’s progress towards a series of sustainability targets. We’re performing strongly and are on track to meet all our targets and several of our 2020 targets ahead of time.

Gatwick is also continually improving its environmental performance. As a result, Gatwick is one of a handful of companies to be awarded triple certification to the Carbon Trust Standards for our 2014-15 performance in reducing carbon emissions and water use, and improving waste management.

The full Decade of Change Sustainability Report for 2015 presents our performance to date on our 2020 targets; our 2015 actions on each of our ten Decade of Change issues, and our KPI data tables; and is available at gatwickairport.com/business-community/about-gatwick/corporate-responsibility

carbon trust

new lanyardGatwick Airport has launched a first-of-its-kind lanyard for passengers with hidden disabilities who may require additional support when travelling through the airport.

The lanyard, which is entirely voluntary for passengers with hidden disabilities and their families or carers, will act as a discreet sign for staff that additional support or help may be required.

The lanyard was launched at the airport as part of Dementia Awareness Week (15 – 21st May 2016) and is being supported by leading charities like the Alzheimer’s Society, The National Autistic Society and Action on Hearing Loss.

If you or someone you know needs a helping hand through the airport then visit gatwickairport.com/at-the-airport/passenger-services/special-assistance/other-assistance/

arrivals reviewGatwick Airport has produced a Final Action Plan in response to the recommendations of the Independent Arrivals Review which was commissioned to help address the issue of aircraft noise for local residents.We are grateful for the constructive feedback to our Proposed Action Plan from the local community which has helped to ensure the Final Action Plan is designed to meet the needs of local people affected by aircraft noise.

The review’s recommendations have been accepted and work is already underway to implement many of the 23 recommendations, some of which could be operational within a twelve month period, including:• improved use of continuous descent arrivals generating

significantly less noise and increased flexibility for sequencing and spacing of arrivals

• accelerated aerodynamic modification for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft to reduce the noise they produce during the approach phase of flight

• broadening the approach “arrivals swathe” to extend between 8-14nm

• reduced aircraft holding over land• development of a comprehensive online complaint management

system, and;• the establishment of a Noise Management Board (NMB) to oversee

joint strategies to deal with noise around the airport.The Final Action Plan and further information can be found at gatwickairport.com/arrivalsreview

community@gatwickairport.com