00:00I'm Nick Williams, I'm a Head of Passenger Operations at London Gatwick.
00:12So we've been really busy since Easter but obviously as we go into the school summer
00:16holidays this is where our real peak is.
00:18So our busiest day is planned to be just at the start of September actually and on that
00:23day we'll handle more than 900 flights coming in and out of Gatwick.
00:26So that just gives you a scale of the operation but for the next kind of 8-10 weeks we are
00:31really really busy but we're really well set and we've been planning for the last 12 months
00:35to make sure we're ready.
00:36And what is involved in that planning process?
00:40Just huge operation in terms of working with the airlines and ground handlers and our retail
00:44partners to make sure we have the right staffing, to make sure that all the plans are in place.
00:50As I said we have a kind of a test run really from Easter through to July where we're busy
00:55but then it gets us ready for this next step up as we move into the summer.
00:59So you say 900 flights will be the busiest day, what is the sort of norm for that sort of flight?
01:03So at the moment we'll be at about 860 so it kind of shows you how busy we already are
01:09but we just have a very long busy period so the teams at London Gatwick across both our
01:14teams and the third parties that work here work incredibly hard to make sure passengers
01:20get away on their holiday on time.
01:22Obviously we work really hard with the airlines to make sure that we have a schedule that
01:25is operated and they fly so that's kind of like an ongoing communication with the airlines.
01:32We don't envisage cancellations or delays but we do everything we possibly can to make
01:38sure we run a smooth schedule because we know all passengers want is to get away on time
01:42and to get on holiday.
01:43So we have over 50 airlines operating at Gatwick that fly to 220 destinations so at this time
01:50of year we have a huge number of passengers going to Southern Europe but most recently
01:54we launched our five times weekly service to Singapore.
01:59We obviously have daily flights to Dubai and New York so we have a real kind of vast array
02:04of choices for passengers to fly to from Gatwick.
02:08So it will be really busy so we'd really encourage passengers to plan their journey, arrive on
02:12time.
02:13Over 95% of passengers get through our security operation in less than five minutes so we've
02:20got a world class security operation at Gatwick and that just means you'll have plenty of
02:24time to enjoy the departure lounges where you'll be able to eat, drink and shop before
02:30you fly so you can really make the most of that time before you fly.
02:33We've just opened Pizza Express in the South Terminal that do a breakfast pizza so again
02:39make sure you get here early and I definitely encourage you to sample that.
02:43So a lot of the retailers will be doing activities for the kids.
02:47We have really strong kids menus across the piece so we really try and make sure we know
02:53we have a lot of families travelling this time of year.
02:56We have family assistance lanes through security so we really try and take the stress out for
03:00parents travelling with kids.
03:03So we'll be really focusing in on that but broadly we just want to deliver a great operation
03:07for all our passengers.
03:13So clearly we've just gone through the examination by the planning inspectorate so we've got
03:20a really thorough plan where we think we've got a great plan to deliver growth using existing
03:25infrastructure and we'll continue to engage with the planning inspectorate.
03:29We'll clearly get a result towards the end of August that we'll then be able to engage
03:35with them on but at the moment we've put our best foot forward.
03:39We believe it's a great plan and we'll continue to develop that as we go through.
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