With thousands of new jobs being created locally and recently, Tesco’s, Nestle, Thales UK, Virgin Atlantic and Thameslink, having all announced new jobs in our town, it is clearly that Crawley has cemented its position as a regional economic hub. This is evident from the fact that the heart of this hub, Gatwick Airport, has superceded Heathrow as the UK’s business airport. Indeed, the Prime Minister, speaking during a Government keynote speech earlier in the year, acknowledged that Gatwick is emerging as London’s business airport.
Crucially, Gatwick now supports more routes than any other UK airport, with over 200 destinations worldwide currently on its schedule. This is a larger network than Heathrow, an airport already effectively operating at full capacity. In contrast, Gatwick airport has capacity for an additional 11 million more passengers each year and as such has recently launched new direct routes to new emerging markets, including China, Vietnam, South Korea and Nigeria. In addition, Gatwick has also boosted connections to six of the top ten global economies predicted to grow fastest in the next four years by the IMF. With the UK exporting almost as much to Ireland as it does to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) countries and with £1.2 billion worth of new investment being lost each year due to a lack of new direct air links with emerging markets, Gatwick’s new links are a welcome development for the UK economy.
This growth has been supported by sustained future planning and investment into the airport facilities by the new ownership. The Airport’s owners have invested £53 million in improvement works to Gatwick train station’s facilities and £1 billion in overall improvements to services and conditions for passengers aimed at maximising existing capacity. Gatwick already has the faster rail link with the City of London and should see a doubling in train frequency from 2018 as a result of the £6 billion Thameslink project.
Smarter scanning technology and automated processes are speeding up travel through the security area by 25 percent and the new 19 lane security in the South Terminal will process as many as 250 passengers per hour in each lane by next year. For business passengers in particular, the luxury experience has been enhanced with a premium car parking facility and more self-service check-ins. With these developments, the airport aims to deliver a better service and ultimately, the best passenger experience.
I keenly support businesses looking to establish new retail stores in the town or even to re-locate their Headquarters to us. Not only do such developments mean better services and choice for local residents but also mean more jobs and better affluence within the local economy. Gatwick’s emerging status as the UK’s business airport only helps to underpin the message that Crawley is open to business and an ideal location for new business.
I am grateful to Gatwick Airport for the significant investment they have made which not only improves the services they offer but directly benefits the wider Crawley communities.