Gatwick Airport reopens North Terminal

 Monday, June 15, 2020 

Gatwick Airport reopens its North Terminal with new rule and safety measures.

The first easyJet passenger flight for 11 weeks marks some good news for Gatwick airport, which has suffered even more than its three big rivals, Heathrow, Manchester and Stansted from the Covid-19 crisis. The Sussex hub is the main base for Britain’s biggest budget airline.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic began, Gatwick Airport was one of the 10 overall busiest airports in Europe by passenger numbers, and had the busiest runway in the world. But the collapse of air travel has seen the number of flight movements dwindle from the 2019 average of 770 per day to a handful each afternoon.

The biggest customer, easyJet, has not flown since 29 March. The airline resumes a skeleton network of flights on Monday 15 June. The Sussex airport says it has introduced a range of measures “to protect the well-being and safety of both passengers and staff”.

The chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said that they are pleased to be in a position to re-open the North Terminal and we look forward to welcoming back easyJet as they restart flights alongside our other airlines. They want people to understand that airports and air travel is a safe environment in this Covid-19 travelling world.

The social-distancing procedures operate at check in, through security, in restaurants, bars and shops, and at departure gates. In some parts of the airport, one-way flows are in place.

Only family groups or people travelling in the same party can travel in lifts together. All passengers and staff must wear face masks, which are on sale through vending machines.

The airport is telling passengers that they will see protective screens in place at many places including check-in, boarding and gates. There are also additional cleaning measures in place. These include dedicated staff to clean common use surfaces, touch screens, hand rails, etc. They have also installed special ‘PPE bins’ in the terminals which are clearly marked for the disposal of face coverings and gloves only.

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