Gatwick airport has recorded its busiest October ever with 4.02million passengers having used the airport, which is a 2% increase from October last year.

The airport’s long-haul connections grew by 12.4% and its cargo tonnage grew by 1.6% compared to the same time last year.

North Atlantic routes were the most popular with an increase of 15.4%. Passengers travelling to Singapore were 30% higher than the same month last year.

Gatwick has plans to start a new thrice-weekly service to Shanghai with China Eastern airlines in December 2018 in order to take a slice of the growing Asian market.

This October, the airport published a grand master plan of its vision for the future. The plan looks at how the airport can grow in three main scenarios by 2030.

In a statement on its website, the airport outlined the three scenarios:

1. Main runway - using new technology to increase capacity
   In the near term, the airport has considered how deploying new technology could increase the capacity of the main runway, offering incremental growth through more efficient operations.
2. Standby runway - bringing existing standby runway into routine use
   The draft master plan sets out for the first time how Gatwick could potentially bring its existing standby runway into routine use for departing flights, alongside its main runway, by the mid-2020s.
3. Additional runway - safeguarding for the future
   While Gatwick is not currently actively pursuing the option of building a brand new runway to the south of the airport - as it did through the Airports Commission process - Gatwick believes it is in the national interest to continue to safeguard this land for the future as part of its draft master plan.

London Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said, “Gatwick continues to showcase the vital role it plays for the country, with October’s passenger figures the latest demonstration of this.

“Last month saw over four million passengers travel through the airport, the first time Gatwick has broken this mark in October, demonstrating the passenger response to the breadth of destinations and airlines available from the airport.

“Gatwick’s growth is vital for the future prosperity of Britain and the country’s post-Brexit future, and our growing global connections are needed more than ever. This December our latest long-haul route will begin, as we open up yet further connections to Asia, with China Eastern starting their new service to Shanghai.”

By Airport Pickups London