Gatwick airport saw passenger numbers in the six months to
30 June fall by 66 per cent compared to 2019, leading to a 61.3 per cent drop
in revenue, a 98.3 per cent decline in EBITDA and a £321 million loss.
The news comes just a day after the airport announced it
will begin consultations with staff representatives over up to 600 job losses
as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 70 per cent of Gatwick’s
employees remain on furlough under the UK government’s Job Retention Scheme,
which ends in October.
To mitigate the financial impact of the downturn, Gatwick
reduced planned capital expenditure by £157 million for 2020 and £196 million
for 2021. Operational costs have also been by more than £100 million through
actions such as consolidating traffic to one terminal, severance programmes and
termination of fixed-term contracts, which resulted in 200 redundancies.
The airport said it predicts it will take four to five years
for passenger traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels but wants to “remain
agile should demand recover faster than expected”. It currently has 18 airlines
flying to 115 airports in 42 countries.
CEO Stewart Wingate said the airport is still looking to
progress plans to bring its stand-by northern runway into routine use to give
it more flexibility to increase its route network and capacity as demand starts
to recover.
Wingate commented: “Like any other international airport, the negative impact
of Covid-19 on our passenger numbers and air traffic at the start of the year
was dramatic and, although there are small signs of recovery, it is a trend we
expect to continue to see. However, we are focused on ensuring the business
remains robust and is best placed to take advantage of future growth.”