Gatwick has reduced its annual losses to £29.1 million as the airport saw a rise in passengers and turnover.
The Sussex airport, which is controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners, was boosted by a 1.2 per cent increase in passengers to 34.2 million in the year to the end of March. Turnover was also up by 4.2 per cent to £538.9 million year-on-year.
The loss of £29.1 million for the year was a 36.3 per cent improvement on losses of £45.7 million recorded in the previous financial year.
Gatwick said the loss was due to the “asset-intensive nature of the business and the continued investment being made across the airport”. The airport said it spent £226.7 million during the year on improving facilities.
Gatwick’s CEO Stewart Wingate said: “Although economic headwinds have remained strong, Gatwick has delivered financial results in line with expectations.
“We are proud of our excellent operational performance this year, particularly through major events such as the Olympics, and we are the only major London airport to have achieved 100% of our service quality targets. This led to record passenger satisfaction.
“It has also been a positive year for welcoming new airlines to Gatwick and attracting new links to key growth markets including China, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, adding to existing routes which have been expanded such as our services to Vietnam.”
Gatwick has been boosted by new services such as Easyjet’s flights to Moscow and the planned introduction of Garuda Indonesia’s direct route to Jakarta from October 2013.
gatwickairport.com