Senior figures in the world of managed travel have spoken positively of Gatwick Airport’s bid to entice more business travellers through its doors.
At an event last week, the airport’s senior management addressed travel management chiefs about Gatwick’s hopes to increase the proportion of business travellers it serves.
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s CEO, outlined a £1 billion investment programme, which includes an extension to the North Terminal and an upgrade to the South Terminal.
Tony Berry, HRG’s director of industry and fare distribution, said the improvements were “absolutely necessary”.
“What they’ve done is looked at the issues, they’ve started to address them and delivered some improvements,” he said.
However, Gatwick does have a reputation in the business travel community for being a leisure-based airport, which has been reinforced by airlines and the routes they operate, many argue.
For example, Virgin Atlantic views Heathrow as its business hub, while routes from Gatwick “are predominantly those which you could argue are the leisure destinations, such as the Caribbean, Orlando, Las Vegas,” said Paul Wait, the airline’s general manager sales, in a recent interview.
As Chris Crowley, BCD’s senior VP, global client team EMEA and ACTE’s president, commented, “there are a lot of package holidays that go out of Gatwick, so in the terminals it can be a bit like walking through a creche”.
The onboard products offered by airlines can also be inferior on flights from Gatwick, compared to Heathrow, Nigel Turner, CWT’s director of programme management, pointed out.
“Carriers who operate across both airports tend to put their leisure routes, long-haul especially, out of Gatwick... and often the aircraft they use on those are more tailored for leisure,” he said. “They are often the ones that get upgraded last.”
Turner said the recent changes have meant Gatwick is beginning to “step up to the mark” in terms of business travel facilities, but the airport will need to work on changing people’s perceptions.
Brian Donnelly, FCm Travel’s general manager EMEA, agreed. He said there was a “ lot of snobbery attached to Heathrow”, most of which is “misplaced”.
While Gatwick may have some work to do in terms of its public image if business travel is to grow, equally pressing is the need for more business routes – something which the airport’s CEO was keen to recognise.
Turner said this was wise: “Ultimately, you’re only going to go from an airport if it’s got the right services at the right times.”
Berry agreed: “For me, it’s not really about the aesthetics of the airport... There is potential there [with business travel], and it really is up to both Gatwick and the carriers jointly to exploit that.”
Gatwick’s plans to concentrate on the Far East, signified with recent launches by Vietnam Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines, are “undoubtedly going to be succesful”, said Berry. “China is an emerging market... I think it shows a lot of foresight.”
For Donnelly, Gatwick’s strength in terms of routes will be with Easyjet, which is also going after the business traveller.
With that partnership, he thinks Gatwick is well placed to exploit business travel, perhaps at the expense of Heathrow: “Why not? With the seriousness of the investment and the brightness of the airport management...”
One area Gatwick could be viewed as already ahead of Heathrow is in terms of its connectivity with London, which is only going to improve with upgrades to the railway station already underway.
Following a recent rant on Twitter about delays on the Heathrow Express, Crowley told ABTN: “Gatwick’s train service is excellent. It has more options... it’s much more well connected than Heathrow.”