Gatwick has returned to profit following the easing of travel restrictions this year.
Britain’s second biggest airport also said it doesn’t need to extend capacity curbs beyond the end of August as it returns to its usual business operations.
Gatwick made an EBITDA profit of £148.3m in the first half of 2022, and a profit after tax of £50.6m.
That’s a turnaround on 2021, when Gatwick reported a £244.6m loss for first six months and negative EBITDA at -£50.2m.
It also lifted its passenger forecast despite the travel chaos that disrupted many holidays, and now expects 32.8m passengers in 2022.
However, Gatwick also warned that inflationary pressures on costs, and passenger demand for the winter season may impact these forecasts.
Stewart Wingate, chief executive officer of Gatwick Airport said demand has ‘bounced back’: “We still have some considerable way to go, but strong demand has fast-tracked Gatwick’s recovery from the pandemic, particularly in the last quarter since all UK travel restrictions were removed. Air traffic volumes have reflected this strong passenger demand and have bounced back to around 75% of pre-COVID levels.
“The unprecedented growth in traffic lead to short term operational issues in June, however our decisive early action to limit the airport’s capacity in the crucial school holiday period of July and August has ensured passengers have experienced reliable flight timetables over the summer months.
We are now very much operating business as usual and do not see any reason to extend the capacity declaration.”
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