Growth in long-haul belly routes helped London Gatwick Airport grow cargo tonnage by 5.3 per cent in the month of November to 10,711 tonnes. In the first 11 months of 2018, the airport has grown its freight numbers significantly as tonnage has grown by 19.8 per cent to 113,271 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.
Growth comes as a new YouGov poll, published reveals that 74 per cent of MPs who were surveyed support Gatwick’s plans to increase capacity by making better use of its existing runways.
London Gatwick chief executive officer, Stewart Wingate said: “November’s record-breaking passenger and cargo numbers highlight the imperative role that Gatwick continues to play for the country. The growth in the number of passengers travelling to Kigali is a great example of how our extensive range of long-haul routes is being embraced by business and leisure travellers from across the UK.
“I’m also delighted that our network has now been bolstered even further by vital new routes to Shanghai with China Eastern and Rio with Norwegian. Worldwide connections from Britain will be needed more than ever in the New Year and beyond, and in our recently-published draft master plan, we set out our vision for how Gatwick can grow to facilitate this demand for greater global connectivity.”
