London Gatwick Airport is located in Crawley, West Sussex 5 km or 3 miles north of the town centre, and 46 km or 28 miles south of London, and 40 km north of Brighton. London's second largest airport, Gatwick is one of the busiest airports in Europe, which handles large numbers of international and British domestic flights. It is also the busiest single runway airport, and sixth busiest airport overall, in Europe in terms of passengers per year. Around 90 airlines operate from Gatwick's two terminals, serving around 200 destinations. The statistics for the year 2005 shows that the London Gatwick Airport handled over 32.6 million passengers flying to around 200 destinations. Many flights to and from the USA also use Gatwick because of restrictions on transatlantic operations from Heathrow. The airport is a secondary hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Like many other leading airports, car parking is in limited supply at Gatwick, which is due to the fact of local planning restrictions. The summer months sees the facilities often full to capacity.
London Gatwick Airport provides with excellent passenger facilities within its two terminals for its passengers. Both the terminals have bureaux de change, ATMs, shops, duty-free outlets, restaurants and bars. The BAA Conference and Business Centre at the South Terminal provides conference and meeting facilities, videoconferencing, boardrooms and training rooms but advance booking is advisable. For hiring a car on arrival in London, there are a large number of car rental companies represented at London Gatwick Airport. Both London Gatwick Airport terminals have a short-term car park with direct access to the terminal complex. Long-term car parking is also available in car parks further from the terminals, with a shuttle bus that runs between the car parks and terminal buildings. Moreover, the airport provides a wide range of facilities for business, children and the disabled. Ther’s a full range of 1st class airport services and public transportation to and from the airport is reliable and frequent with a choice of trains, coaches, Gatwick express, taxis and car hire.
Gatwick tourism has been benifitted by excellent Hotel Accommodation. Gatwick airport hotels is available at competitive prices in all sectors from travel lodges to luxury 4 star hotels. Tourists will find large chain hotels within 1km of the terminals, the rest either double up serving the local towns of Horley or Crawley, offering a peaceful retreat in the English countryside. Room rates for the Gatwick airport hotels are seasonal, as the main airport for the British flying away to the sun prices are much higher in the summer than in the winter months. Weekends are also cheaper than midweek for rooms. |
