London Gatwick is gearing up for its busiest summer on record, with 8,846,000 people set to use the airport during the school holidays.

It follows a successful June at Gatwick, which saw 4.5 million passengers travelling through, with the airport’s long-haul routes growing by 26 per cent year-on-year.

Gatwick’s Canadian routes performed particularly well, in the month that saw world leaders visiting the country for this year’s G7 summit.

Winnipeg grew by 66.3 per cent in June, with Edmonton up 28.2 per cent, Montreal up 23.8 per cent and Calgary up 13 per cent.

Orlando remains the most popular summer long-haul destination, with Doha a new addition to the top ten list after a double-daily service to the city was launched by Qatar Airways in May.

In terms of the most popular short-haul routes, Nice joins the top ten list this year, while Barcelona remains Gatwick’s top summer short-haul destination.

Gatwick Airport, chief executive, Stewart Wingate said: “Just one week after we added a 67th long-haul service to our extensive network – with the launch of the UK’s only direct flights to Chengdu with Air China - it’s fantastic to see that our long-haul routes are continuing to perform so strongly, with solid growth recorded in June.

“In the meantime, with the summer holidays just around the corner and record numbers due to use Gatwick, we’re committed to ensuring that all of our passengers have a smooth and enjoyable experience as they travel through the airport this summer.”