Passenger numbers in July 2011 increased by 5.9%, 201,300 more passengers compared to the same month last year.

The year-on-year increase continued the trend in strong growth in passenger numbers at Gatwick
*  Low cost carriers helped to drive a 14.1% growth in the European scheduled market
*  Air transport movements grew 2.7% with short haul markets seeing the greatest gains
*  Load factors rose from an average of 84.5% in July 2010 to 86.8% in July 2011 - a record high for the month of July.  This was driven by international short haul and domestic markets
*  The school summer holidays commenced in July and at the peak, over 125,000 passengers travelled through Gatwick each day

In July, Malaysia-based long haul carrier AirAsia X announced that it is switching its Stansted operation to Gatwick.

*  Services from Gatwick to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, commence on 24th October this year
*  AirAsia X passengers will benefit from a wider choice of domestic and international connections via Gatwick
*  AirAsia X is the fourth carrier in recent months to announce the commencement of services at Gatwick. It follows Vietnam Airlines, Lufthansa and Air Nigeria as Gatwick competes to become London’s airport of choice