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Gatwick hoping for festive boost as Christmas getaway begins

Gatwick hoping for festive boost as Christmas getaway begins

Gatwick Airport is expecting to see a significant increase in passengers travelling over the Christmas period, with up to 200 flights a day forecast to operate to and from the London airport.

Top destinations include Dublin, Geneva and Tenerife.

While typically Gatwick would normally see more than 700 flights a day during this time, the increase in demand following the second national lockdown is positive news for the aviation industry over the festive period.

The increase in flights coincides with the new test to release system, which comes into operation today - reducing self-isolation restrictions for those arriving from non-exempt destinations, including the Canary Islands - if they have a negative result from a Covid-19 test after five days.

This is in addition to the government announcement that overall quarantine time has been reduced from 14 to ten days.

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Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport, said: “We know the demand for international travel is strong, especially as we approach the festive period.

“It is vital for the recovery of the aviation industry that we make travelling during the pandemic as safe and easy as possible.

“With our airlines increasing flying schedules to meet this demand, we expect to see many more passengers travelling through Gatwick than over the past couple of months and we are doing all we can to offer passengers a greater level of reassurance.

“Passengers are able to book Covid-19 PCR screening at Gatwick or of course use other providers away from the airport if they want to get away this Christmas.

“In addition, expanding the provision of UV technology across more security lanes in the North Terminal is yet another innovative step we have taken in helping protect passengers at Gatwick Airport.”

Over the coming weeks, easyJet will be operating up to 75 departures a day from Gatwick, while Wizz, TUI, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and Aurigny have also resumed operations.

WestJet, Ryanair and Vueling continue to offer services, having flown throughout November.