Gatwick travel, news, advice and information about the Gatwick area
Gatwick flights were disrupted last Friday, 13 April, after a hot air balloon drifted into Gatwick Airspace.
Flights were suspended from 8:45am and 9:15am for safety reasons and aviation authorities are investigating to find out what happened and where the balloon came from.
Gatwick flights have resumed following today’s emergency landing by a Virgin Atlantic plane bound for Orlando.
Gatwick Airport is warning of some flight delays and disruptions as airlines work to clear the backlog of flights.
A Virgin Atlantic plane bound for Orlando has made an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport.
The plane is currently on the runway and flights in and out of the airport have temporarily been suspended.
The British Transport Police (BTP) is on the hunt for vandals who threw a baggage trolley onto railway tracks near Gatwick Airport last Wednesday, 4 April.
Police believe the luggage trolley was thrown from a footbridge approximately 550 metres from Gatwick Airport station.
The trolley was struck by a train shortly after 4am. Fortunately, no one was hurt, however, there was some damage to the rails which caused disruption to Gatwick Express services and Brighton-bound trains.
Detective Sergeant Bob Stokoe, the investigating officer, is asking anyone with information about the incident to get in touch.
“We are currently carrying out local enquiries, including identifying forensic opportunities and speaking with witnesses. We have also requested CCTV from the station and local area,” he said.
“I cannot over-emphasise enough the dangers associated with this type of crime, it is vital that we find those responsible.”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact BTP on 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 50 of 04/04/12 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Caribbean Airlines is to launch a new non-stop service to Port of Spain from Gatwick.
The Gatwick flights, which will operate four times per week, will commence on 14 June 2012 to Piarco International Airport.
Caribbean Airlines Acting CEO, Robert Corbie said: “We are extremely happy to announce the start up of our service from Gatwick to Piarco International Airport as our flights will provide a vital link between London and the Caribbean.
“We are well positioned strategically to become the preferred airline for all customers flying between London and the Caribbean with seamless connections to South America. “Fly Caribbean” to experience the warmth of the islands as soon as you step on board.”
8 Solutions, the UK’s leading data centre healthcare company specialising in the deep cleaning and decontamination of critical environments, has won a five-year contract to provide technical cleaning services for the data centre at Gatwick Airport.
In May 2011, the company won a five-year contract to be Gatwick Airport’s supplier for critical facility cleaning services at 28 sites, however, the new contract will increase their remit to 33 locations.
John Blythman, Data Centre Manager at Gatwick Airport, says: “The regular deep cleaning of our facilities is absolutely essential to the smooth running of our technical locations at Gatwick. We were extremely impressed with the professionalism, dedication and skill of 8 Solutions’ technicians and we welcome them to the airport.”
8 Solutions is ISO 14644-1 Clean Rooms and Associated Controlled Environments accredited, but there is no mandatory enforcement of this standard in the UK.
Specialist deep cleaning improves the performance, power consumption and longevity of expensive IT equipment.
Gatwick Airport is gearing up for a busy Easter with more than 1.5 million passengers expected to pass through the airport during the school holidays (30 March – 15 April).
Top ten destinations this Easter are:
Next weekend, the Easter bank holiday weekend will see around 400,000 passengers pass through the airport.
Throughout the Easter period staff will be handing out free chocolate eggs and on Good Friday, professional dancers dressed up as Easter bunnies and chicks, performing in both south and north terminals.
British Airways is celebrating Sport Relief Day on Friday (March 23) by hosting the Boccia 2012 Project in its new state-of-the-art check-in hall at Gatwick’s North Terminal.
Staff and customers will be treated to a display of the competitive Paralympic sport of Boccia, which is similar to bowls but played using soft weighted leather balls. It can be played by people of all ages and with a wide variety of disabilities.
The Boccia 2012 Project is a joint initiative between Reigate & Redhill YMCA and Surrey County Council Adult Services, and aims to raise awareness of the sport across the southeast of England.
The project plans to establish new clubs in every borough across Surrey, helping to give adults and young people with physical or learning disability an opportunity for long term volunteering.
Anyone passing through Gatwick on Friday will be invited to take part in a game and British Airways will be collecting donations for Flying Start, its global charity partnership with Comic Relief.
There will be other fun activities on the ground throughout the day and in the air British Airways cabin crew charity champions will be wearing pedometers so customers can guess how many steps they take during their flight.
In the departure lounge, football freestyler Abbas Farid will demonstrate some of his unique skills and challenge customers to a “keepy up” game. The person who scores the highest number against him will win a pair of British Airways European flights from Gatwick.
British Airways’ route to Algiers will take off from Gatwick this Sunday (March 25).
The flights to the Algerian capital are transferring from Heathrow to Gatwick.
Flights will operate seven times per week, year round on a Boeing 737 jet.
Icelandair is set to launch flights to Keflavik International Airport from Gatwick.
The airline will operate twice-weekly Gatwick flights (Thursdays and Sundays) from18 October 2012 using a Boeing 757-200.
Birkir Holm Gudnason, Icelandair’s CEO said: “Operating from Gatwick will give our UK customers greater choice.
“Over the past few years we have seen a surge in demand for winter travel to Iceland due to the popularity of the Northern Lights, year-round whale watching and events like Iceland Airwaves. Gatwick will also give us the option of further growth in London and provide a link to our many partners with connecting flights to destinations throughout Europe and more remote destinations in Asia.”
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