June 6 Gatwick Airport

On this date in 1936 Gatwick Airport first opened in Surrey. It is London’s second airport, located 29.5 miles (47.5 km) south of Central London.

1. Way before the airport, in 1241, the name Gatwick (then spelled Gatwik) was first recorded. It was a manor house in Charlwood, Surrey. The name is Old English and translates as “Goat farm.” Where the manor stood is now the North Terminal taxi area.
2. The airport started life as a small aerodrome built next to a racecourse (the Grand National was run there three times, in 1916, 1917 and 1918) in 1930. The aerodrome was known as the Surrey Aero Club and was strictly for flying enthusiasts. Four years later, it was licensed as a public aerodrome, intended to act as a relief aerodrome for London Croydon Airport. Gatwick’s first scheduled flights were to Paris and Belfast and were operated by Hillman’s Airways, which would later form part of a better known airline – British Airways.
3. The first terminal was built in 1936 and was known as the beehive because had a circular structure and rings. It became obsolete as a terminal in the 1950s and is currently used as offices. It is a Grade II listed building. There is a pub near the airport called The Beehive in its honour.
4. Gatwick was the first airport in the world to have a railway station and a train service running to it. The nearby race course already had a train service dating from the 1800s, which probably helped. The Gatwick Express as we know it has been running since 1984.
5. The air traffic control tower which opened in 1984 was the tallest in the UK at the time.
6. Gatwick has the world’s longest air passenger bridge - Pier 6 in the North Terminal.
7. Back in 1936 there were four grass landing strips. Today the main runway is 3,361 meters long and 45 metres wide. It’s the second busiest airport to operate with just one runway (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport comes first) and is the most efficient single runway airport in the world.
8. The airport contributes about £2 billion every year to the economy of London and the South East of England, and employs about 21,000 people.
9. Over 46 million passengers pass through Gatwick every year. This makes it the UK’s second busiest airport (after Heathrow). In 2019 there were 282,896 aircraft movements and there are 115 gates.
10. In December 2018 there was major disruption caused by a drone flying near the runway, which resulted in the runway being closed for several hours. Officials called the drone flying a "deliberate act of disruption", but didn’t classify it as terrorism. The army was called in to help police end the incident.

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