Single runway airports.

[Airlift21]

Using London Gatwick Airport as one example, what are the advantages and disadvantages of single runway operations? Is Gatwick losing it's major international airport status? Can it continue to compete with other airports in Europe or is the airport destined for regional airport status or a low cost carrier hub? How does the future of Gatwick compare to other similar airports around the world? From my perspective, the future of Gatwick looks very bleak indeed, recession or no recession! Please discuss.

Airlift21.

[The SSK]

Disadvantages? Limited runway capacity. You can build as many new terminals as you like, you can extend your aircraft parking, but you can still only handle 'n' movements an hour.

Advantages?

[Ian Brooks]

It`s not only the runway capacity,airspace has a limit as well so it all depends on where
it is and what is round it (LGW/LHR etc)


Ian B

[Phileas Fogg]

The future of Gatwick looks very bleak? Who said so? What utter bullsh1t!

LGW has survived with a single runway operation for more than 50 years and, I think, LHR and MAN are the only UK airports with multi runway operations, does that mean that every UK airport, other than LHR and MAN, is doomed, has a very bleak future???

There is such a thing as an airport becoming too big, LHR as an example, a city within itself, overpriced parking, overpriced hotels, overpriced everything, a nightmare to travel to/from/via, I avoid LHR like the plague, give me a single runway operation airport any and every time!

[Skipness One Echo]

Is Gatwick losing it's major international airport status?

The last of this departed with the US majors to Heathrow in 2008. Gatwick remains a leisure airfield with only Emirates and Qatar as major long haul business carriers, with BA and Virgin operating primarily sun and leisure routes.

Air Berlin have gained slots and are moving their STN ops round the M25. However Gatwick is still not as busy as recent years due to downsizing of the BA hub and the loss of the US majors, neither of which was to so with runway capacity as they both moved to equallty constrained Heathrow.

From my perspective, the future of Gatwick looks very bleak indeed, recession or no recession!

Have you ever been to Gatwick? easyJet have made something of an impact I have to say. To be honest, this reads like someone's homework question for a course of some sort.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Advantages?

You only have to clear one runway of snow which requires half the effort....oh hang on...!

[Suzeman]

Excellent m'lud

Suzeman

[MUFC_fan]

The last of this departed with the US majors to Heathrow in 2008. Gatwick remains a leisure airfield with only Emirates and Qatar as major long haul business carriers, with BA and Virgin operating primarily sun and leisure routes.

QR/EK can also be argued to be leisure routes. Remember a high percentage of this traffic will depart to sunnier climates as well as VFR traffic. But I agree, two of the only long haul business destinations.

[Phileas Fogg]

Hang on,

There's a 10,000ft runway with 2 terminal buildings, a mainline rail station, a motorway passing by and within spitting distance of London!

Yep, things look very bleak for such a development, can't imagine why they ever built it in the first instance.

[Out Of Trim]

The last of this departed with the US majors to Heathrow in 2008.

Bull****, If you care to check, US Airways and Delta still fly from LGW.

Also easyJet has more than compensated for less BA traffic these days. You should view the holding point for departures. Usually about 80% easyJet. Around 45 based aircraft now and increasing.

[Airlift21]

Skipness,
I actually worked at Gatwick for eight years and no, it's not a homework question. You're right, Easyjet has made quite an impact at the airport and i can remember when they first started flying from Gatwick and their growth there has been nothing short of huge. I still have a few friends who work at Gatwick and they do seem to talk an awful lot about the good old days when it had quite a bit of North Atlantic traffic and how the future looks bleak compared to then, and how great LHR is. Maybe they should go and work there. I think I'll take a trip down there again myself just to see for myself before deciding how bleak the future is. Sorry if I got anyones backs up. It wasn't my intention.
I'd still like to know a bit more about single runway operations and what Gatwick will do when it reaches saturation which can't be too far away. Also how many passengers and aircraft movements would mean saturation at Gatwick?

[Skipness One Echo]

the good old days when it had quite a bit of North Atlantic traffic and how the future looks bleak compared to then

Isn't this snobbery? The Manchester thread has the same issue in that for some people, unless it's long haul and legacy, then it's bleak.

Now that Gatwick is free from the BAA it can stand on it's own merits. Remember the only reason that Cathay, Air New Zealand, American, Delta, Northwest, US Airways et al were ever at Gatwick at all was because they weren't allowed into Heathrow. Heathrow is now the proper hub without protected and restrictive treaties denying some carriers the option to serve the main gateway London airport.

Gatwick still has somes scheduled long haul with Delta still serving Atlanta and US Airways still serving Charlotte. However as Delta have sourced some more LHR slots and LHR-ATL has gone twice daily this month, I suspect Delta will be gone soon. Emirates still runs three a day and Qatar did not follow Etihad out the door... Even BA and Virgin remain offering a growing schedule of Carribbean and holiday sun destinations on a dedicated fleet of heavies.

Thomas Cook and Thomson also serve a fair number of long haul sun routes with the A330 and B767-300ERs, with even the B757s serving Canada. It's just the world has changed. The future of short haul is now easy Orange, not BA blue. It seems to me that people ignore the great things in front of their nose that most UK airpots can only dream of simply because they're not served by LEGACY, LONG HAUL and God forbid, the ultimate accolade, the FLAG CARRIER.

That way we can safely ignore, Ryanair, flybe, easyJet, Thomson, and Thomas Cook which seems wrong IMHO.

Bull****, If you care to check, US Airways and Delta still fly from LGW.

Initially missed this post. Apologies,I am aware of this, my point was that the OP's idea of an aspirational competitor to Heathrow, unlkely as it sounds went West with these guys. I know that they're still there but look at the underlying reasons why.
There was also the whole saga of the short lived re-introduction of LGW-JFK with BA which some hailed as a new dawn at the time but which we now know was for more pragmatic reasons. One route and a seemingly million posts on here and other forums, all for one B777 a day.

it takes a spotter and his mates to suggest that LGW's future is bleak!

What makes you think he's a spotter? I mean be fair, I have my spotting moments too and that doesn't make me a terrible person...I hope (!)

[Phileas Fogg]

I recall my good old days at LGW with such base carriers as BCal, Laker, Dan Air, Air Europe etc.

This thread belongs in spotters corner, an airport reaches full capacity when all runways slots are taken and none are left, it doesn't matter what colour the aircraft are painted, what routes the aircraft are operating, airports are in business to shift passengers and LGW has been serving this purpose well for 50+ years and it takes a spotter and his mates to suggest that LGW's future is bleak!

[Airlift21]

I'm not a spotter either! In fact, I never read their threads, but thanks for the label anyway. Never been called a spotter before! By the way, I've never seen an A380 in real life. Hardly the behaviour of an anorak is it Mr Fogg? However, I do know a little bit about aircraft.
Skipness,
I totally agree with you; the world has changed an awful lot. Short haul is orange, whether it's business or leisure, and Gatwick should certainly be proud of such a massive orange presence and the airports huge point to point network.
So back to my earlier question, what is Gatwicks absolute capacity in terms of aircraft movements and passenger numbers. I think I read somewhere that Gatwicks busiest day was just short of 900 movements in one day! If my memory is serving me well, that's a pretty astonishing statistic!

Airlift21.

[Musket90]

I think one of the main problems with busy single runway airports like Gatwick/Stansted is that for business continuity the major airlines need a contingency in the event that the single runway becomes unavailable, so they are not going to create a major base/hub for this reason. Gatwick's Northern runway is not really suitable for this purpose as it is capacity limited and a visual operation. Yes it's Ok to use at night durng planned routine main runway maintenance (provided weather meets visual operating limits) but to use unplanned during busy periods is not ideal. Having said that when Heathrow is on single runway operations then this isn't ideal either, but Heathrow operates to near capacity all day unlike Gatwick, so not surprising.

Gatwick can achieve between 800-900 daily movements in summer months, partly because there are now less wide bodied movements than a few years ago which enables increased runway capacity . Also it has a more generous night movement quota compared to Heathrow which means many more movements at night.

Runway declared capacity and stats for Gatwick and other airports are on the Airport Co-ordination web site.

[EI-BUD]

Gatwick remains a leisure airfield with only Emirates and Qatar as major long haul business carriers, with BA and Virgin operating primarily sun and leisure routes.

Skipness, this is a fair point, but it is worth considering that Easyjet now claim that 16% of their passngers fly on business. Gatwick would be a good deal more in my opinion given the scale of the business and the frequency on many of the routes. Flybe with frequency on many routes are getting their fair share of business passengers too. BAs network especially short haul, same story.

While a single runway airport has capacity constraints, there is a level of certainty in the place given so many competing airlines, and it is this, there will generally be a demand for any available slots as Easyjet will try to take up all free slots to keep airlines like Ryanair, Flybe and Aer Lingus expanding there. Hence not likely to be a big slump in demand for slots at this single runway airport. The airport still also gets on the map for being the busiest single runway airport!

As Heathrow is full any additional full service carriers who want to serve London will go to Gatwick? Easyjet are constantly reviewing there model and I personally think that it will in the fullness of time (maybe 3 years) start interlining and allowing connections, as this would be a key point of difference between them and Ryanair. Yes it distinctly not their way of working now and they state they are point to point but Easyjet will evolve and this is a possibility for coming years as the model seeks to drive yield and revenue.

EI-BUD