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London Gatwick Airport
Airport News
London Gatwick Airport benefits from Easybus expansion plans(8th July 2006)
STELIOS Haji-Ioannou is expanding his cut-price EasyBus airport shuttle service across the UK. EasyBus will start operatating out of Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Liverpool next year. Currently the EasyBus service is provided by 10 minibuses that provide up to 44 daily services between central London and London Luton Airport. Tickets are booked online in advance with the ‘earlier you book the cheaper the ticket’ scheme that is like the Easyjet airline. Cheapest tickets are £2 for very early bookers but increase up to £7. Those buying walk on tickets pay £8 if space is available.
Easybus has 10 minibuses operating on the Luton route but has just ordered another 50 for use with other airport services. London Gatwick is particularly well served by public transport. The Gatwick Express train service operates to London Victoria station in the West End of London while several train companies run services to the City of London.. Coach and bus services from Gatwick are frequent, especially the comfortable and frequent National Express services.
Easyjet to expand at Gatwick(12th June 2006)
Easyjet, the low cost airline, is to increase the services it operates from London Gatwick Airport by 10% by the autumn. Easyjet said they will be targeting business travellers with increased service on routes to Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Cologne and Athens. It also plans to increase the service from Gatwick to Glasgow to three services per day. Easyjet already serves 33 destinations from Gatwick with 16 aircraft although they intend to increase that to 18 aircraft by the autumn. Gatwick will become its leading UK airport, overtaking London Luton Airport which will have 17 aircraft by the autumn.
Easyjet has targeted Gatwick and the business passengers that other airlines, particularly BA, may have lost by its focus on flights from London Heathrow as its business hub. BA’s flight operation from Gatwick is loss making and Easyjet see further retrenchment. Easyjet will continue to improve its service and draw comparison with some of the features that BA business customers may be used to such as generous carry-on baggage allowance, priority boarding and pair-for lounge access.
Gatwick Express and the Whitehall Farce(12th May 2006)
The Gatwick Express is running normally today despite an almightly Whitehall blunder over its future. The Gatwick Express, which employs 400 people and runs a 4 times an hour non stop service between Gatwick and London Victoria, is said by the government to be using valuable capacity on the London to Brighton line. Commuters travel in overcrowded trains while the Gatwick Express runs half empty. Airlines have opposed changes to the service saying its inappropriate for air passengers to have to board crowded commuter trains with their luggage. These trains often only stop briefly at the station.
The battle became more bitter when the goivernment published an earlier draft version of its decision on the internet. The version suggested that the service would remain but with some additional stops at East Croydon and Clapham Junction.
Ironically only last month the Gatwick Express had beaten all other train companies by being voted the number train operating company (TOC) in the UK for a record fifth time over the past two and a half years. Gatwick Express Managing Director, David Stretch, said,”This latest set of results is a fantastic success for Gatwick Express. To be ranked top in the customer satisfaction category continually for two and a half years is a triumph for our customer service ethos and true recognition of everyone in the Gatwick Express team.
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