Regardless of an encouraging begin to the yr passenger numbers at Gatwick fell by 66 per cent within the first six month ended June 30th
This was largely because of the affect of Covid-19.
The airport remained open all through the pandemic; nonetheless all income streams had been impacted and the collapse in passenger demand led to a 61 per cent fall in income and a £321 million loss.
EBITDA on the airport fell 98 per cent over the primary six months of the yr.
Because of the slowdown, Gatwick earlier this week stated as many as 600 jobs can be minimize.
Deliberate capital expenditure has additionally been lowered by £157 million for 2020 and £196 million for 2021.
Operational prices have been lowered by over £100 million via a wide range of actions together with consolidating air visitors to at least one terminal permitting for infrastructure shutdowns.
Gatwick Airport chief govt, Stewart Wingate, stated: “Like another worldwide airport, the damaging affect of Covid-19 on our passenger numbers and air visitors at the beginning of the yr was dramatic and, though there are small indicators of restoration, it’s a development we count on to proceed to see.
“Nonetheless, we’re focussed on guaranteeing the enterprise stays sturdy and is finest positioned to make the most of future progress.
“As with every accountable firm we’ve got protected our monetary resilience by considerably decreasing our operational prices and capital expenditure.
“We’re going via a proposed company-wide restructuring programme and I need to thank all my workers for his or her exhausting work thus far while we undergo this tough time.”
To enhance its liquidity, in April Gatwick secured a £300 million mortgage with a consortium of banks.
On the finish of June, the airport held a money stability of c.£326 million.
In step with additional decreasing working prices, with over 70 per cent of all staff remaining on furlough.
“On this publish Covid-19 travelling world, we’re working exhausting with our airways to make sure we proceed to supply our clients a large selection of locations and carriers,” stated Wingate.
“We additionally count on, subsequent yr, to progress our plans to deliver the present Northern (stand-by) runway into routine use which, as we rebuild our passenger numbers over the following 4 to 5 years, will allow us to supply much more journey selection.
“We’ll guarantee we proceed to ship our operation conscious of our environmental, social and governance duties.”
Gatwick presently has 18 airways flying to 115 airports in 42 international locations.
