Our history

From our beginnings as a small flying club to our two terminals handling millions of passengers take a look at some of our key milestones over the years:

May 2007: Gatwick Airport launches noise website complete with plane tracking.

April 2007: Government announces that Gatwick Express service will be retained.

January 2007: Gatwick opens South Terminal arrivals extension ahead of schedule.

 June 2006: Ferrovial takes ownership of BAA and our airports.

July 2005: Noise and blight assistance schemes launched  and £40 million extension and refurbishment to South Terminal’s baggage reclaim hall opens.

May 2005: World-first Pier 6 passenger bridge opens for business, spanning the live taxiway.

March 2005: Draft masterplan launched.

2004: New £4.5million domestic reclaim hall opens.

2001: We opened a new extension to the North Terminal international departure lounge, a £35-million development giving passengers extra seating and a bigger choice of shops and restuarants.

BAA Gatwick develops a unique legal agreement with West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council to protect local communities from the impacts of future airport growth.

2000: We openend a £29.5 million extension to the international departure lounge in the South Terminal,  offering increased seating capacity and new shops and restaurants.

1998: British Airways introduced the first Boeing 777 to their fleet at Gatwick.

1994: The new North Terminal International Departures Lounge and the first phase of the new South Terminal International Departures Lounge opened. The investment for both the lounges was £30 million.

1991: We openend a second pier at North Terminal.

1988: The £200 million North Terminal was officially opened by The Queen.

1985: Construction began on the new northern runway, which would be used as alternative to the main runway in case of emergencies. In July, British Airways Concorde made its first ever commercial flight from Gatwick.

1984: InterCity launched its non-stop Gatwick Express rail service from Victoria and the new air traffic control tower was officially opened by Princess Michael of Kent - the tower is still among the tallest in Europe.

1983: Work began on building a second terminal at Gatwick.

1982: Pope John Paul II flew into Gatwick on the first Papal visit to the UK.

1967: Passenger figures exceeded 2 million for the first time.

1962: Work began on enlarging the airport - the terminal was doubled in size and two more piers were built.

1958: On 9 June, The Queen officially opened Gatwick Airport. It was the first airport in the world to combine air, rail and road transport in a close-knit single unit.

1956: Gatwick closed in March and building began on 'the new London Airport'. The airport cost £7.8 million to build and took two and three-quarter years to build.

1952: The Government gave approval for the proposed development of Gatwick as an alternative to Heathrow.

1936: 'The Beehive', the world's first circular terminal, was officially opened. The Beehive had several novel features including a 130-yard- long subway to the train station so visitors to the airport could remain under cover from the time they left London Victoria until the time they boarded an aircraft.

1936: On 17 May, passengers boarded the first scheduled service from Gatwick to Paris - the single fare for the flight cost four pounds and five shillings and included the first-class train fare from Victoria.

1936: Passengers were able to fly to Paris, Malmo via Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen and the Isle of Wight from Gatwick.

1935: A new railway station was opened at Gatwick and was initially served by two Southern Railway trains an hour, on the Victoria to Brighton line.

1935: Hillman's Airways (the first airline to operate out of Gatwick to Paris and Belfast) merged with United Airways and Spartan Airways to form Allied British Airways Limited.

1934: The Air Ministry issued Gatwick with its first public licence allowing the airport to be used by commercial aircraft.

1930: Gatwick Airport began life as a small flying club (Surrey Aero Club). Gatwick soon grew as a flying club.

1890: Gatwick was purchased by the Gatwick Race Course Company. During the First World War, the Aintree Grand National was abandoned and a substitute was run over the same distance at Gatwick in 1916, 1917 and 1918.

1241: The name Gatwick can be dated back to 1241, when Richard de Warwick assigned his rights to some land in the manor of Charlwood (four aces of meadow and 18 acres of land) to John de Gatwick and his heirs. The land was part of what was later known as the Manor of Gatwick and was owned by the de Gatwicks until the 14th century when it then passed to various families.