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London Gatwick Airport lies a few miles north of Crawley in West Sussex, about 30 miles south of central London, and ranks as the UK's second-busiest airport and one of Europe's ten busiest by passenger traffic. It operates as a major dual-runway international hub for British Airways, easyJet, Wizz Air and TUI Airways within controlled airspace south of the capital, offering full ATC and ILS approaches to its main runway.
London Gatwick (ICAO EGKK, IATA LGW) is one of the airports serving Greater London and the South East, situated in Crawley, West Sussex, some 30 miles south of central London. It is the second-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic and the tenth-busiest in Europe, serving as British Airways' secondary London hub and the largest operating base for low-cost carrier easyJet, alongside Wizz Air and charter operator TUI Airways. For a simulator pilot it offers the chance to fly a major single-main-runway international hub with full instrument approach facilities and busy mixed commercial traffic.
Gatwick sits within controlled airspace south of London, close to the M23 motorway at Junction 9 and the A23 Brighton road, which run past the airport boundary. It is one of several international airports ringing Greater London, situated in Crawley, West Sussex, and forms part of the wider London airspace system alongside Heathrow and the other London-area fields.
Gatwick has two parallel hard-surfaced runways aligned 08/26. The main runway, 08R/26L, is 9577 ft in the 08R direction and 9479 ft as 26L, is lit and equipped with ILS. The secondary runway, 08L/26R, measures 7345 ft as 08L and 7039 ft as 26R and is also lit, though it lacks an ILS. Field elevation is 194 ft.
Gatwick provides a full range of radio services. Approach is on 126.825 MHz, the ATIS broadcasts on 136.525 MHz, and Clearance Delivery operates on 121.955 MHz (CLD) with a further Director/clearance frequency of 118.95 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.805 MHz and the Tower on 124.23 MHz. The main runway, 08R/26L, is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Gatwick is a busy Class-controlled commercial aerodrome operating under full air traffic control rather than informal circuit procedures. Notably, the secondary runway 08L/26R lies close enough to the main runway that it can only be brought into use when the primary runway, 08R/26L, is unavailable, reflecting the airport's essentially single-runway operating pattern for scheduled traffic.
Gatwick has long been established as a major airport serving Greater London and southern England, located in Crawley in West Sussex. Ownership of the airport changed significantly in the twenty-first century: after the Competition Commission reported on BAA's dominance of London-area airports, BAA announced in September 2008 that it would sell Gatwick, and in October 2009 agreement was reached to sell the airport to a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion. The airport was later integrated into the VINCI Airports network in 2019, becoming VINCI's busiest hub worldwide. By the turn of the millennium Gatwick was already handling more than 30 million passengers a year, growing to 46.1 million in 2018.
Gatwick today operates as a two-terminal international airport handling in the region of 42 to 46 million passengers a year to more than 200 to 230 destinations worldwide. It is a base for British Airways, easyJet, Wizz Air and TUI Airways, combining full-service, low-cost and charter operations, and remains the UK's second-busiest airport by total passenger traffic and one of Europe's top ten. The airport is directly linked to the M23 motorway at Junction 9 and to the A23 Brighton road.
