Summer’s back: UK’s Gatwick airport to reopen south terminal in March

UK’s second-largest airport Gatwick said on Friday it would reopen its south terminal next month, as it expects demand to pick up this summer, with coronavirus travel curbs having eased.

The airport said a number of airlines will start returning to the south terminal from March 27. The terminal shut down for nearly two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Airlines including British Airways (ICAG.L), Dublin-based, Aer Lingus, Oslo-listed Norwegian Air (NAS.OL) and low-cost carriers Vueling, WizzAir (WIZZ.L)and Ryanair (RYA.I) will operate from the terminal, while easyJet (EZJ.L)will operate across south and north terminals.

Passenger numbers, particularly in international travel, are expected to pick up as virus-related restrictions have either been completely lifted or are being gradually eased in major economies.

Ryanair last week laid out expectations that pent-up demand could lead to record summer passenger numbers.

Still, the possibility of new variants poses a threat to a sustained rebound and Gatwick Chief Executive Stewart Wingate warned that it may take time for consumer confidence to fully recover.

Highlighting some of the persistent uncertainty, Britain’s biggest airport Heathrow warned earlier in the day of a slow start to 2022 due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the virus even as it set a more positive tone for the summer.