Gatwick achieves busiest-ever April and launches new direct long haul links to Canada and crucial C

• 3.3 million passengers travelled through Gatwick in April, +4% on the previous year
• Gatwick gains 28 new flights a week to Canada and will directly connect the UK to Chinese growth markets Chongqing and Tianjin next month
• Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said: "Gatwick's 28 new flights to Canada from WestJet plus the UK's only connections to Chinese growth markets Chongqing and Tianjin, next month, clearly show that Gatwick can deliver the crucial new long-haul routes the UK needs. With a second runway, Gatwick can take the UK even further. Only Gatwick's legal, affordable, cleaner and quieter plan gives the UK the opportunity to finally realise the benefits another runway will bring while limiting the impact on the environment."

Gatwick Airport has achieved its busiest ever April as 3.3 million passengers travelled through the airport, +4% on the previous year.

Transatlantic growth at Gatwick continues apace with May seeing, among the 20 new routes arriving to the airport this year, Canadian airline WestJet launching 28 weekly flights Gatwick to Canada - to be joined by a daily Air Canada Rouge service to Toronto later in May.

The arrival of these two new Canadian airlines to the airport follows the strong performance of North Atlantic routes in April +20% year on year, including New York routes +162% and Los Angeles routes +135%.

Across Gatwick's destinations, long haul routes continued to perform particularly well +6.0% in April with the month also seeing British Airways start the UK's only direct routes to Costa Rica and Lima, from Gatwick. This followed holiday destinations performing strongly from the airport with Split, Croatia routes +87%, Valencia routes +48%, Phuket routes +34% and Tenerife +26% as passengers jetted off on Easter holiday breaks.

Domestic routes also performed well this April with Belfast +85%, Newquay +28% and Inverness +21%.

Average load factors were consistently strong at 83%.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said:

"Gatwick's 28 new flights to Canada from WestJet plus the UK's only connections to Chinese growth markets Chongqing and Tianjin, next month, clearly show that Gatwick can deliver the crucial new long-haul routes the UK needs.

"With a second runway, Gatwick can take the UK even further. Only Gatwick's legal, affordable, cleaner and quieter plan gives the UK the opportunity to finally realise the benefits another runway will bring while limiting the impact on the environment.

"Plans to expand Heathrow have stalled time and time again because of unacceptable noise impacts and worsening air quality - it is ever more clear that only Gatwick can happen."

Gatwick has also responded to Heathrow's announcement today by reasserting that Gatwick remains the only expansion plan that can actually deliver for the UK. Stewart Wingate described the announcement as "a desperate last throw from a project that has repeatedly failed".