Airport aims to woo Chinese travelers

A senior figure from one of the United Kingdom's busiest airports is flying to China next week, with an eye on making major inroads into the country's huge international tourism market.

Stephanie Wear, vice-president of aviation development at London Gatwick Airport, will be at the ITB China trade show in Shanghai from Sept 12 to 14, making the case for why London's second airport should be the first port of call for visitors from China.

Situated 45 kilometers south of central London, Gatwick served 18.5 million passengers in the first six months of this year, a 41 percent increase on the same period last year.

China Eastern Airlines and Air China currently fly to Gatwick, from Beijing and Shanghai, and Wear wants to get the word out that Gatwick is not only open for business, but is also a better option than West London rival Heathrow.

"One of the big challenges we face is a lack of awareness — people automatically assume the only way into London is via Heathrow, but that's not true. In fact, we have lots of advantages, which make for a better passenger experience," she said. "95 percent of our passengers get through security in less than five minutes, and from our newly renovated train station, in 30 minutes, you can be at either Victoria or London Bridge, which is proper Central London, unlike Paddington, which Heathrow serves."

According to the Simple Flying website, Gatwick was the ninth-busiest airport in Europe in September, with Heathrow second, and Wear said it wants to build on that.

"We have all the facilities and infrastructure, and a credible growth plan — when you look at that and the growth speed of the Chinese market, Gatwick's a viable option," she said.

China has long been a major target for Gatwick's expansion, and Wear said that as the travel sector continues its post-pandemic recovery, this is something it is keen to develop further.

"As soon as we heard that China was reopening for travel, I think we were the first UK airport to go and speak to Chinese carriers," she said. "We wanted to talk to the right people, make sure they understood the opportunity at Gatwick."

Wear said China has always been a priority market, and that is certainly the case now. That market is based on relationships, which take time to build, so her job is to keep Gatwick at the front of people's minds.

"Every time an airline chooses to fly to you, that's a flight they're choosing not to make to somewhere else, so we want to ensure they keep wanting to put their planes into Gatwick," she said.