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Are you a guilt tripper?
I was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ this lunchtime on the stresses of family travel.
Maybe you’re familiar with that guilty feeling you get travelling with your children – those passengers that stare in wonder, sigh and mutter as you try to steer your excited children through the airport.
We commissioned some research this week that shows just over half of all passengers (54%) are made to feel bad about disturbing other people when their children misbehave on holiday.
More worrying is that one in five parents admit to wishing they had stayed at home!
If this is a big issue for our passengers, it’s something I’m determined to fix.
Gatwick is now the only UK airport to join the new Family Friendly scheme launched by the Family and Parenting Institute.
In doing so, we pledged to improve our facilities for families and children – take a look at the commitments we’ve made.
I’ve already talked about our new family assistance lanes in security, well, now we’ve also got dedicated lanes in immigration. These lanes are perfect for families with young children and passengers with reduced mobility to help them through immigration checks.
We’ve also created free-of-charge kids zones to keep your little ones entertained while you’re waiting in the departure lounge. There’s a separate area for the kids to play and watch TV with plenty of seating for parents.
Last week, we launched our new online shopping service. If you need baby milk on holiday, book in advance and pick up in the departure lounge before you board the plane.
We’re always open to more family friendly ideas so if you think of something we should be doing, let us know – feedback@gatwickairport.com
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