London Gatwick Airport has submitted its response to the Department for Transport's review of airport economic regulation.

This is the first time Gatwick has responded to a major policy consultation affecting its core business separately from BAA. With the sale of the second busiest UK airport ongoing, it makes clear that, while its response represents the views of Gatwick Airport's management team, the views of a future owner may also need to be taken into consideration.

Andy Flower, Gatwick Airport's managing director said, "Our future strategy is focused on growing the business by delivering a consistently high quality of service and facilities to airlines and passengers.  We have made it clear that we believe airport regulation has been ready for a fundamental review for some time and now is the right time to develop a framework that is fit for the 21^st century."

"We strongly support a future framework that puts the passenger experience at its heart and a regulatory regime that provides greater competition between airports in the south-east for the benefit of passengers overall. We look forward to working with the DfT in developing its proposals and implementing them at the earliest opportunity."

In its submission to the DfT, Gatwick Airport:

• Endorses the focus of placing the air passenger as central to a future regulatory framework;
• Believes the DfT should be in favour of reduced regulation for Gatwick Airport and that a move to this position should happen within a relatively short timescale;
• Believes that a new regime must be allowed time and resource to maximise the benefits it could deliver, citing that Gatwick Airport's market position in the south-east is markedly different from that of Heathrow and Stansted, both of which have plans for additional runway capacity.  While Gatwick does not currently have such plans, it believes a new framework must incentivise the airport to deliver the capacity needed now by airlines and for passengers;
• Believes that greater commercial behaviour by airports should be encouraged under a new framework. Gatwick Airport is keen to develop long-term commercial relationships with its key airline partners and has received strong indication from its airline partner community that it is equally keen to do so;
• Believes new regulation policy must be flexible to changing market conditions and Gatwick Airport believes that a competitive outcome is likely to be superior to a regulatory one;
• Fully supports the DfT’s view that a new regulatory framework should ultimately benefit passengers and, as such, the airport believes it should be able to pass any additional costs incurred from a new policy regime on to the traveller;
• Believes that there should be recognition that the airport sector is inherently more competitive that other regulated bodies. It also considers that developments at airports should be seen as at least as significant as they are for major capital programmes in most other regulated sectors;
• Believes that there is a case to reform the CAA itself; that it should operate independently and it does not support the proposal that it has a future role to play in delivering government policy.

Summarising its response Andy Flower concluded:  “The DfT’s proposals to change the regulatory framework come at a crucial time for Gatwick as we enter a new era in the airport’s history.”

Download Gatwick Airport's response document

Media enquiries:
Andrew McCallum, London Gatwick
Tel + 44 (0)1293 505000