GENERAL

When I first sat down to write this, my initial thoughts were “what do I put in here? Nothing much has happened during the year”. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that a fair bit has happened over the last twelve months.

GIP has continued to pour money into the airport & every time that I fly out of Gatwick I discover another improvement. There seems to be no end to it & the next major project is to be a complete refurbishment of the North Terminal, talking of which, I was under the impression that easyJet was to become almost the sole user of this terminal by October this year, but that has yet to happen. At the railway station, a new platform 7 was opened in February & a major £120 million upgrade of the station has been announced (£30 million of which will come from GIP).

The possibility of a second runway remains firmly on the cards & aviation media seems to be undertaking a non-stop dialogue concerning the merits or demerits of building another runway at Gatwick or Heathrow, while local pressure groups continue to throw up dozens of reasons that they claim make their airport a non-starter. GIP are promising all manner of local infrastructure improvements & compensation for those affected by a second runway & it will be interesting to see just how many of these promises they keep if they win the contest (or am I just being a cynic!).

In a controversial move, GIP selected the German company DFS over NATS for the provision air traffic control services below 4,000 feet around the airport from 2015. NATS has provided this service to Gatwick for over 30 years & the new contract with DFS is for 10 years.

While we are still a long way from having a viewing area at Gatwick, the removal of the gates at Lowfield Heath to permit access to the Southern Perimeter Road via a mini-roundabout has certainly improved the view, though parking restrictions still remain on the road leading from the A23.

Scheduled A380 operations began in March with a daily evening Emirates service from Dubai. This does, however, give the airport a minor problem as its arrival & departure causes fluctuations in the ILS, meaning that the next couple of arrivals usually have to make a RNAV or visual approach. Aurigny moved into the jet age, firstly operating an E195 leased from Flybe & then with its own factory-fresh example. British Airways’ short-haul fleet renewal programme got off to a shaky start with the delayed delivery of their “new” A320s (only two delivered to date), though the B734s that they are replacing continued to leave the fleet, most for an uncertain future at Victorville, CA. We also saw a welcome increase in transatlantic traffic with Norwegian introducing three services to the USA.

No major sporting events this year apart from the Arsenal versus Bayern Munich UAEF Champions League match in February, which attracted a couple of visits from Lufthansa 346s.

I had hardly finished preparing this section than we had the Virgin B744 incident on 29/12, which shut Gatwick down for over three hours. The powers-that-be must have been prepared for the worst possible scenario, as the traffic on the M23 was halted & trains stopped outside Gatwick for about 15 minutes while it made its approach. Thankfully, all ended well & just for a change, it wasn’t power cuts, floods, fog or snow/ice causing the chaos this time!

AIRLINE GAINS & LOSSES

Thankfully, we had less of a turnover of airlines in 2014 than we have often seen in the past. Unsurprisingly, Air China left us for LHR as soon as they managed to get hold of a second slot there. Flynas started a thrice-weekly service from Jeddah in April using A330s leased from Hi Fly, but pulled off the route in October due to poor loads. How they ever expected this service to succeed is beyond me, especially considering that you cannot get a tourist visa to visit the country! A further loss was Afriqiyah A/W, who had to suspend their service due to the internal conflict within the country & have now been banned, along with all the other Libyan carriers, from flying to the EU. They still appear on the arrivals board from time to time, so may return one day. Flybe almost disappeared from Gatwick in the spring, having sold their slots to easyJet, giving the latter (in my opinion) far too much of a stranglehold on the prime slots, but continue, with government help, to operate a service to/from Newquay. A further loss expected during 2015 will be Air Baltic, who have stated that they intend to move their Riga services to LCY.

Among the airlines that had stated that they would operate to Gatwick this year, but which failed to appear were Air Algerie, Air Dolomiti, Air Zimbabwe & Mahan Air, though it is possible that the latter will turn up one day (June has been rumoured). Tunisair reappeared, as did Air One, only to be absorbed into Alitalia & cease operating to Gatwick, while Garuda returned with a five-weekly service from Jakarta via Amsterdam, which is due to become daily from the summer. As always, we saw a number of seasonal carriers & most will probably return during 2015. Both easyJet & Norwegian have continued to add extra services, Vueling is also to expand, while Iberia Express is expected to be a new airline for us & Sun Express hold slots for the summer. La Compagnie may also start a business class only service to Newark & Qatar A/W also hold a slot for a daily B788 service from Doha, though I am not at all sure that they will actually use it.

A feature of the summer was the appearance of aircraft subbed for the peak period. Thomas Cook based a SmartLynx A320 here, as did Small Planet A/L & Smartwings leased a Sunwing A/L B738, which was also based at Gatwick. Ryanair leased seven aircraft for the summer & have stated that they intend to do so again during the coming summer. Of these, the four B734s, two leased from Safair through Air Contractors & two from Air Explore, were frequent visitors to Gatwick, while of the three Stansted-based B738s leased from FlyDubai, only two made brief appearances.

One change in the scenery during 2015 will be the repainting of the easyJet fleet into a new scheme. Two options were provided for the staff to vote on for their preferred one & the result should be announced shortly.

AIRLINES AT GATWICK AT YEAR END

Scheduled carriers as at 31/12/14 were:

Aegean, Aer Lingus, Air Arabia Maroc, Air Baltic, Air Europa, Air Malta, Air Transat, Aurigny
Belavia, British A/W
Caribbean A/L
easyJet, easyJet Switzerland, Emirates
Flybe
Gambia Bird (services currently suspended), Garuda, Germania
Icelandair, Iraqi A/W
Monarch
Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Long Haul
RAM, Ryanair
Swiss International (seasonal)
TAP, Thomas Cook, Thomson A/W, THY, Tunisair
Ukraine International
Vietnam A/L, Virgin Atlantic, Vueling
Wow Air

Other carriers seen at Gatwick in 2014 included:

Adria, Air Berlin, Air Caraibes, Air China, Air Corsica, Air Dolomiti, Air Explore, Air France, Air Greenland, Air Lituanica, Air One, Air Via, Alitalia, Alitalia Cityliner, Astra A/L, Atlantic A/W, Austrian A/L, Aviavilsa, Avion Express
BA Cityflyer, BH Air, Blue Air, Blue Islands, Blue Panorama, BMI Regional, Bulgaria Air
Camair, Cavok Air, CityJet, Cityline Hungary, Corendon Air, Croatia A/L
Denim Air
Eastern A/W, Enter Air, Etihad, Euro Atlantic A/W, Europe Airpost, Evelop
FedEx, Flynas, FreeBird
Go2Sky, Grand Cru A/L, Greenland Express
Hamburg A/W, HiFly, HOP!
JAL, Jetairfly, Jet2
KLM Cityhopper
Livingston, Loganair, Lufthansa, Luxair
Meridiana, Mistral Air, Montenegro A/L, Multiflight
Neos, Nesma A/L, Niki, Nouvelair
Omni Air International, Onur Air, Open Skies, Orbest
Pegasus, Portugalia, Privilege Style
SATA, SkyGreece, Small Planet A/L, SmartLynx, SmartLynx Estonia, Smartwings, SriLankan, Sun-Air of Scandinavia, Sunwing A/L, Swiftair
Ten A/W, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, Titan A/W, Transavia, Transavia France, Travel Service, Travel Service Hungary
Volotea
Welcome Air, West Atlantic Sweden, White, Windavia
XL A/W France
The number of "other carriers" dropped from 118 in 2013 to just 94 last year. Some of the above operated seasonal services & will return in the summer, many were just one-off or occasional charters, while others were only here on diversion.

NEW AIRLINERS

Only six airlines reached double figures with first visits in 2014 compared to nine the previous year:

59 Emirates
26 THY
23 Vueling
21 Norwegian
20 Swiss International
13 easyJet (including Swiss aircraft)
Airliner first visits by manufacturer were:

Airbus

A300. One from FedEx on diversion from Stansted
A310. None this time
A318. A single A318CJ from Al Jaber Aviation
A319. Four from Swiss International, two each from Alitalia, Atlantic A/W, TAP & Vueling, plus single examples from easyJet Switzerland & Germania along with A319CJs from Sophar Property Holding & K5-Aviation
A320. Twenty-one from Vueling, twelve from easyJet (including two Swiss aircraft), eleven Swiss International & five British A/W plus examples from Aegean (3), Afriqiyah (2), Air Arabia Maroc, Air Corsica, Air France, Air One, Alitalia (2), Avion Express (2 – one with Vueling titles), Hamburg A/W, Livingston, Meridiana, Monarch (2), Nesma A/L, Nouvelair (2), Small Planet A/L, Smartlynx (3), Smartlynx Estonia, TAP (2), THY (2), Tunisair (2), Virgin Atlantic, White & Windavia (2)
A321. Six from Monarch & Thomas Cook, while others were from Aegean, Austrian A/L, British A/W, Niki, Onur Air (2) & Swiss International (3)
A330. Five Air Europa machines & examples from Air Berlin, Air Caraibes (2), Air China (2), BH Air, Thomas Cook, THY & Virgin Atlantic
A340. Only a total of four from Etihad, Lufthansa (2) & SriLankan
A380. A huge increase over 2013, with no less than 47 from Emirates

Antonov

Only one in 2013, but two last year - an An-26 from Cityline Hungary (Avialsa titles) & Cavok Air’s An-74TK (the first of this type we have seen here)
ATR. Up from one in 2013 to three in 2014 – an ATR42 & an ATR72 from Blue Islands & a West Air Sweden ATR72
BAe. Just single examples of 146s from CityJet & Swiss International

Boeing

B712. One Volotea machine
B727. No examples in 2014 – will we ever see another make its first visit to Gatwick?
B737 classic. Surprisingly, a slight rise from 15 to 16 – Air Explore (1xB734), Blue Air (3xB734s), Blue Panorama (1xB734), Enter Air (2xB734), GainJet (1xB734), Go2Sky (1xB734), Grand Cru A/L (1xB734), Jet2 (2xB733), Multiflight (1xB733), Ryanair (2xB734) & Small Planet A/L (1xB733)
B737NG. A lot of NGs, as one would expect, with the largest numbers coming from THY (1xB737, 15xB738, 6xB739), Norwegian (15xB738), Iraqi A/W (6xB738) Pegasus (6xB738) & Ryanair (5xB738). The also-rans were Air Europa (1xB738), Camair (1xB737), Corendon Air (1xB738) Enter Air (2xB738), Meridiana (1xB737, 3xB738s), RAM (1xB738), Sunwing A/L (1xB738), Thomson A/W (2xB738), Transavia (1xB738), Travel Service (2xB738) & Travel Service Hungary (1xB738) along with a BBJ from Beijing A/L
B747. For the first time in 42 years, we saw no new B747s at Gatwick.
B757. Another type that is fast disappearing from Gatwick with only the one new Icelandair machine during 2014.
B767. The same number as in the previous year, with single examples from Blue Panorama, Euro Atlantic, Omni Air, Privilege Style & SkyGreece.
B777. A single B772 from JAL, plus twelve B773s from Emirates & six from Garuda
B787. A further six B788s from Norwegian & two more from Thomson A/W plus our first B789 from Virgin Atlantic
C-17A. Only the second one we have seen here was a very welcome Kuwait A/F machine

Bombardier

Eleven aircraft from this manufacturer in 2013, but just a Luxair DH8D, an Austrian CRJ8 & a pair of Adria CRJ9s in 2014.

Dornier

Nothing at all from this company in 2014

DOUGLAS/MCDD

Making a welcome return in 2014 with a pair of Ten A/W MD80s.

Embraer

A drop in numbers from this company. We saw a single E135 from BMI Regional & three Legacies, one each from the UK, Czech Republic & Poland, while the two E145s that were new for us came from the Belgian A/F & BMI Regional. Wombles were an E170 from HOP!, an E175 from Flybe, two E190s from BA Cityflyer & single examples from Bulgaria Air & Montenegro A/L plus an E195 from Aurigny & two from Belavia.

Fokker

Up from three in 2013 to four in 2014. One Fk50 from Denim Air, a KLM Cityhopper Fk70 & Fk100s from Austrian A/L & Denim Air (Greenland Express scheme & titles)

Lockheed

A RAF C-130J & a Kuwait A/F KC-130J

Saab

Made a welcome reappearance with two SF340s from Loganair & a S2000 operated by SAAB

GENERAL AVIATION

New types for us during 2014, apart from the An-74 & B789 already mentioned, were the Bell 429, Cirrus SR22 & Gulfstream 280, while a new sub-type was the C-37A, which is a Gulfstream 5 anyway. Although the number of biz jets was down on 2013, the Astra, Ce750, DA50 & Eclipse featured once more, but the G3 & HA4000 failed to make an appearance. The number of twins dropped from 12 to 7 & we only saw 2 biz singles, but there was a slight rise in helicopters from 15 to 16. The countries providing the most new GA visitors in 2014 were the UK (31), the USA (29), the Isle of Man (14), Germany (12) & Austria (10).

FIRST VISITS

During 2014, we saw only 511 aircraft make their first visits compared to 608 in 2013 & 689 in 2012. It may sound like a harsh verdict (especially if you live near some other UK airports), but the year was an unmitigated disaster compared to nearly all previous years. My statistics now go back to the opening of the airport in 1958 & the only complete years in which we have seen a lower total were 1959 (the airport’s first full year of operation) with 498, then 1962 with 467 & finally 1986 with a paltry 436 (though I believe that this figure is very possibly due to newcomers going unrecorded that year as the total shot up to 792 the following year). As a by the way, the highest number of first visits recorded in a year was 1139 in 1978.

In order to compare how we did in 2014 for first visits, I have looked back at some recent years. Here are the results:

2000 – 624 (364 liners, 199 biz, 27 twins, 31 helos, 3 others)
2001 – 532 (327 liners, 155 biz, 21 twins, 24 helos, 5 others)
2002 – 637 (414 liners, 168 biz, 22 twins, 26 helos, 7 others)
2003 – 598 (408 liners, 139 biz, 20 twins, 23 helos, 8 others)
2004 – 663 (474 liners, 144 biz, 18 twins, 18 helos, 9 others)
2005 – 690 (466 liners, 174 biz, 20 twins, 22 helos, 8 others)
2006 – 769 (516 liners, 209 biz, 21 twins, 19 helos, 4 others)
2007 – 702 (452 liners, 209 biz, 14 twins, 21 helos, 6 others)
2008 – 630 (379 liners, 219 biz, 16 twins, 13 helos, 3 others)
2009 – 606 (382 liners, 186 biz, 16 twins, 12 helos, 10 others)
2010 – 555 (350 liners, 172 biz, 21 twins, 5 helos, 7 others)
2011 – 613 (427 liners, 170 biz, 9 twins, 4 helos, 3 others)
2012 – 689 (496 liners, 168 biz, 10 twins, 10 helos, 5 others)
2013 – 608 (411 liners, 168 biz, 12 twins, 15 helos, 2 others)
2014 – 511 (351 liners, 133 biz, 7 twins, 16 helos, 4 others)

Significant drops in the number of airliners & biz jets, & I blame the “easyJet effect” for the former (perhaps unfairly!).
At least 23 of our newcomers were diversions from Biggin Hill (7), LCY (4), LHR (5), Luton (3), Manchester (1), Shoreham (1), Stansted (1) plus one on its way to Washington/Dulles. This compares to at least 30 diversions in 2013.

Airliner breakdown
89 B737
84 A320
47 A380
21 A321
19 B777
17 A319
14 A330
9 B787
7 E190/195
5 B767
4 A340, E135
2 ATR72, BAe146, C-130, CRJ9, E145, E170/175, Fk100, MD80, SF340
1 A300, A318, An26, An74, ATR42, B717, B757, C-17, CRJ8, DHC8, Fk50, Fk70, S2000

A huge drop in the number of A320s (from 127 in 2013) saw the B737 regain top spot, though the A320 family as a whole was really the winner. The A380 appeared from almost nowhere, but that total is highly unlikely ever to be repeated at Gatwick!

Biz Jet breakdown
15 Ce525, Gulf 4
12 BD700, Ce560
10 Lear
9 CL600
7 DA2000, Gulf 5
6 Ce510, Phenom
4 Ce680, HS125
3 BD100, Be400, DA7X, Gulf 650, Premier
2 Ce750, DA50, DA900
1 Astra, Ce550, Eclipse, G150, G280
The Ce525 & Gulf 4 replaced the Ce560 & CL600 at the top

Biz prop/twin breakdown
6 King Air
2 PC12
1 Merlin
For at least the sixth year in a row, the King Air held on to the top spot. Types appearing in 2013, but not featuring in 2014 were the Ce425, GA7, P68, PA31, TBM700 & Twin Star

Helicopter breakdown (overflights are NOT recorded/included by me)
7 A109
1 ASS332, AS350, AS355, AS365, AW139, B429, R44, MD900, S76
Long the province of Squirrels, the A109 comprehensively knocked them off the top of the tree in 2014.

By country prefix (including military)
82 G
62 A6
37 TC
34 EC
32 N
31 EI
28 HB
17 D, LN
16 OE
15 M
12 CS
9 F
8 OY
7 PH
6 LY, PK, SP, SX, YI
5 YR, 9H
4 OK, OO, TS
3 B, CN, I, LX, OM, SE, SU, VP-B/VQ-B, YL
2 C, ES, EW, HA, LZ, S5, 4O, 9K
1 A7, JA, TF, TJ, UR, 4K, 4R, 7T, 9A
51 countries compared to 52 in 2013 & 55 in 2011 & 2012. Not surprisingly, the UK retains top spot. There were no new country prefixes in 2014.

By manufacturer (2013 figures in brackets):
189 Airbus (213)
125 Boeing (142)
40 Cessna (50)
38 Bombardier (55)
27 Gulfstream (27)
21 Embraer (41)
16 Hawker/Beechcraft (20)
14 Dassault (27)
Plus 41 from assorted other manufacturers (33)

Total first visits in 2014 by month
Jan 36 (22 liners, 12 biz, 2 others)
Feb 39 (29 liners, 8 biz, 2 others)
Mar 33 (19 liners, 13 biz, 1 others)
Apr 66 (43 liners, 21 biz, 2 others)
May 47 (42 liners, 3 biz, 2 others)
Jun 58 (41 liners, 15 biz, 2 others)
Jly 59 (42 liners, 12 biz, 5 others)
Aug 35 (31 liners, 3 biz, 1 others)
Sep 37 (24 liners, 11 biz, 2 others)
Oct 38 (25 liners, 10 biz, 3 others)
Nov 32 (16 liners, 13 biz, 3 others)
Dec 31 (17 liners, 12 biz, 2 others)

Military & government newcomers (up from 3 in 2013, but lower than the 8 seen in 2012 & 10 in 2011)
7T-VPC Gulf 4 Algerian Government
CE-04 E145 Belgian A/F 15Wing
2377 AS332L French A/F EH3.067
KAF328 KC-130J Kuwait A/F 41Sqdn
KAF343 C-17A Kuwait A/F 41Sqdn
01-0028 C-37A USAF 6ABW
ZH888 C-130J RAF 24/30/47Sqdns

Finally, after missing a couple of years, Golden Raspberries return!

In first place is LHR for providing an Observation Deck – that can only be accessed from airside!

In second place we find the aviation news media for bombarding us with useless emails & articles citing some idiot or another’s reasons why Gatwick or LHR should or should not be chosen to have an additional runway.

In third place, & this is a personal one, come American A/L for managing to delay two of my domestic flights in the US by up to 8 hours without any form of apology, or compensation, or offer of refreshments of any sort. The US has a lot to learn from Europe!

All in all, not a vintage year at Gatwick, but even so there were a number of good visitors & my personnel top ten among those I made were ES-CMK Be400, HA-TCV An-26, KAF328 KC-130J, KAF343 C-17A, OM-TAA Premier, SU-BRG Ce680, TJ-QCB B737, UR-CKC An-74, 4O-SEV Lear 45 & 9A-JSC Ce525A.

That’s it for another year & many thanks if you have managed to read this far. Fingers crossed that 2015 will be a more productive year for Gatwick.

John (& Mad Max)