Year
1936Duration
3 yearsCost
UnknownLocation
United KingdomProject achievements
Area improved
Improves transport connections and provides jobs for thousands of locals
Economy boosted
Contributes billions of pounds to the UK economy every year
Solved the problem
Provided the south east of England with a major international airport
Build and develop an airport to serve the south east of England
Gatwick Airport is the second busiest airport in the UK (behind Heathrow). It’s used by over 40 airlines flying to more than 220 destinations.
In 2024, it handled 43.2 million passengers and recorded 261,000 aircraft movements.
The airport opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s with commercial flights beginning in 1933. Since then, Gatwick has grown into a major international hub.
It now has two terminals (North Terminal and South Terminal) and a main runway, which is 3,316m long and 45m wide.
Gatwick is considered the first truly integrated airport. Its original circular terminal building - known as the Beehive – opened in 1936.
The modern Gatwick became operational in 1958.
The site had been closed for eight years of construction work following its official designation as London’s second airport.
The redesigned and rebuilt site had a new terminal (now South Terminal) and a new railway station.
The North Terminal was added in the 1980s along with a new control tower – the tallest in the UK at the time.
In 2014, Gatwick handled a record-breaking 906 aircraft movements in one day, with an aircraft taking off or landing every 63 seconds. It was the first time a single-runway commercial airport had seen so much traffic in a day.
In 2025, the UK government approved plans to expand the airport by bringing its northern runway into routine use. This entails moving the runway 12 metres.
Did you know …
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Gatwick’s most popular destination in 2017 was Barcelona - 1.5m people travelled to the Spanish city. Dublin came second, with Malaga third.
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Its top long-haul destinations are San Francisco, Cape Town, Hong Kong and Fort Lauderdale.
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The busiest airline based at Gatwick is EasyJet – it carried 19.1m passengers in 2024.
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The airport was the first in the world to have a direct mainline train link with a dedicated railway station.
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London Gatwick has achieved PAS 2080 certification. This is the global standard for carbon management in buildings and infrastructure, helping to reduce emissions across the entire project lifecycle.
Difference the project has made
Gatwick is a major economic driver for the UK. In 2023, it contributed £5.5bn to the nation’s finances.
The airport is an important local employer – supporting 76,650 jobs in the UK in 2023. Gatwick employs about 2,500 people directly, and around 20,000 people indirectly.
As well as acting as London’s second airport, Gatwick connects the south east with destinations around the world.
How the work was done
Gatwick’s Beehive building - one of the airport’s earliest structures - is acknowledged as a groundbreaking example of design and civil engineering.
Opened in 1936, the circular building was the brainchild of airport owner Morris Jackaman and brought all the functions of an airport under a single roof. It contained a control tower and weather station, as well as a restaurant and offices.
The interior consisted of concentric rings of rooms and offices with corridors between them. The idea was to keep arriving and departing passengers separate.
Engineers built the Beehive on a concrete frame reinforced with steel. Inside walls were made of bricks. It’s seen as a good example of the 1930s trend to use concrete to give buildings a ‘modern’ look.
Often described as revolutionary, the structure is seen as the UK’s first integrated airport building.
The Beehive was given Grade II* listed status in 1996.
People who made it happen
- Original client: Morris Jackaman, who created the airport and commissioned the Beehive
- The Beehive was designed by architects Hoar, Marlow and Lovett
- Engineers Alfred McAlpine ran the 1958 redevelopment of the airport
