London Gatwick ready to welcome passengers for the Christmas getaway as airport gears up for busiest day

The busiest day for departures over Christmas is expected to be Friday 22 December. However, the airport will be open and operating on Christmas Day with an expected 254 flights scheduled. The most popular Christmas destinations this year are Geneva (short-haul) and Dubai (long-haul).

Meanwhile, highly trained staff have been preparing for the possibility of extreme weather over the winter season to keep the airport running smoothly. It takes a variety of skills and teams to come together to keep the world’s most efficient single runway open, whatever the weather.

Across the airport there are 350 staff trained in snow and ice clearance, from airfield engineers to fire crews. They use specialist equipment including nine snow ploughs and two snow cutters that are proficient in clearing the runway when it is hit with snow and ice.

A team of 150 specially trained staff, nicknamed polar bears, will step up into the role and clear the aircraft parking stands and surrounding roads. They will operate up to 20 smaller snow ploughs and 30 tractors when required.

The airport has more than 352,000 litres of surface de-icer on standby. There is also more than 25,000kg of solid de-icer, which is used to treat heavily congested areas and walkways to keep passengers safe. Snow clearing and de-icing treatment on the runways can take a matter of minutes but can be longer depending on weather type and vehicle formation.

Alongside the airfield preparations, London Gatwick also has terminal staff on-hand to look after passenger welfare as required.

Graham Alder, Head of Aerodrome, London Gatwick said: “This Christmas everyone at London Gatwick is looking forward to welcoming passengers as they travel over the festive period.

“We can’t dictate the weather or issues outside of our control, but we can plan and prepare for them. Our training schedule starts in August to ensure everyone is ready to react to the unpredictability of the weather. Our hardworking teams have just completed four separate live training days where we test our plans, practice formation driving and use the snow ploughs to rehearse snow clearance on the runway.

“Christmas is a busy time for everyone at London Gatwick and the airport team is working hard with all of our partners to deliver the best possible experience for passengers.”