A guide to London LGW Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport Guide

Name: Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport Code: LGW
Gatwick Airport Live Arrivals: Gatwick Arrivals »
Gatwick Airport Live Departures: Gatwick Departures »
Gatwick Airport Parking: Gatwick Parking Information »
Car Hire: Gatwick Airport Car Hire »
Map: Gatwick Airport Map »

Gatwick Airport Passenger Numbers: London Gatwick Airport handles around 33 million passengers every year.
Date of inauguration: Gatwick Airport opened in 1958
Number of Airlines Using Gatwick Airport: There are about 90 airlines uising Gatwick

Gatwick Airport or to give it it's offical name London Gatwick (LGW) is not actually in London, it is located in West Sussex, which is about 20 minutes from central london if you use the Gatwick Express (website). Driving time from central London to Gatwick Airport will vary depending on what time of day you are travelling and the chosen route but you should allow at least 90 minutes. (See the Gatwick Airport map)

There are currently two terminal building at Gatwick Airport, the North Terminal and the South Terminal which are linked via a free monorail shuttle service. Across the two terminal buildings at Gatwick there are 317 check-in desks (191 in the south terminal and 126 in the north terminal)

The North Terminal at Gatwick Airport

Various airlines fly to and from a variety of different location at the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport so you will need to check against your flight number to see exactly what terminal you are due to fly in to or out of.

The check-in for the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport is located on the third floor and there are easy to follow designated check-in areas clearly marked by illuminated yellow cubes. As detailed earlier there are currently 126 check-in desks in the north terminal.

Recommended Checking-in times for the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport

• It is recommended that you check-in three hours before you are scheduled to fly for long haul flights
• For European destination flights it is recommended that you check-in two hours before your flight
• For UK Domestic and flights to Ireland you only need to check in one hour before your scheduled departure time.

Check to see if you can use the self service check-in at the North Terminal in Gatwick Airport

There is actually an online and kiosk self service check in service available for selected flights at Gatwick Airports North Terminal, which could save you a considerable amount of time.

The South Terminal at Gatwick Airport

The checking-in facilities at the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport are located on the second floor and the designated check-in areas are again clearly marked by the illuminated yellow cubes. In total you will currently find 191 check-in desks at the south terminal.

As with the North Terminal you are recemmended to check in prior to departure using the above mentioned guidelines.

At the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport there are facilities to check in the day before departues with some airlines and online with some of the other airlines.

Day before check-in

Currently you can check in the day before with easyJet and Virgin Atlantic.

The easyJet opening hours for this facility are 20:00 to 08:30 and it is only for flights that are due to depart before 08:30 the following day.

Remember this is not an online check-in facility so you must be present at Gatwick Airport for these services.

The Virgin Atlantic opening hours for the day before check-in facility are 12:00 to 21:00 and is valid for all flights but again you must be present at the airport.

For more information on the Virgin Atlantic general check in click here »

Online check in at the South Terminal in Gatwick Airport

The following airlines offer the online check-in facility so please select your airline below to view more information about the service

Continental Airways Online Check In »
Flybe Online Check In »
easyjet Online Check In »
Jet2 Online Check In »
Ryanair Online Check In »
Virgin Atlantic Airways Online Check In»

Top Ten Internatial Destinations from Gatwick Airport

Malaga Airport, Dublin, Faro, Orlando, Alicante Airport, Geneva, Palma, Madrid, Tenerife and Amsterdam

Gatwick Airport Airline Information

Being one of the busiest ariports in the world there are many different airlines flying in and out everyday. We are in the process of building our Gatwick Airport airline guide but in the meantime here are a couple of the larger airlines operating from Gatwick Airport:

Virgin Atlantic Flights Gatwick Airport »
British Airways Gatwick Airport »