Gatwick Airport Loses £465m, And More Than 40% Of Jobs To Covid In 2020

Results from Gatwick Airport this morning (February 26) show the business lost £465m across 2020 due to reduced demand for aviation in the pandemic, despite many savings including lowering staffing levels by more than 40%.

Airport management said that, despite an encouraging start to 2020, passenger numbers at Gatwick then fell 78% because of the impact of COVID-19.

The losses were felt very badly in Crawley and many other parts of Sussex, as both full-time and temporary jobs connected to aviation dwindled, leading to many initiatives and appeals to government for additional help.

The airport remained open throughout the pandemic but reported 'all revenue streams were impacted' as Gatwick suffered a 'collapse in passenger demand'.

In a statement today, bosses claimed they took 'decisive and swift action' to protect the financial strength of the business.  

They said a strategic reduction in capital expenditure resulted in the deferral of over £380m from investment originally planned in 2020 and 2021.

Operating costs were reduced by over £140m in 2020 through a variety of actions including restructuring and reducing staffing levels.

Management said this involved renegotiating contracts and consolidating all air traffic and passengers into one terminal.

However, to improve liquidity, in April 2020 Gatwick secured a £300m loan with a consortium of banks — and the company has drawn £250m under the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility.

The group has been granted a waiver to address breaches in Financial Covenants at 31 December, 2020.  

Taken together, the airport claimed that, as of December 2020, Gatwick had available liquidity of £573m to meet its operating cashflows, planned investment levels and interest payments for 2021.

Management said that a priority continued to be protecting the health and wellbeing of employees and passengers.

It had brought in new staff COVID-19 testing measures, alongside one of the UK’s first airport NHS testing sites in 2020 and walk-in and drive-through private testing facilities also being made available at Gatwick for staff and the public.

Gatwick Airport, Chief Executive Officer, Stewart Wingate said:

“It will come as no surprise that, like any other international airport, the negative impact of COVID-19 resulted in a financial loss for the business last year which sadly also saw us need to reduce our workforce by over 40%.  

"I would like to thank all our staff, including those that have left us, for all their hard work and determination throughout these difficult times.

“Despite the immediate challenges I remain optimistic that Gatwick will recover and retain its position as one of Europe’s leading international gateways and an economic driver for the UK’s south east region.  

"Due to our swift actions the business remains resilient and robust with our focus on ensuring we are best placed to take advantage of a return to international travel this summer.

“We are heartened by the UK Government’s COVID-19 response plan and look forward to working with the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a framework that can facilitate greater international travel as soon as possible.  

"This will require the UK Government working with other Governments, to ease the current crippling travel restrictions and ensure a consistent, reciprocal approach for all travellers in time for this summer.  

"Restoring passenger confidence and offering COVID-19 safe air travel while minimizing the need for cost prohibitive testing and disruptive quarantine measures is vital.  

"Before air travel recovery begins, and in order for the industry to continue to protect as many jobs as possible, we also need the UK Government to provide further support by extending the furlough scheme for a few more months and providing business rate relief, as airports in Scotland have been afforded, for the current financial year.”