Gatwick airport has reported a double-digit rise in profit in the first half of 2025, driven by a boost to passenger and aircraft traffic volume.
Total revenue reached £491.4m in the first half of the year, up 0.7 per cent from 2024. Adjusted revenue – accounting for two “large one-off elements” which occurred last year – rose 3.4 per cent.
Gatwick makes half its revenue from its airplane operations, with another fifth from retail sales and 14 per cent from parking.
Revenue from airline operations rose 3.8 per cent, while retail income ticked down and parking income remained static.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 0.2 per cent to £262.2m, from £268.4m in 2024.
Passengers numbers rose 0.4 per cent to 20 million, putting the airport on track to beat its record-breaking 2024 figures. Long-haul number grew 3.6 per cent to 3.1m.
Operating costs rose by two per cent to £303m, driven by a 10 per cent increase in staff costs after the airport hired more security staff.
Chief executive Stewart Wingate said that the airport is in a “strong financial and operational position”.
Gatwick’s boss said he remained “confident” that the UK government will approve its recently-amended plans for Gatwick’s Northern Runway, bringing “more than 14,000 jobs and a £1bn injection into the region’s economy”.
Wingate will step down this year, to be replace by Pierre-Hugues Schmit, who has been a member of the airport’s board for several years.
Gatwick warns on business rates
Wingate said the government’s upcoming business rates review, which is set to increase the business rates of large premises, could “significantly impact” Gatwick’s ability to invest in growth.
He said: “London Gatwick is already one of the largest rate-payers in the country and this change could see us paying many times our current rate.
We will continue to work alongside sector representatives to find a workable solution with the government.
Heathrow faces a similar issue, with a £900m business rates “time bomb” heading for the airport in 2026.
Airports UK has previously described the soaring bill as “equivalent to doubling the corporation tax levied on the sector, at a time when the government has committed to stable tax and policy regimes to drive business confidence and stimulate private sector investment”.
“Investment in airport assets will decrease, routes to and from the UK will be lost (as can already be seen in Germany where taxes are rising), trade will be hurt, and British travellers will be hit with higher costs and less choice.”