Gatwick Airport records busiest six months on record

[LONDON] Gatwick Airport, Britain's second busiest airport which is competing to be chosen as the site for a new runway, reported the six months ended Sept 30 were its busiest on record, with passenger numbers in the period up 8 per cent.

Gatwick on Thursday said a total of 22.5 million passengers used it in the first six months of its financial year, helping boost core earnings by 12.7 per cent to 221.6 million pounds (US$347 million).

Gatwick, south of London, has been short listed by a government commission as a possible location for a new runway in the densely populated London area, along with two options at the country's busiest airport Heathrow.

The commission is due to make a recommendation on where to build the new runway next summer.

Gatwick is run by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which owns a 42 per cent controlling stake in the airport. Other shareholders are the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, National Pension Service of Korea, California Public Employees'Retirement System and the Future Fund of Australia.

REUTERS