Improved arrivals, changes to departures at Gatwick
GATWICK travellers should have a smoother journey, following a £24m. investment by the airport in a new arrivals route for passengers from the Common Travel Area.
The changes were tested before being introduced.
Since 2015, when UK Border Agency rules were tightened up, passengers arriving at Gatwick from Guernsey have been taken by bus to the domestic arrivals hall, along with travellers from Ireland, Jersey and other UK destinations.
A Gatwick spokesman said the airport had been working to get rid of the bus and now about 95% of travellers arriving from Guernsey should be able to walk to a new domestic arrivals area.
‘Almost all Common Travel Area flights into the South Terminal should now be able to disembark the aircraft via a jetty or via the aircraft steps, walking directly into the terminal building to collect their luggage on a dedicated luggage belt, and come through into a new arrivals portal,’ she said.
In the past islanders entered domestic arrivals, next to international arrivals, by Costa Coffee. Now they will come out by the British Airways check-in desks.
The spokeswoman said there were also changes for departing passengers.
‘Passengers will need to check the departures board,’ she said.
‘There will now be two areas where passengers will depart from. We have invested in departures by increasing the number of departure gates that have iris recognition technology. So there will be more flexibility about the departure point.’
Islanders do not need to go through passport control, instead they are identified using iris recognition software.
But until recently that technology was only available at a couple of gates.
The spokesman said all the changes should now be in place.
‘We have just completed all the operational trials and testing and it is now all working,’ she said.
