Gatwick sets out competitive vision

Wingate ran Budapest Airport following BAA ’s acquisition of the airport in 2005, giving him invaluable experience of running an airport for a brand new owner. “From the GIP perspective, I had worked on the acquisition of an airport and knew how to devise an aggressive plan going forward,” he said.

Wingate ran Budapest Airport following BAA’s acquisition of the airport in 2005, giving him invaluable experience of running an airport for a brand new owner. “From the GIP perspective, I had worked on the acquisition of an airport and knew how to devise an aggressive plan going forward,” he said.

Wingate’s CV aptly demonstrates that he is the right man to lead Gatwick into a new era of competition. Immediately prior to taking over at Gatwick he was CEO at London-Stansted, with which he is now in clear competition. Before that, he ran Budapest Airport following BAA’s acquisition of the airport in 2005, giving him invaluable experience of running an airport for a brand new owner. “From the GIP perspective, I had worked on the acquisition of an airport and knew how to devise an aggressive plan going forward,” he said. It was Hungary’s biggest privatisation at the time and there was some “angst” that the airport had been taken out of public hands. “It was a tense environment with the threat of strike action,” said Wingate. The Gatwick takeover by comparison has been “fantastic”, he said. “The workforce here is very excited to stand alone. There is a feeling that the airport has been in the shadow of London-Heathrow. We have had a fantastic reaction and three months in I don’t see the excitement receding.”

The sale of Gatwick, of course, followed the Competition Commission ruling that BAA must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Edinburgh or Glasgow. However, in December, the Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld BAA’s appeal on the grounds of apparent bias, and on 25 February it ordered that the Competition Commission’s decisions in its report of 19 March 2009 relating to the common ownership of airports, be quashed. It is, therefore, left to Gatwick to pilot this new period of competition.

Gatwick remains British Airways’ second biggest base in Europe. Wingate: “We would absolutely love more long haul services… We want there to be a key blend of long haul and short haul services.”

Gatwick remains British Airways’ second biggest base in Europe. Wingate: “We would absolutely love more long haul services… We want there to be a key blend of long haul and short haul services.”

A rebranding exercise is underway. “The first phase is to ‘de-brand’ ourselves. We are now working through the brand strategy. The key point is differentiation,” said Wingate. This can be vividly seen in the South Terminal, where new colour schemes are currently being trialled for the wayfinding signage.

Wingate explained that the priority on his first day was to meet as many people as possible – staff and stakeholders. “We have been spending a great deal of time communicating with businesses on the airport and also the local community,” he said. “We have met with many local people and businesses – they have absolute support for the airport. We have had a very warm and friendly reception.”

In the current five-year contract period, close to £1 billion (71.1 billion) will be invested in the airport’s Capital Investment Programme, including redevelopment works to both the North and South terminals.

In the current five-year contract period, close to £1 billion (€1.1 billion) will be invested in the airport’s Capital Investment Programme, including redevelopment works to both the North and South terminals.

Competitive edge

It is certainly an advantage from an efficiency perspective that Gatwick is now independent, not least in the sense that it can make quicker decisions. “Now that the airport has been sold, we are competing – that is the key message we want to get across,” said Wingate. “I clearly see us competing with Stansted and to some extent with Heathrow. We will look at the London airports system, but also further afield to Europe.”

Gatwick will be in closest competition with point-to-point airports, rather than hubs such as Heathrow, which offer a different proposition. While airport charges are heavily regulated in the UK, Gatwick’s fees are significantly lower than those at Heathrow and similar to those at Stansted.

The efficiency of organisation is a point emphasised by Wingate – “people are everything”. The keys to gaining a competitive edge, he said, include the right staff training and listening to its airline customers.

“We will be as aggressive as we need to be in terms of attracting airlines. We are not hell-bent on investing in an asset in which we won’t see any benefit. We’ll work hard on this area. If you look at the way airlines plan their businesses – their capacity is committed. We need to work hard on persuading airlines to move here. The earliest this will happen is winter 2010 – more likely from summer 2011,” said Wingate. The initial focus is to talk to incumbent airlines about gaps in their schedules.

”We want to foster better relationships with the airlines – we do not expect them to come to us, we are getting out and visiting them in their backyards. We have a diverse range of airlines with a diverse range of needs,” said Wingate. “Slots are available to all airlines – there is quite significant capacity available in off-peak periods.”

He would like to see a diverse range of airlines at Gatwick, rather than full-service or low-cost carriers only. “We would absolutely love more long haul services. In terms of charter traffic, we observe that there has been consolidation to two or three major players. There is a sustainable base here for charter traffic too. We want there to be a key blend of long-haul and short-haul services.”

As part of this “blended growth”, Wingate foresees an additional two million business travellers. The proportion of passengers generated by business traffic currently stands at 20% and it is expected that this might increase to around 25%.

Investing for growth

In the current five-year regulatory period, close to £1 billion (€1.1 billion) will be invested in the airport’s Capital Investment Programme. This will deliver infrastructure, technology and process changes that will improve every element of the passenger journey through Gatwick. Among the extensive renewal and redevelopment works will be new entrances into the North and South terminals, a new and improved transit system, improved baggage systems, an extension to the departure lounge in the South Terminal and new pier facilities.

£250 million (€275m) has already been spent and the new owners are seeking to ensure the other £750 million (€830m) of investment delivers the maximum benefit for airlines and passengers. “We have partnered with Bechtel, who are world class in delivering large capital investment programmes. We are working with them to drive the planned Capital Investment Programme more efficiently to achieve the best outcomes. We have started to share that with the airlines and it has been well received,” said Wingate. “The GIP model is based on productivity and efficiency and there is a thirst for analysing every piece of data available. Our business priority is to improve service levels. We are working on our check-in products – aiming to make the passenger journey simpler and easier. We will also make the security process easier and simpler, particularly in the South Terminal. Our goal is to create a single central search area in both the North and South terminals.”

While the check-in and security areas are the biggest focus, work is also underway on improving the immigration area in the South Terminal, with similar work planned in the North Terminal. “As we go forward we will look to focus on the touch points of the passenger journey,” said Wingate. The new Track Transit System (TTS) is a £44 million (€48m) project that the airport is striving to finish early before the coming summer season. The system is being modernised to remove outdated technology and to improve reliability and passenger service. At the time of this interview, the new trains had just been delivered and lifted into place. “We are looking to expedite the projects that are already on-track. Over the last couple of months we have been identifying efficiencies in those programmes and looking to do things at a significantly reduced cost,” said Wingate.

The new Track Transit System (TTS ) is a £44 million (748m) project that the airport is striving to finish early before the coming summer season. At the time of this interview, the new trains had just been delivered and lifted into place.

The new Track Transit System (TTS ) is a £44 million (€48m) project that the airport is striving to finish early before the coming summer season. At the time of this interview, the new trains had just been delivered and lifted into place.

He also explained that a £72 million (€80m) investment has been approved for terminal improvements, while £42 million (€47m) has been approved for a new baggage handling system for the North Terminal, including an early bag store.

Gatwick is expected to handle 34 million passengers this year and Wingate can “clearly see a route to 40 million passengers” through optimising the mix of traffic and use of the runway. It is the busiest single runway airport in the world, the second busiest airport in the UK and the eighth busiest in Europe. Gatwick is also the largest point-to-point airport in the world. Nevertheless, Wingate explained that there are no foreseeable plans to pursue a second runway. “Our priority is to make Gatwick the best airport it can be with a single runway. We are looking at how we can invest the capital funds to make the airport one that passengers want to use by optimising our two terminals and single runway,” he said.

Wingate: “Our strategic vision is to make Gatwick the best airport it can be with a single runway. We are looking at how we can invest the capital funds to make the airport one that passengers want to use. We will optimise the two terminals and single runway that we have.”

Wingate: “Our strategic vision is to make Gatwick the best airport it can be with a single runway. We are looking at how we can invest the capital funds to make the airport one that passengers want to use. We will optimise the two terminals and single runway that we have.”

The single runway currently handles an impressive 51 movements per hour, but Wingate believes that this can even be increased slightly. “In the new ownership, we want to challenge ourselves to work on increasing that figure with NATS,” he said. Gatwick is also in the process of separating its IT systems. BAA is currently supplying more than 100 IT systems to the airport under a series of transitional working agreements. Gatwick’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) is leading a significant programme to determine how to take control of these – it is a process that is expected to take around 18 months.

Environmental sustainability

Wingate: “I am optimistic for Gatwick now that we are free to operate. I see huge opportunities.”

Wingate: “I am optimistic for Gatwick now that we are free to operate. I see huge opportunities.”

Gatwick is on the cusp of receiving ISO14001 accreditation – another sign of its commitment to service and quality. The airport is also keen to make commitments to sustainable growth. “We are also looking at carbon accreditation and are looking at a number of bodies and schemes. The airport’s Climate Change Action Plan was published last year,” said Wingate.

Wingate would like to see a diverse range of airlines at Gatwick and foresees more Ryanair services from Gatwick.

Wingate would like to see a diverse range of airlines at Gatwick and foresees more Ryanair services from Gatwick.

The airport is setting itself stretching targets. It is aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2020 and a further 30% by 2050, on a 1990 baseline.

Wingate recently hosted a local transport forum, looking at surface access and the right modal mix to ensure the sustainability of the airport. Gatwick is well connected by public transport – more than 900 trains and 400 coaches serve the airport every day. Over 36% of passengers travel to the airport using public transport, while 30% of local airport employees travel to work by bus.

“In terms of surface access, we would like to see improvements to the rail station. We are close to securing a £53 million (€58m) improvement programme for this. We have the advantage that the 30-minute Gatwick Express arrives at Victoria Station in central London,” said Wingate.

The airport is also looking at noise very closely. It has developed a noise action plan, which, following a 16-week public consultation, has gone to the Secretary of State for Transport for recommendation to DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) as part of the adoption process.

‘Benchmark for service’

GIP clearly has ambitious plans for Gatwick. The immediate priority is to get the airport’s processes right, particularly security and check-in. It is also reviewing the investment programme to ensure that all money spent is focused on delivering for airlines and passengers. “It will take some time for our changes to take effect, but within months passengers will begin to feel that their journey through Gatwick is getting easier, and in a year or so they will start to notice physical improvements too. Gatwick will become the airport of choice, setting the benchmark for service in London,” said Wingate.

There is also a strong focus on efficiency and ensuring Gatwick is one of the most cost-competitive primary airports in Europe. “I am optimistic for Gatwick now that we are free to operate. I see huge opportunities,” concluded Wingate. It’s worth remembering that London remains the most popular air travel destination in Europe and with the 2012 Olympic Games set to take place there, GIP’s plans and Wingate’s vision for Gatwick look set to roll out at a very opportune time.


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