A Look Inside the UK's Leading Airports

If you didn’t know already, Optime works with some of the largest and most recognised airports in the UK including Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Stansted, Luton, Birmingham and Southampton! But how and when did these household names establish themselves? Let’s take a closer look at some…?

Heathrow Airport?

You might recognise Heathrow as the largest airport in the UK! You can fly to 214 destinations across 84 countries and there are 89 airlines to choose from. Heathrow, originally known as London Airport, opened in 1946, at a cost of ￡20m. The first aircraft to take off was a converted Lancaster bomber. The airport showed initial signs of success when it began flying two million passengers a year within a decade capacity. Today, Heathrow is still working with big numbers and hitting even bigger records!?

In 2021, Heathrow served 19.4 million passengers, that's an average of 128,178 every day. Last year (2021), 87.6% of passengers were international (17.0 million) versus 12.4% of passengers who were domestic (2.4 million). Most of these passengers were travelling for leisure (62%, 12.0 million) versus for business (28%, 7.4 million).?

The busiest year ever recorded was 2019 when 80.9 million passengers travelled through the airport.?

Gatwick Airport?

In a report released by Statistica, Gatwick was voted the UK’s most popular airport with 16% of votes, 1% above Heathrow and Manchester. Though Gatwick is ranked third largest on WordData’s ’30 Biggest Airports in the UK’ list, with 47 airlines and 165 destinations, it’s no surprise that the Sussex/Greater London serving airport gained such precedent from its inception on 9 June 1958. After all, Gatwick is one of the most connected airports in the UK! It was the first to have a direct mainline train link with a dedicated railway station and directly connects to more stations than any other European airport station (more than 120). With planned improvement, there should be an excepted 50 trains departing from Gatwick per hour… that’s a train every 2.5 minutes. If you’re in a rush and looking to avoid cars/ taxis, there’s no better choice than Gatwick!

Bristol?Airport

Bristol Airport officially opened on 31 May 1930 by Prince George, becoming only the third civil airport in the country! Before being requisitioned by the Air Ministry at the outbreak of World War II, the Whitchurch site handled 4,000 passengers a year. In 2017, Bristol Airport celebrated 60 years of flying from its current site in North Somerset.

Following the challenges of the pandemic, Bristol Airport set its sights on becoming Net Zero by 2030. Check out Bristol Airport’s Carbon Roadmap which outlines the steps necessary to reduce emissions while working towards a sustainable future: https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/media/4gxh01b1/bristol_airport_carbon_road_map.pdf

Manchester?Airport

Manchester’s Terminal 1 was incepted by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1962, Terminal 2 by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1993 and Terminal 3 by Diana (Princess of Wales) in 1989.?

The industry recognised airport received an award for its customer service, holding the title of ‘Best UK Airport’. Other than Heathrow, it’s the only airport to have two full length runways. In June 2015, Manchester Airport announced a 10 year ￡1bn plan to transform the airport. This continues to increase passenger numbers while improving the general airport/customer experience! The Terminal 2 extension opened in July 2021 and is already proving to be a big hit. Manchester Airport actively advocates education by supplying the appropriate resources/ spaces for schools and youth groups, giving children the chance to learn about the airport and the careers available to them.?

Stansted Airport

Stansted’s runway was built by the US Air Force as part of Stansted Mountfitchet Airfield, but work began more vigorously in 1991 when the Queen opened the ￡400 million terminal, aprons and taxiways which increased capacity from 2 to 8 million passengers a year.?

London Stansted Airport is London's third airport, serving over 27m passengers each year. It is the?only major London airport with significant runway capacity and offers a European route network which is unrivalled in the UK, providing London with more visitors from Europe than any other airport!

Heathrow Airport. Available at: https://www.heathrow.com/company/about-heathrow/facts-and-figures (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

Gatwick key facts,?Your London Airport, Gatwick. Available at: https://www.gatwickairport.com/business-community/about-gatwick/company-information/gatwick-key-facts/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

Largest airports and airlines in the United Kingdom,?Worlddata.info. Available at: https://www.worlddata.info/europe/united-kingdom/airports.php (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

Salas, E.B. (2022)?Most popular airports in the UK,?Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185162/most-popular-airports-uk/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

Carbon roadmap: Bristol Airport,?Carbon Roadmap | Bristol Airport. Available at: https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/corporate/environment/carbon-roadmap/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

About Us,?Manchester Airport. Available at: https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/about-us/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?

Facts and figures,?London Stansted Airport. Available at: https://www.stanstedairport.com/about-us/london-stansted-airport-and-mag/facts-and-figures/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).?