vilm

All.

I'm really struggling to find a definitive answer to what (I think) should be an easy question.

My wife and I are travelling very shortly from the South terminal of LGW. My wife is very keen to use a facility which is only available (past security) in North Departure Lounge.

Is there any way to transfer, once through security, between the North and South terminal Departure Lounges? (I think is called "airside").

Thanks so much for any advice!

Steve.

UAPremExecflyer

In a word: No.
Inter-terminal transfers are landside.

Andy33

That's the right answer, but for the wrong reason. In the UK there is strict segregation of arriving and departing passengers. Apart from a few rather complicated circumstances at Heathrow, you are not allowed to enter the departures area of a terminal (after security) unless you have a boarding pass for a flight leaving that terminal on that day.
There are airside transfers at Gatwick in the sense that you do not have to clear UK immigration if you have a through ticket connecting from an international flight arriving at one terminal to one departing from the other, but you will need that boarding pass, and you'll go through security on the way. These use shuttle buses.

So, if your journey is entirely from South Terminal there is no way to get into North Terminal airside (after security) departures at all

David-A

Actually I think it is the right answer for the right reason.

By my reading of the OP, they are merely departing LGW, they are not arriving and then departing.

As a result the segregation of arriving passengers is not relevant. They are asking about inter terminal transfer between departure lounges, not in the course of making a transfer.

Andy33

Yes, that's entirely true, and you'll notice that my reply does cover the OP's situation - look at the last line.
And the answer UAPremExecFlyer gave is still right in the OP's situation, but for the wrong reason. It isn't that you can only ever transfer landside between terminals (because you can transfer airside as a connecting passenger). You can't in fact get into North Terminal airside departures in the first place without a boarding pass for a North Terminal flight.

But anyone who does a forum search because they want to know if it is possible to make an airside inter-terminal transfer to connect between flights will bring up this thread because the title is ambiguous. So some background is useful to avoid them thinking this topic answers their question too, and explaining that airside arrivals transfers are possible when connecting avoid yet more searches,

David-A

While I agree more information is good, we will need to differ on the bit about it being the 'wrong reason' - I disagree with you on that.

Anyway.

KARFA

Indeed. I am not sure why some are going on about segregation of departing and arriving passengers since it is completely irrelevant to the question - the question was clearly about moving between terminal post security for departing passengers.

It happens to be that most multi terminal airports in the UK are not set up for free airside movement between terminals for departing passengers, and LGW is exactly like that. There is simply no mechanism to do the move between north and south terminals post security for departing passengers.

escape4

Yes, that would be me! Thank you for adding a bit more info in that post 2.5 years ago

Arriving LGW North one one ticket, leaving LGW South on another ticket, carry-on bags only. Can someone confirm it is doable? The only distinction with what was said before is about having two separate tickets rather than only one.

lhrsfo

As you would be going through security anyway, and passport control is, assuming you are eligible for the machines, a matter of seconds, I'm not sure how much time it would save.

escape4

This question is not for me, it's for someone who does not have a UK visa so transferring terminals airside is critical. So my question remains.

KARFA

I think this in post 3 suggests airside transfer on arrival is possible whilst missing immigration:

However, when I look at the LGW site I can't find a reference to an airside transfer route, it just mentions the shuttle which is landside:

https://www.gatwickairport.com/faqs/flight-connections/


I must admit I didn't think there was an airside connection route between terminals for connecting passengers - although I am not a LGW regular.

UKtravelbear

https://www.gatwickairport.com/at-th...t-connections/

Depends on where your friend is arriving from and going to. see the 'international to international' section

They should also check if they can make the transit with out visa or if they need an airside visa even if they aren't entering the UK

escape4

Yes but the distinction from my question is about having two separate tickets

escape4

Thank you. The section is silent about having one ticket or two tickets, and it's also silent about changing terminals. I am assuming it can all be done airside then.

"If you’re travelling with hand luggage only and you have your boarding pass, simply follow signs for International Flight Connections*. There is no need to clear Passport Control or Customs."

KARFA

i think that's irrelevant if there is no airside route to begin with. have checked with one of my friends who is a LGW regular and he said there wasn't an airside route between the two terminals.

The only airside routes for international to international are when arriving and departing from the same terminal.