First wave at Gatwick covers flights with a scheduled departure time up to 08:29h. Passenger boarding on those flights may start as early at -45min.

Flights later in the day, or from other airports, typically will start boarding at -30min. Coaching gates at LGW possibly even earlier.

As mentioned before the gates will announced earlier than in the past for first wave flights, typically by -60min/-70min. They don’t close at that point. Passengers are encouraged to however get to the gate asap.