Athlete95

I use LGW more- only as it is more convenient otherwise I would use T5 any day after going through it a few times recently and being very impressed!

LGW is a very pleasant airport to fly from, apart from Security which can be a bit of a nightmare at times, and the other thing I think could be improved is the BA lounges there. The Terraces lounge is fine- new furniture just arrived but the floor is in need of a refurb + the food options could be better, but all in all it is fairly pleasant. The Flounge on the other hand is a big disappointment... disappointing food options- not a patch on GF at T5 and fairly small- could be good if the food quantity alone was improved!

My Dad who is Gold often uses the Terraces lounge instead of the Flounge as it is a lot more spacious- I'm sure this would change if it was improved a little!

Dave Z

I'd never used LGW once before this year. Done 3 returns from there so far in 2011. Must admit i do prefer LHR. Obviously biased as i live nearby and work there. Also, i can have a drink or 6 in the lounge or onboard when coming in to LHR but i have to drive home from LGW.

G-AVFC

Gatters is a great airport to fly from - at least the BA North Terminal anyway. I've had the pleasure of flying a number of different routes over the past years and looking at my travel pattern since 2008 it is quite varied.

only the Gatwick routes I travelled are shown here:

January-08 LGW-INN
February-08 ZRH-LGW
February-08 LGW-TRN
April-08 LGW-DUB
April-08 DUB-LGW
June-08 LGW-DRS
July-08 DRS-LGW
July-08 LGW-WAW
July-08 KRK-LGW
July-08 LGW-GVA
September-08 LGW-PSA
September-08 FCO-LGW
September-08 LGW-AMS
September-08 AMS-LGW
14
May-09 MAD-LGW
May-09 LGW-FCO
May-09 FCO-LGW
May-09 LGW-AMS
June-09 AMS-LGW
August-09 LGW-VCE
August-09 BLQ-LGW
September-09 LGW-GIB
October-09 GIB-LGW
9
May-10 LGW-GOA
August-10 LGW-GLA
September-10 EDI-LGW
3
January-11 LGW-AMS
June-11 LGW-JER
June-11 JER-LGW
July-11 LGW-GLA
August-11 LGW-JER
August-11 JER-LGW
6

Spot the defunct routes among the ones still going.

I do hope BA will bring back some of the long forgotten ones. INN & GVA make a comeback for the winter schedule so I'll be using those again but it would be nice to go to Dresden and Krakow with BA. Hint hint.

BA do have plans to make the Gatwick 'experience' a premium one through various bits of investment so I don't think single class is on the table. It may well have been a few years ago but then who knows what might happen with the economy.

qwest01

Without those leisure travellers filling up the back of the plane - where would BA be- in serious trouble! Also any business using CE for flights under 4 hrs should be seriously questioned by the shareholders for wasting company money.

Same applies to Premium Pax without them BA would be in serious trouble. So all Pax fill a space in an airlines business model. I would suggest that T5 is also leisure traveller dominated as well since there are far more seats down the back to be filled on a 747 and 777.

As to the OPs original question, yes I am using LGW about as much as ever, just not so much with BA as before due to their capitulation to EZY on my specific routes to Palma and other destinations in Spain. Anyone suggesting flying via MAD needs to see a shrink.

I used to fly a lot to AMS from LGW on business - 4 or 5 times a month but retirement arrived and so that just stopped.

I much prefer LGW over LHR - so much less hassle and security queues are so much quicker than both T3 and T5.

lukew

Deliberately use LGW much less now because of the massive increase in parking charges.

Having seen programme 2 of the reality show, I'm also not sure that I want to give business to a company with that kind of management culture.

BlackBerryAddict

I think BA304 referred to charter airlines, rather than scheduled airlines. There are no charter airlines at LHR, and there are very few, if not zero, business travellers on charter airlines.

However, there are many business travellers in economy (both BA and other airlines like the low cost ones). In fact, I seem to remember some research saying that there are more business travellers down the back than in front. So I don't think T5 is quite as leisure dominated as LGW south.

dark_horse

Now doubtless sunrisegirl will be along shortly to defend her patch, but in the meantime I will do so too.

I confess to being slightly bemused by the LGW criticism, certainly the North Terminal. Yes, if there was a T5 at Gatters then trips through there would be a little better then but T5 is meant to be the best of British terminals. How does LGW North compare with the old T4, I wonder?

One of my main gripes / praises is that a decent rail service goes from both to central London, but at least LGW's rail service goes somewhere else! If you don't want to use the Piccadilly Line or get on a bus from LHR then you are going to Paddington - whether you like it or not. From LGW you can go towards the south coast, or change at Clapham Junction, or carry on to Victoria.

Perhaps I'm a little biased because I live in south London, about 45 minutes drive from both airports, and getting from my house to LHR by public transport is just ridiculous.

I do agree that the atmosphere at LGW is different during the school holidays, and that the airside shops are perhaps aimed at the lower end of the market (Kurt Geiger vs JJB Sports!). It would be nice if security allowed status pax through the business lines too, but then I've been stuck in 'FastTrack' queues at LHR longer than my average wait at LGW.

So I write in support of my most frequent airport, which has also noticeably improved lately. Unless, of course, the OP was talking about the South Terminal, which is full of dozy holidaymakers and as such makes going through there absolute hell!

MartinHKDC

North Terminal good, South Terminal baaaad....

LondonAndy

In terms of time-to-airport I'm probably half way between LGW and LHR. I prefer LHR, if for nothing else then the better lounges, but my wife prefers LGW as she finds it less stressful (size related?!).

Therefore when we fly together, and BA fly from LGW and LHR to our destination, it tends to be from LGW. When I'm flying solo it tends to be LHR.

Flight times are clearly important too, and we have to fly out of LHR for our next family trip due to that, but are flying in to LGW (given the cheaper taxes than the LHR flights).

KenJohn

I do use LGW a lot less now since they stopped the BA flights to Spain. Also stopped doing Ex-AMS flights since the rise of the Euro so hopping over to AMS less these days (and find LCY easier to use if I am getting a flight to/from AMS).

I tend to avoid Easyjet so hardly use LGW. Shame as I do not get to see SRG in action.

LGW did improve when BAA left and I am said not to use it as much; if at all. When I was last at LGW N, security was far better than at T5 for sure and that was without FastTrack even.

Swanhunter

About the same, maybe a little less over a 5 year period. I can remember when LGW had 747's based there.

Can I go on record as saying that I loathe the word Gatters? Thanks for letting me get that out of my system.

Jimbob247

Much less, so far 3 times this year (BDX twice, ANU once).

Last year LUX over 30 times.

G-AVFC

Why of course you can let it out. Us older ex railway staff have affectionate names for many places and this is just one of them for Gatwick. The other term we used, much less affectionate, was Fatport Garwick. Not heard that terminology for a while now though.

What is it about Gatters that you loathe Mr Swan?

dark_horse

Good luck with that. Every time I've checked in luggage I've dropped some gentle hint to find out whether I am in the presence of The One With The Hot-Tub - to no avail.

Either I've been unlucky or she keeps her cards close to her chest...

jaguarpig

Looking forward to an LGW departure next week, last time was on VS to UVF in 2002.I have never been in the BA lounge there so it's quite exciting