Booming Gatwick swamped by call for ex-Monarch slots

The jockeying for space at Gatwick is so great after the collapse of airline Monarch that its prized take-off and landing slots are six times oversubscribed, the boss of the airport said on Thursday.

Monarch went bust in October, and yesterday administrators KPMG won the right to sell off the slots after the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling that initially said they should be redistributed by industry agency Airport Coordination Ltd.

The sale could generate as much as £60 million for Greybull Capital, which is Monarch’s main creditor.

Monarch’s 22 slot pairs amount to 298 flights every week up for grabs at the UK’s second-biggest airport at a time when capacity is dwindling fast.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said enough interest had been shown to fill the slots “six times over” and added that it bolstered the airport’s case for expansion despite the Government’s preference for a third runway at Heathrow.

“It’s the kind of thing that builds our confidence when we see that level of demand,” he added.

BA owner IAG is said to be keenly interested in the slots for its low-cost long-haul carrier Level. Half-year results from Gatwick showed underlying profits up 10% to £290.6 million after the busiest six months in the airport’s history, with 26.4 million passengers.

The airport is the biggest single-runway airport in the world, with 44.5 million passengers a year.