Gatwick Airport has today opened a world-leading new security area as part of its transformation of the North Terminal, following successful implementation of the technology in the South Terminal. 

The £36 million project is a major part of the airport’s growth strategy as investment in the state-of-the-art facility will halve the time it takes passengers to pass through security, while maintaining the strictest security measures, and allows Gatwick to screen up to 5,000 passengers per hour. 

Phase One of the project was completed in February this year, with five new security lanes, and the final phase is now complete as a further five lanes are open for passengers to use. Each lane has seven ‘loading points’, reducing queue times and increasing the number of passengers able to prepare their belongings for the screening process at any one time. There are also dedicated lanes for premium travellers, families and passengers with reduced mobility. 

On entrance to the security area, passengers will now pass through a set of 17 new e-gates, which will also help to reduce the build-up of queues and speed up the process of passing through security. 

In a Department for Transport survey1 of more than 20,000 passengers travelling through five UK airports (Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted and Manchester), published earlier this week, Gatwick came out on top across all four questions asked about its security process.

Of the 4,000 Gatwick passengers surveyed, 96 per cent said they were very or fairly satisfied with security screening at the airport while 82 per cent said there was no aspect of the security screening they were dissatisfied with. Gatwick also had the shortest average perceived queue time of any other airport with just 5 minutes. 

Gatwick recently surpassed the 40 million passengers per year milestone, more than 10 years ahead of predictions. With this type of growth, the investment in the airport’s transformation is more important than ever, allowing continued growth while it waits to build its second runway.

Peter Lederer, Head of Security at Gatwick, said: 

“This state-of-the-art facility is the culmination of several years of planning and development and provides us with some of the most sophisticated airport security measures in the world. 

Direct feedback from both security staff and passengers was taken on board when designing the technology to ensure it provides the safest and most efficient experience possible. This facility will ensure we are able to screen 95 per cent of our passengers through security within five minutes.”

Chris Woodroofe, Head of Passenger Operations at Gatwick, said: “The transformation we have made to the security facilities in the North Terminal is yet another example of how Gatwick can accommodate increasing numbers of passengers from its existing infrastructure. 

We have created an environment which allows passengers to take charge of their journey through the airport and spend more time in the way they want - doing some work, having a bite to eat and enjoying the retail offering here at Gatwick.”

Behind the complex operations of a working terminal building, a 24/7 construction site has been managed with major projects being carried out with minimal disruption to the 150,000 passengers who pass through Gatwick’s terminal buildings every day.

Other aspects of the North Terminal development programme include:

An investment of £36 million has been made in creating the World’s largest self-service bag drop zone, which was recently opened allowing passengers to check-in, drop off their bag and be on their way in less than two minutes.

A further £10 million is being invested to fully refurbish the North Terminal’s arrival area, and is due to open in time for the peak of summer.

£10 million to upgrade the North Terminal border zone – more space, new technologies and 15 recently opened, state-of-the-art, new e-gates will help lead to shorter queues for passengers.

£250 million is committed to maintaining and replacing facilities including lifts, escalators and the technology infrastructure, while £80 million was invested to reconfigure Pier 5.

After the summer, the project moves to the departure lounge, where Gatwick will be investing to create a world-class new space in the North Terminal.