Airfield search

Gatwick (London)

Major
Also known as: Gatwick Aerodrome / Gatwick Airport / London Gatwick Airport / RAF Gatwick
County: West Sussex
Current Status: Aviation
Date: Opened 1 August 1930
Current Use: Active
Used By: RAF (main user) / RAF (Polish) / Civil (main user) / Civil (foreign) (main user) / RCAF
Landing Surface Types: Unpaved, later metal/unpaved, later paved
Aircraft Roles: Air observation post / Aircraft modification/repair / Airliner (main role) / Anti-aircraft co-operation / Army aviation (main role) / Bomber / Communications / Fighter / Fighter-reconnaissance (main role) / General aviation / Military development/support / Radar calibration/ Reconnaissance / Trainer

The following organisations are either based at, use and/or have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield (as at 01/09/2011):

  • Accessorize
  • Airport Concierge 
  • All Saints
  • Ann Summers
  • Apostrophe
  • Armadillo Cafe and Grill
  • Best of The Best Supercars
  • Boots
  • BOSS
  • Bridge Bar and Eating House
  • Cafe Rouge
  • Caffe Nero
  • Case
  • Cath Kidston
  • Caviar House
  • Caviar House & Prunier
  • Collection
  • Comptoir Libanais
  • Copthorne London Gatwick
  • Costa Coffee
  • Courtyard London Gatwick Airport
  • CUBE
  • Dixons Travel
  • Dune Travel
  • EAT.
  • En Toast
  • Ernest Jones
  • Excess Baggage Company
  • FatFace
  • Fisher-Price
  • Frankie & Benny's
  • Game Grid
  • Garfunkel's
  • Gatwick Airport Arora
  • Gatwick Airport Corner House
  • Gatwick Airport Crowne Plaza
  • Gatwick Airport Days Hotel
  • Gatwick Airport Hilton
  • Gatwick Airport Ibis Hotel
  • Gatwick Airport Menzies Chequers
  • Gatwick Airport Moat House
  • Gatwick Airport Sofitel
  • Gatwick Airport Travelodge
  • Gatwick Express
  • Giraffe
  • Global Infrastructure Partners
  • Glorious Britain
  • Gourmet Hotdog Company
  • Hamleys
  • Harrods
  • Havaianas
  • Holiday Inn Express Gatwick Crawley
  • Holiday Inn Gatwick Airport
  • Hour Passion
  • Hugo Boss
  • JD Sports
  • Jo Malone
  • Joe's Kitchen and Coffee House
  • kikki.K
  • Kurt Geiger
  • Lacoste
  • Lloyds No. 1
  • London News Company
  • Mango
  • M&S Simply Food
  • Marks & Spencer
  • Marks & Spencer Simply Food
  • Master of Time
  • McDonald's
  • Mercure London Gatwick Airport
  • Moneycorp
  • Monsoon
  • Next
  • Pret A Manger
  • Ramada London Gatwick
  • Ray-Ban
  • Red Lion
  • Reiss
  • Rituals
  • Rolling Luggage
  • Servisair 
  • Shake-a-Hula
  • Shoe Studio
  • Skinnydip
  • Snow+Rock
  • Spectrum Interactive
  • Sunglass Hut
  • Sunglasses
  • Superdry
  • Ted Baker
  • The Flying Horse
  • The Globe Freehouse
  • The Harry Potter Shop
  • Tie Rack
  • Travelex
  • Victoria's Secret
  • WHSmith
  • WHSmith Books
  • World Duty Free
  • World Duty Free Arrival Store
  • World of Whiskies

Notable Past Associated Organisations:

  • Aviance UK
  • BAA Limited
  • BAA plc
  • British Airports Authority

Main unit(s) present:

  • No 1 Aircraft Delivery Flight
  • No 1 Anti-Aircraft Calibration Flight
  • No 1 Concealment and Decoy Unit
  • No 2 Sqn
  • No 4 Sqn
  • No 8 AACU
  • No 13 Personnel Transit Centre
  • No 14 Sqn
  • No 18 Sqn
  • No 19 E&RFTS
  • No 19 Sqn
  • No 26 Sqn
  • No 53 Sqn
  • No 57 Sqn
  • No 63 Sqn
  • No 65 Sqn
  • No 74 (Bomber) Wing
  • No 80 Sqn
  • No 92 Sqn
  • No 98 Sqn
  • No 116 Sqn
  • No 123 Airfield
  • No 129 Airfield
  • No 130 Airfield
  • No 141 Sqn
  • No 162 GS
  • No 168 Sqn
  • No 171 Sqn
  • No 175 Sqn
  • No 183 Sqn
  • No 229 Sqn
  • No 239 Sqn
  • No 268 Sqn
  • No 274 Sqn
  • No 287 Sqn
  • No 309 Sqn
  • No 400 Sqn
  • No 404 Air Stores Park
  • No 407 Air Ammunition Park
  • No 412 (Polish) Repair & Salvage Unit
  • No 414 Sqn
  • No 430 Sqn
  • No 613 Sqn
  • No 655 Sqn
  • No 1311 Mobile Wing RAF Regiment
  • No 1335 Wing RAF Regiment
  • No 1336 Wing RAF Regiment
  • No 1337 Wing RAF Regiment
  • No 1338 Wing RAF Regiment
  • No 2701 Sqn RAF Regiment 
  • No 2702 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2710 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2736 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2742 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2749 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2765 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2773 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2786 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2792 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2793 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2798 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2822 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2881 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2883 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • No 2895 Sqn RAF Regiment
  • AB Airlines
  • ACE Freighters
  • Advanced Flying Training Air Centre
  • Aegean Airlines
  • Aer Lingus
  • Aeroflot
  • Aerolineas Argentinas
  • Aerosvit
  • Afriqiyah Airways
  • Air 2000
  • Air Algerie
  • Air Anglia
  • Air Atlanta Europe
  • Air Berlin
  • Air China
  • Air Europe
  • Air Europe Express
  • Air Links
  • Air London
  • Air Malta
  • Air Mauritius
  • Air Moldova
  • Air Namibia
  • Air New Zealand
  • Air Nigeria
  • Air One
  • Air Safaris
  • Air Seychelles
  • Air Southwest
  • Air Transat
  • Air UK
  • Air UK Leisure
  • Air Wales
  • AirAsia X
  • AirBaltic
  • Airtours International Airways
  • Airways International Cymru
  • Airworld
  • Alitalia
  • American Airlines
  • Ariana Afghan Airlines
  • Astraeus
  • Aurigny Air Services
  • Austrian Airlines
  • Avianca
  • Azerbaijan Airlines
  • BA Connect
  • BEA
  • BEA Airtours
  • BEA Helicopters
  • Belavia
  • BH Air
  • bmibaby
  • Braathens SAFE
  • Braniff International Airways
  • British Airtours
  • British Airways
  • British Airways Ltd
  • British Caledonian
  • British Island Airways
  • British United Airways
  • British United Island Airways
  • Britannia Airways
  • Brymon Airways
  • Bulgaria Air
  • Cal Air International
  • Caledonian Airways
  • Canadian Airlines
  • Canadian Casualty Air Evacuation Unit
  • Capital Airlines
  • Caribbean Airlines
  • Centralwings
  • Cimber Sterling
  • Ciro’s Aviation
  • Continental Airlines
  • Croatia Airlines
  • Cubana de Aviacion
  • Cyprus Turkish Airlines
  • Czech Airlines
  • Dan-Air
  • Delta Air Lines
  • Dubrovnik Airline
  • easyJet
  • Emirates
  • Estonian Air
  • Etihad Airways
  • Europe Airpost
  • Excalibur Airways
  • Falcon Airways
  • Ferranti Helicopters
  • First Choice Airways
  • Fly Hellas
  • Flybe
  • Garuda Indonesia
  • Germanwings
  • Guernsey Airlines
  • Hamburg International
  • Highland Express Airways
  • Hong Kong Airlines
  • Icelandair
  • Iraqi Airways
  • Jat Airways
  • Jersey Airlines
  • Jet Armenia
  • Korean Air
  • Laker Airways
  • Lloyd International Airways
  • Lufthansa
  • Maitland Drewery Aviation
  • Malev Hungarian Airlines
  • Malinair
  • Meridiana Fly
  • Monarch Airlines
  • Montenegro Airlines
  • Morton Air Services
  • MyTravel Airways
  • Nav-Air Flying Training
  • Neos
  • Nepal Airlines
  • Nigeria Airways
  • Northwest Airlines
  • Norwegian Air Shuttle
  • Nouvelair
  • Novair International Airways
  • Olympic Air
  • Olympic Airlines
  • Pan Am
  • Pegasus Airlines
  • Philippine Airlines
  • Pulkovo
  • Qatar Airways
  • Rossiya
  • Royal Air Maroc
  • Royal Brunei Airlines
  • Royal Jordanian
  • Ryanair
  • SAS Braathens
  • SATA International
  • Scandinavian Airlines
  • Silver City Airways
  • Skyways Coach-Air
  • Small Planet Airlines
  • SN Brussels Airlines
  • Spanair
  • Star1 Airlines
  • Sudan Airways
  • Sun Country Airlines
  • Sunwing Airlines
  • Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (RAF) Communication Sqn
  • Surrey Aero Club
  • TAP Portugal
  • Thomas Cook Airlines
  • Thomson Airways
  • Trans European Airways
  • Trans World Airlines
  • Transaero
  • Transair
  • Transbrasil
  • Tunisair
  • Turkish Airlines
  • Ukraine International Airlines
  • US Airways
  • Vietnam Airlines
  • Viking Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways
  • Virgin Express
  • Virgin Sun
  • Vueling
  • Westminster Airways
001geograph-179504-by-Martyn-Davies.jpg

'The Beehive' terminal building at Gatwick, 3 June 2006.

The official opening of Gatwick Airport, 1936. Courtesy of British Pathé

Gatwick Air Display, 1938. Courtesy of British Pathé

Queen Elizabeth II opens Gatwick, 9 June 1958. Courtesy of British Pathé

Photographs of Gatwick, May 1961. Courtesy of Tom Boyle

Gatwick Airport railway station, 1960s. Courtesy of HuntleyFilmArchives

Footage of Gatwick in the late 1960s. Courtesy of Geoff Claydon

Gatwick in 1980. Courtesy of ISLE OF WIGHT ARCHIVE

Emergency Landing Ground(s):

Lower Beeding

Decoy Airfield(s):

Lower Beeding (Decoy)

Associated Airfield(s):

Biggin Hill

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Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust is registered in England and Wales. Registered Office: Suite 1, 3rd Floor, 11-12 St. James Square, London, SW1Y 4LB
Registered Company No. 08940364. Registered Charity No (England and Wales): 1156877. Registered Charity No (Scotland): SC041123