India features in top 3 target markets for London Gatwick Airport: Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Pollard

Air India recently announced a Bengaluru-Gatwick service from August 18. Are you in talks with the airline on increasing frequencies on existing routes as well as connecting more Indian airports to London Gatwick?

Definitely. We would love them to operate three times as much as they do now. We currently have 24 frequencies a week across four routes (Kochi, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, and Goa) with Air India. I think a consistent issue across the whole industry, which Campbell Wilson (Air India CEO) also suggested, is shortage of aircraft. There are lots of airlines that would be doing a lot more than what they are doing if they had more aircraft.

We know Air India is very happy with the programme of flights from Gatwick currently. There is a shared belief on both sides that there is much more that can be done and will be done. You might see additional frequencies on some of those routes. You might see bigger aircraft in the coming years. And of course, we would expect more Indian cities to be connected with Gatwick.

What is London Gatwick’s view of the Indian market and what are your expectations in terms of traffic to and from India in the years to come?

The very fact that we are meeting here in Delhi is testament to the size of the market opportunity that we see in India. We look at every market around the world and India absolutely features in our top three target markets. The reason is that we can see a lot of growth opportunities. If you look at the massive aircraft orders by Air India and IndiGo, I think it is hard to look anywhere else in the world.

From our perspective, we know that we are very well placed to serve this developing market. If you went to Gatwick two years ago, we had no capacity going to India. Now, India represents 5 per cent of our long-haul network. It has improved 30 per cent versus last year, and we expect that to grow significantly…I think it is perfectly feasible to see a tripling of our network to India within the next 10 years.

Have you started conversations with IndiGo, given that it will start inducting the wide body Airbus A350 aircraft starting 2027, which will give the airline the range to fly to London?

We have had conversations with IndiGo for many years now. We speak to every prospective carrier that is in a market that is of interest to us. So, we also spoke to SpiceJet, for example. We will speak to anyone that has the theoretical capability (to operate flights between India and the UK). We are more interested in the market. The airlines that operate the market are still an important consideration, but it is second to the market opportunity and demand potential.

What about UK-based carriers like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic? Do you expect them to launch flights connecting London Gatwick with Indian cities?

Yes. We believe that India would be the kind of market they (UK-based airlines) would be interested in. The market opportunity is huge not just for Indian carriers but for British airlines as well, so it is both ways…Trade between the two countries is growing and there is a huge Indian diaspora living in the UK. So, the demand credentials between the two markets are massive…I think there is every possibility that it (UK airlines operating flights to India from Gatwick) could happen.

What is the cost advantage that Gatwick offers airlines vis-à-vis the larger London Heathrow airport?

Massive advantage. On average, we are 50 per cent cheaper than Heathrow in terms of airport costs—what the airline pays the airport to operate there. At Heathrow, there is a single fixed tariff, so all airlines pay the same. But we have more flexibility and we can put in place specific contracts that are individual to each airline. That means we can offer different incentives to airlines and profile the costs better…You don’t get that at Heathrow, and we are 50 per cent cheaper. One way to attract the airlines is to offer them a lower cost, and that is a good lever for us to get airlines interested.

What would you say is Gatwick’s USP vis-à-vis other London area airports—Heathrow and Stansted?

Versus Heathrow, I think we are better connected to all of the key destinations in London…We have a better rail connection to those places. A lot of the Heathrow passengers are traveling from the Gatwick catchment. So, where we are actually geographically placed is nearer to where a lot of people want to travel. When you look at Stansted, the airport proposition is that it is a low-cost hub built for short-haul European low-cost carriers, not for full-service international long-haul airlines, where the needs and expectations of the passengers are greater. And that is where Gatwick can play its part because we obviously have an extensive long-haul network.

How are you placed on slot availability? Any plans to significantly increase slots over the next few years?

London is heavily constrained but we do have limited slot availability. And we are quite excited about the future as we are in the middle of a planning examination with the UK government for dual runway operations. Currently we can operate only one of our two runways at a time due to the short distance between them but with some changes (in runway alignment), we can meet the required standards…And if we get that decision, which is expected early next year, in our favour, we will be able to start adding more capacity and releasing additional slots from 2029.

India has so far not really seen second airports for major cities, but soon we will have two—Navi Mumbai and Noida airports. In one (Navi Mumbai), the operator is the same as the larger city airport (Mumbai), while in case of the other (Noida), the operator is different from the larger airport (Delhi). According to you, what works better, collaboration or competition between airports serving common catchment areas?

If you look at what happened in the UK, the three largest airports used to all be operated by the same company. Then they split them up and are now run privately. I think by any measure, having done that, the outcome for the passenger is better as there is more competition. Competition is the key, isn’t it? So, there is more competition between the airports, between the airlines that operate at each airport, and that ultimately means more destinations, more choice, and better prices for consumers. Going by the experience in London, the market we operate in, our general view would be that having separate ownership and operation of each airport would have good outcomes overall.