GATCOM REPORT FROM GATWICK AIRPORT CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEWART WINGATE PERFORMANCE, ACTIVITIES AND PEOPLE 1st January – 31st March 2018 n 1 1. OVERVIEW 1.1 During the period, Gatwick achieved a 1.6% year-on-year increase in traffic, resulting in 9,301,425 passengers travelling through the airport. 1.2 Record growth has been matched with strong results in quality of service for passengers as evidenced by Gatwick passing 100% of the 8 core service standards that are based upon our Quality of Service Monitor (QSM) for the 34th consecutive month. The overall passenger satisfaction scores remained at record levels for all 3 months of this winter season. Furthermore Gatwick’s Net Promoter Score, our measure of advocacy, has also just hit the highest-ever levels for each of the winter months (Jan-Mar) finishing on 42.2 in March (significantly ahead of 37.9 last year). 1.3 In the first quarter of 2018 (Jan-Mar) our passengers’ satisfaction with the selection of the Retail outlet brands we offer them in our Departure Lounges has reached a record-ever level of 88.5% and the equivalent for Food & Beverage brands is the second-highest at 87.7%. This means almost 9 in every 10 passengers rate our selection of brands as either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ – a far cry from just over 6 in 10 under BAA ownership. 1.4 Our long haul network continues to expand with the latest announcement being Qatar Airways new double daily service to Doha, Qatar which commences at the end of May 2018. Other route news includes British Airways frequency increases to a number of destinations in Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands as a result of their purchase of the ex-Monarch Airlines slots, and easyJet will commence new twice weekly summer only services to Ancona, Italy and Volos, Greece. 1.5 During the period we have reported that 98.38% of aircraft on departure have maintained on track performance. Continuous Descent Operations (CDO) was achieved by 83.83% of aircraft during the core night period, with 90.03% achieved during the Day/Shoulder period. For the 24 hour metric, CDO was achieved by 89.79% of aircraft. There have been zero noise limit infringements. Runway operations during the period have been split 61%/39% between westerly and easterly operations. 1.6 As part of our overall approach to sustainability and waste management, Gatwick is taking a number of steps to enable passengers and staff to reduce plastic waste. Gatwick already recycles/reuses more than 60% of all operational waste -- the highest rate among UK airports - - with the rest converted into energy. This means that 100% of plastic bottles and cups are either recovered or recycled, and no plastic items put into a waste collection bin at Gatwick end up in landfill or in waterways. 2 1.7 Gatwick’s carbon footprint for 2017 is presently being finalised for external verification ahead of GAL’s recertification to the Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme at Level 3+ (‘Neutral’) in May 2018. Overall the 2017 footprint is very similar to 2016, notwithstanding a 5% increase in passenger numbers in 2017. 1.8 Working with our partners at the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, we are developing detailed proposals to improve Gatwick Airport Station. The plans will seek to alleviate crowding and congestion, boost capacity, provide a more attractive station, contribute to improved train performance and reliability by reducing platform dwell times, improve passenger experience and contribute to local and regional economic growth. Network Rail have submitted the Planning Application for consideration by Crawley Borough Council. Outline design will be completed by May 2018 ready for the funders to sign off the scope and advance into procurement of detailed design and construction. The project is looking to start on site early in 2019. 1.9 We are working closely with Highways England in preparation for the M23 Smart Motorway Project. In order to make sure that the closure schedule is managed with minimum disruption, Gatwick is leading a co-ordination group with Highways England, the M23 Smart Motorway Project Team, Surrey County Council, West Sussex County Council and Network Rail. This group also ensures there are no overlapping closures between M23 and local authority maintenance work or between M23 and Network Rail planned maintenance. 1.10 Our airline route network continues to expand. Norwegian Air UK have launched three routes during the period, to Buenos Aires, Argentina (4 departures per week); Austin, USA (3 departures per week) and a daily service to Chicago, USA. British Airways have re-started their route to Las Vegas, flying three times a week and Westjet have replaced their summer St. Johns route with a summer service to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Within Europe, Cobalt Airlines has commenced a twice weekly service to Athens, Rossiya Airlines a daily service to St. Petersburg and Air Baltic a twice weekly service to Tallinn. 1.11 The latest round of grant funding from the Gatwick Foundation Fund has resulted in 21 local community projects receiving financial support from Gatwick, across Kent; Surrey; and Sussex. We are continuing to promote GAL employee volunteering opportunities with projects that we have supported in these areas, with several teams already committing their time and skills. 1.12 Gatwick’s new online jobs portal for vacancies across the airport has grown to 10 employers actively using the jobs portal and a further 15 employers in the pipeline. It is expected over the coming months more organisations will look to get involved as the benefits of using the new technology become more established. 1.13 We recognise that some people may find it difficult to access jobs at the airport, particularly if they are long term unemployed, or are work returners, and lack confidence or experience. We have been working with local partners and airport businesses to design and develop an employability programme which can help prepare people for work at the airport, and also support them through the referencing process, which can often be a perceived barrier to 3 employment. This work is in its early stages and will be reported to a future GATCOM meeting. 1.14 Our IT team have completed the replacement of the entirety of the campus network as planned. This project has delivered a state of the art network across the airport with hugely increased resilience and capacity. It has been a huge undertaking carried out over the course of many months; and by working closely with operational stakeholders across the Gatwick Family, it has been completed without major interruption to the smooth running of the airport. 1.15 In relation to the Revised Draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS), the Transport Select Committee (TSC) process has concluded and a report has been submitted to Government. In summary the TSC have said Parliament should approve the NPS. The TSC accepted there was a case for additional runway capacity, particularly hub capacity and that expansion at Heathrow could deliver the Government’s strategic objectives for greater connectivity for passengers and freight. But only after Government addresses the numerous concerns set out in its Report, which should be added before the Parliamentary debate. 1.16 Government issued the response to the call for evidence on the Aviation Strategy on 7th April, called ‘Next Steps’. The aim of the new aviation strategy is to achieve a safe, secure and sustainable aviation sector that meets the needs of consumers and of a global, outward-looking Britain. The next steps document outlines Government’s 6 key objectives for the strategy, challenges ahead and actions the government is considering to address these. They will hold a consultation on the policy detail for all 6 of the strategy objectives later this year, leading to the publication of a final aviation strategy in 2019. Between now and then, there will be a period of intense engagement and policy development (including roundtables and workshops). A ‘full and comprehensive’ strategy will be published early 2019. 2. DELIVERING THE BEST PASSENGER EXPERIENCE 2.1 CORE SERVICE STANDARDS (CSS) The Quality of Service Monitor (QSM) customer satisfaction scores remained high, attaining passes for 100% of the 8 standards measured. The overall Gatwick (combined terminals Departures & Arrivals) QSM scores in January, February & March were 4.33, 4.31 & 4.30 respectively – the highest-ever winter quarter scores. These have been driven by improvement in the Departures & Arrivals experience in South terminal, in particular. 2.2 IN-BOUND BAGGAGE (IBB) Against a 99% target for in-bound baggage (IBB), Ground Handling Agents at Gatwick achieved a score of 99.74% in the first three months of 2018, up from 98.85% in the same period last year. Current performance with the moving annual target is at 99.63%, up from 99.08% vs last year. The 99% target of last bags delivered within 55 minutes of AIBT has now been passed for the last 12 consecutive months. 4 2.3 FLIGHT INFORMATION In this period, the Quality of Service Monitor (QSM) scores, which measure the ease of finding, reading and in particular understanding Flight Information Display (FID) screens remained extremely strong and over-target in both the South Terminal (at 4.49 for the quarter) and the North Terminal (4.46) against a target of 4.20. 2.4 SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION Embedded within our security culture is the continual drive to meet our Core Service Standards (CCS). This continues to be evidenced with both terminals routinely exceeding our passenger CSS target of 97.5%. Equally, strengthening collaborative engagement with Border Force has enabled them to meet their UK targets for EU and non-EU passengers in both terminals in the last quarter, by delivering a generally better service for EU passengers with 95% queueing for less than 15 minutes rather than the UK target of less than 25 minutes.