London Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport is London's second airport and the second busiest airport in the UK after Heathrow in terms of passengers per year. It is situated in West Sussex, approximately 40 km (25 miles) south of London, and an equal distance north of Brighton.Gatwick is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, handling over 31 million passengers yearly, flying to around 200 destinations. Charter airlines are normally not allowed to operate from Heathrow and many use Gatwick instead as their base. Many flights to and from the USA also use Gatwick because of restrictions on transatlantic operations from Heathrow. The airport is also a secondary hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.In 1979, when the last major expansion took place, an agreement was reached with the local council not to expand further before 2019, but recent proposals to build a second runway at Gatwick led to protests about increased noise and pollution and demolition of houses and villages. The government has now decided to expand Stansted and Heathrow but not Gatwick. Gatwick's owners BAA contain published a new consultation which includes a possible second runway south of the airport, but leaves the villages of Charlwood and Hookwood, north of the airport, intact.In common with many airports car parking is in limited supply, in part due to local planning restrictions, and facilities are full to capacity in the summer months