London Gatwick Airport (LGW) has reported a 15% fall in first-half profit as the Middle East conflict contributed to a decline in passenger traffic.
Profit for the six months through June 30 fell to £109.4 million ($149.1 million) from £128.9 million a year earlier. Passenger numbers dropped 4.7% to 19.1 million, with traffic on Middle East routes down 34% and total long-haul passengers falling 9.2%. However, revenue increased 4.8% to £515.2 million and EBITDA rose 5.5% to £276.5 million.
The results come as LGW prepares to move its Northern Runway Program into a detailed design and delivery phase. The UK Court of Appeal dismissed the runway’s remaining legal challenge on Aug. 4, bringing an eight-year planning and legal process to an end. The UK government approved the project in September 2025, and the High Court upheld that decision in June.
“With the legal process for the Northern Runway Program now complete, we can turn our focus from planning to detailed design work and delivery,” CEO Pierre-Hugues Schmit says.
The project would bring LGW’s existing standby northern runway into routine use alongside its main runway. The UK Transport Department estimates the expansion could enable up to 100,000 additional flights annually from 2030.
OAG Schedules Analyser data shows airlines offered 11.5 million departing seats from LGW during the first half of 2026, down 3.4% year over year, despite the number of destinations increasing. EasyJet remained the airport’s largest carrier, accounting for 44.6% of capacity after growing its offer by 1.9% to 5.2 million departure seats. British Airways also expanded by 1.9% to 1.7 million seats, giving it a 15.1% share.
Those increases were outweighed by reductions elsewhere. Combined capacity across Wizz Air’s air operator certificate fell 48.4% to about 471,200 seats as the group operated two fewer aircraft from the start of the summer season. Vueling reduced capacity by 20.9% to 640,800 seats as it withdrew some non-Spanish routes, while TUI Airways contracted by 5.9%. Emirates capacity fell 27.5% to 206,700 departure seats amid disruption in the Middle East.
New entrants partly offset the reductions. Seven airlines joined LGW during the first half, including Jet2.com, Air France, Condor and Eurowings. Jet2 opened a five-aircraft base in March and offered 162,600 departure seats during the period.
Long-haul growth continued in other markets. Singapore Airlines increased its Singapore service to as many as 2X-daily, while China Southern expanded frequencies to Guangzhou. LGW says its share of London-China capacity has risen from 6% in 2019 to 38% in 2026.
Further additions since the end of the first half include Air China’s Chengdu service, Air Arabia’s flights to Sharjah and Air Zimbabwe’s route from Harare. The winter 2026-27 season will see British Airways adding routes to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Bridgetown, Barbados, while Jet2 will serve 24 points, including five ski services and four Christmas market destinations.
“Despite a challenging geopolitical and economic backdrop, London Gatwick has continued to perform well, grow its network and deliver a world-class service for passengers,” Schmit says.
Capital expenditure more than doubled to £178.4 million during the first half as LGW accelerated its existing £1.9 billion investment program. A £140 million western extension of Pier 6 remains scheduled for completion in early 2027, adding eight aircraft gates.
The airport expects to handle about 41 million passengers for the full year, down from 42.8 million in 2025.
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