Gatwick Airport set to pay first shareholder dividend in five years as growth returns

Gatwick Airport reportedly says it expects to pay out its first shareholder dividends in five years, with passenger numbers set to be back at pre-pandemic levels next year.

The airport, the UK’s second-largest, will be among the first European airports to reinstate shareholder dividend payouts since the coronavirus pandemic first spread in 2020.

Gatwick told the Financial Times it “expects” to make the payment this year to a group of international owners headed up by the French infrastructure group Vinci. 

The airport also expects passenger numbers to be nearly back at pre-pandemic levels this year. 

However, London’s Heathrow airport and Manchester Airports Group, owners of three UK airports, have not said when dividend payments will restart.

On Thursday, Gatwick reported after tax profits of £314.8m in the year to the end of December, up from £196.5m the previous year.

Approximately 40.9m passengers travelled through the airport in 2023, below the 46.5m figure in 2019.

The company has been building out its presence recently, with a new train station, car park and has plans to expand its runway as part of a £2.2bn spending package.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said he expected a busy summer with about 44mn passengers total in 2023. He predicted footfall would return to pre-pandemic levels in 2025.

The business wants to attract more long-haul airlines, he said, to add to its short-haul network, focused on holiday travel to Europe.

It was recently announced that Singapore Airlines would begin flying from Gatwick alongside long-haul providers Emirates, Air India and three major Chinese airlines.

Wingate also said he was confident the air traffic control delays last summer would not be repeated, while Gatwick said it was going ahead with bringing its standby runway into use.

This is part of a £2.2bn bid to enable the airport to process up to 75m passengers a year by the late 2030s. A planning decision is set to be made by early next year, Wingate said.