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Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
{{infobox aircraft begin |name	Turbofan |imageFile:Turbofan operation.svg |captionSchematic diagram of a high-bypass turbofan engine }}

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The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is very typically employed for aircraft propulsion, that is based around a gas turbine engine. Turbofans provide thrust using a combination of a ducted fan and a jet exhaust nozzle. Part of the airstream from the ducted fan passes through the core, providing oxygen to burn fuel to create power. However, the rest of the air flow bypasses the engine core and mixes with the faster stream from the core, significantly reducing exhaust noise. The substantially slower bypass airflow produces thrust more efficiently than the high-speed air from the core, and this reduces the specific fuel consumption. In other words, for many jet applications (not all), turbofans were a step forward in fuel efficiency from turbojets.

A few designs work slightly differently, having the fan blades as a radial extension of an aft-mounted low-pressure turbine unit.

Turbofans have a net exhaust speed that is much lower than that of a turbojet. This makes them much more efficient at subsonic speeds than turbojets, and somewhat more efficient at supersonic speeds up to roughly Mach 1.6, but have also been found to be efficient when used with continuous afterburner at Mach 3 and above. However, the lower exhaust speed also reduces thrust at high vehicle speeds.

All currently manufactured commercial jet aircraft use turbofans, which are more efficient and quieter than turbojets. Turbofans are also used in many military jet aircraft, such as the F-15 Eagle and in unmanned aerial vehicles such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Introduction

Unlike a reciprocating engine, a turbojet uses continuous-flow combustion.

In a single-spool (or single-shaft) turbojet, which is the most basic form and the earliest type of turbojet to be developed, air enters an intake before being compressed to a higher pressure by a rotating (fan-like) compressor. The compressed air passes on to a combustor, where it is mixed with a fuel (''e.g.'' kerosene) and ignited. The hot combustion gases then enter a windmill-like turbine, where power is extracted to drive the compressor. Although the expansion process in the turbine reduces the gas pressure (and temperature) somewhat, the remaining energy and pressure are employed to provide a high-velocity jet by passing the gas through a propelling nozzle. This process produces a net thrust opposite to the direction of the jet flow.

After World War II, two-spool (or two-shaft) turbojets were developed to make it easier to throttle back compression systems with a high design overall pressure ratio (''i.e.,'' combustor inlet pressure/intake delivery pressure). Adopting the two-spool arrangement enables the compression system to be split in two, with a low pressure (LP) compressor supercharging a high pressure (HP) compressor. Each compressor is mounted on a separate (co-axial) shaft, driven by its own turbine (i.e. the HP turbine and LP turbine). Otherwise, a two-spool turbojet is much like a single-spool engine.

Modern turbofans evolved from the two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine, essentially by increasing the relative size of the low pressure (LP) compressor to the point where some (if not most) of the air exiting the unit actually bypasses the core (or gas-generator) stream passing through the main combustor. This bypass air either expands through a separate propelling nozzle, or is mixed with the hot gases leaving the low pressure (LP) turbine, before expanding through a mixed stream propelling nozzle. Owing to a lower jet velocity, a modern civil turbofan is quieter than the equivalent turbojet. Turbofans also have a better thermal efficiency, which is explained later in the article. In a turbofan, the LP compressor is often called a fan. Civil-aviation turbofans usually have a single fan stage, whereas most military-aviation turbofans (e.g. combat and trainer aircraft applications) have multistage fans. Modern military transport turbofan engines are similar to those that propel civil jetliners.

Turboprop engines are gas-turbine engines that deliver almost all of their power to a shaft to drive a propeller. Turboprops remain popular on very small or slow aircraft, such as small commuter airliners, for their fuel efficiency at lower speeds, as well as on medium military transports and patrol planes, such as the C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orion, for their high takeoff performance and mission endurance benefits.

If the turboprop is better at moderate flight speeds and the turbojet is better at very high speeds, it might be imagined that at some speed range in the middle a mixture of the two is best. Such an engine is the turbofan (originally termed ''bypass turbojet'' by the inventors at Rolls Royce). Another name sometimes used is ducted fan, though that term is also used for propellers and fans used in vertical-flight applications.

The difference between a turbofan and a propeller, besides direct thrust, is that the intake duct of the former slows the air before it arrives at the fan face. As both propeller and fan blades must operate at subsonic inlet velocities to be efficient, ducted fans allow efficient operation at higher vehicle speeds.

Depending on specific thrust (i.e. net thrust to intake airflow), ducted fans operate best from about 400 to 2,000 km/h (250 to 1,300 mph), which is why turbofans are the most common type of engine for aviation use today—in airliners as well as in subsonic and supersonic military fighter and trainer aircraft. It should be noted, however, that turbofans use extensive ducting to force incoming air to subsonic velocities (thus reducing shock waves throughout the engine).

''Bypass ratio'' (bypassed airflow to combustor airflow) is a parameter often used for classifying turbofans; when the low-bypass Conway engine entered service in 1960, no one even called it a turbofan, that term first being applied to Pratt and Whitney's JT3D with its 1-to-1 bypass.

The noise of any type of jet engine is strongly related to the velocity of the exhaust gases, typically being proportional to the eighth power of the jet velocity. High-bypass-ratio (''i.e.,'' low-specific-thrust) turbofans are relatively quiet compared to turbojets and low-bypass-ratio (''i.e.,'' high-specific-thrust) turbofans. A low-specific-thrust engine has a low jet velocity by definition, as the following approximate equation for net thrust implies:

:$F\_n\; =\; \backslash dot\; m\; \backslash cdot\; (V\_\{jfe\}\; -\; V\_a)$

where:

:$\backslash dot\; m\; =\; \backslash ,$ intake mass flow

:$V\_\{jfe\}\; =\backslash ,$ fully expanded jet velocity (in the exhaust plume)

:$V\_a\; =\backslash ,$ aircraft flight velocity

Rearranging the above equation, specific thrust is given by:

:$\backslash frac\{F\_n\}\{\backslash dot\; m\}\; =\; (V\_\{jfe\}\; -\; V\_a)$

So for zero flight velocity, specific thrust is directly proportional to jet velocity. Relatively speaking, low-specific-thrust engines are large in diameter to accommodate the high airflow required for a given thrust.

Although jet aircraft are loud, a conventional piston engine or a turboprop engine delivering the same thrust would be much louder.

Early turbofans

Early turbojet engines were very fuel-inefficient, as their overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature were severely limited by the technology available at the time. The very first running turbofan was the German Daimler-Benz DB 670(designated as the 109-007 by the RLM) which was operated on its testbed on April 1, 1943. The engine was abandoned later while the war went on and problems could not be solved. The British wartime Metrovick F.2 axial flow jet was given a fan to create the first British turbofan.

Improved materials, and the introduction of twin compressors such as in the Pratt & Whitney JT3C engine, increased the overall pressure ratio and thus the thermodynamic efficiency of engines, but they also led to a poor propulsive efficiency, as pure turbojets have a high specific thrust/high velocity exhaust better suited to supersonic flight.

The original low-bypass turbofan engines were designed to improve propulsive efficiency by reducing the exhaust velocity to a value closer to that of the aircraft. The Rolls-Royce Conway, the first production turbofan, had a bypass ratio of 0.3, similar to the modern General Electric F404 fighter engine. Civilian turbofan engines of the 1960s, such as the Pratt & Whitney JT8D and the Rolls-Royce Spey had bypass ratios closer to 1, but were not dissimilar to their military equivalents.

The unusual General Electric CF700 turbofan engine was developed as an aft-fan engine with a 2.0 bypass ratio. This was derived from the T-38 Talon and the Learjet General Electric J85/CJ610 turbojet (2,850 lbf or 12,650 N) to power the larger Rockwell Sabreliner 75/80 model aircraft, as well as the Dassault Falcon 20 with about a 50% increase in thrust (4,200 lbf or 18,700 N). The CF700 was the first small turbofan in the world to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). There are now over 400 CF700 aircraft in operation around the world, with an experience base of over 10 million service hours. The CF700 turbofan engine was also used to train Moon-bound astronauts in Project Apollo as the powerplant for the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle.

Low-bypass turbofan

A high specific thrust/low bypass ratio turbofan normally has a multi-stage fan, developing a relatively high pressure ratio and, thus, yielding a high (mixed or cold) exhaust velocity. The core airflow needs to be large enough to give sufficient core power to drive the fan. A smaller core flow/higher bypass ratio cycle can be achieved by raising the (HP) turbine rotor inlet temperature.

Imagine a retrofit situation where a new low bypass ratio, mixed exhaust, turbofan is replacing an old turbojet, in a particular military application. Say the new engine is to have the same airflow and net thrust (i.e. same specific thrust) as the one it is replacing. A bypass flow can only be introduced if the turbine inlet temperature is allowed to increase, to compensate for a correspondingly smaller core flow. Improvements in turbine cooling/material technology would facilitate the use of a higher turbine inlet temperature, despite increases in cooling air temperature, resulting from a probable increase in overall pressure ratio.

Efficiently done, the resulting turbofan would probably operate at a higher nozzle pressure ratio than the turbojet, but with a lower exhaust temperature to retain net thrust. Since the temperature rise across the whole engine (intake to nozzle) would be lower, the (dry power) fuel flow would also be reduced, resulting in a better specific fuel consumption (SFC).

A few low-bypass ratio military turbofans (e.g. F404) have Variable Inlet Guide Vanes, with piano-style hinges, to direct air onto the first rotor stage. This improves the fan surge margin (see compressor map) in the mid-flow range. The swing wing F-111 achieved a very high range/payload capability by pioneering this, and it was also the heart of the famous F-14 Tomcat air superiority fighter which used the same engines in a smaller, more agile airframe to achieve efficient cruise and Mach 2 speed.

Afterburning turbofan

Since the 1970s, most jet fighter engines have been low/medium bypass turbofans with a mixed exhaust, afterburner and variable area final nozzle. An afterburner is a combustor located downstream of the turbine blades and directly upstream of the nozzle, which burns fuel from afterburner-specific fuel injectors. When lit, prodigious amounts of fuel are burnt in the afterburner, raising the temperature of exhaust gases by a significant degree, resulting in a higher exhaust velocity/engine specific thrust. The variable geometry nozzle must open to a larger throat area to accommodate the extra volume flow when the afterburner is lit. Afterburning is often designed to give a significant thrust boost for take off, transonic acceleration and combat maneuvers, but is very fuel intensive. Consequently afterburning can only be used for short portions of a mission.

Unlike the main combustor, where the downstream turbine blades must not be damaged by high temperatures, an afterburner can operate at the ideal maximum (stoichiometric) temperature (i.e. about 2100K/3780Ra/3320F). At a fixed total applied fuel:air ratio, the total fuel flow for a given fan airflow will be the same, regardless of the dry specific thrust of the engine. However, a high specific thrust turbofan will, by definition, have a higher nozzle pressure ratio, resulting in a higher afterburning net thrust and, therefore, a lower afterburning specific fuel consumption. However, high specific thrust engines have a high dry SFC. The situation is reversed for a medium specific thrust afterburning turbofan: i.e. poor afterburning SFC/good dry SFC. The former engine is suitable for a combat aircraft which must remain in afterburning combat for a fairly long period, but only has to fight fairly close to the airfield (e.g. cross border skirmishes) The latter engine is better for an aircraft that has to fly some distance, or loiter for a long time, before going into combat. However, the pilot can only afford to stay in afterburning for a short period, before aircraft fuel reserves become dangerously low.

Modern low-bypass military turbofans include the Pratt & Whitney F119, the Eurojet EJ200, the General Electric F110, the Klimov RD-33, and the Saturn AL-31, all of which feature a mixed exhaust, afterburner and variable area propelling nozzle.

High-bypass turbofan

[[File:Turbofan3 Labelled.gif|thumb|300px|alt=Animation of turbofan, which shows flow of air and the spinning of blades.|Animation of a 2-spool, high-bypass turbofan.
A. Low pressure spool
B. High pressure spool
C. Stationary components
1. Nacelle
2. Fan
3. Low pressure compressor
4. High pressure compressor
5. Combustion chamber
6. High pressure turbine
7. Low pressure turbine
8. Core nozzle
9. Fan nozzle]]

The low specific thrust/high bypass ratio turbofans used in today's civil jetliners (and some military transport aircraft) evolved from the high specific thrust/low bypass ratio turbofans used in such [production] aircraft back in the 1960s.

Low specific thrust is achieved by replacing the multi-stage fan with a single stage unit. Unlike some military engines, modern civil turbofans do not have any stationary inlet guide vanes in front of the fan rotor. The fan is scaled to achieve the desired net thrust.

The core (or gas generator) of the engine must generate sufficient core power to at least drive the fan at its design flow and pressure ratio. Through improvements in turbine cooling/material technology, a higher (HP) turbine rotor inlet temperature can be used, thus facilitating a smaller (and lighter) core and (potentially) improving the core thermal efficiency. Reducing the core mass flow tends to increase the load on the LP turbine, so this unit may require additional stages to reduce the average stage loading and to maintain LP turbine efficiency. Reducing core flow also increases bypass ratio (5:1, or more, is now common).

Further improvements in core thermal efficiency can be achieved by raising the overall pressure ratio of the core. Improved blade aerodynamics reduces the number of extra compressor stages required. With multiple compressors (i.e. LPC, IPC, HPC) dramatic increases in overall pressure ratio have become possible. Variable geometry (i.e. stators) enable high pressure ratio compressors to work surge-free at all throttle settings.

The first high-bypass turbofan engine was the General Electric TF39, designed in mid 1960s to power the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy military transport aircraft. The civil General Electric CF6 engine used a derived design. Other high-bypass turbofans are the Pratt & Whitney JT9D, the three-shaft Rolls-Royce RB211 and the CFM International CFM56. More recent large high-bypass turbofans include the Pratt & Whitney PW4000, the three-shaft Rolls-Royce Trent, the General Electric GE90/GEnx and the GP7000, produced jointly by GE and P&W.;

High-bypass turbofan engines are generally quieter than the earlier low bypass ratio civil engines. This is not so much due to the higher bypass ratio as to the use of a low pressure ratio, single stage fan which significantly reduces specific thrust and, thereby, jet velocity. The combination of a higher overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature improves thermal efficiency. This, together with a lower specific thrust (better propulsive efficiency), leads to a lower specific fuel consumption.

For reasons of fuel economy, and also of reduced noise, almost all of today's jet airliners are powered by high-bypass turbofans. Although modern combat aircraft tend to use low bypass ratio turbofans, military transport aircraft (e.g. C-17 ) mainly use high bypass ratio turbofans (or turboprops) for fuel efficiency.

Because of the implied low mean jet velocity, a high bypass ratio/low specific thrust turbofan has a high thrust lapse rate (with rising flight speed). Consequently the engine must be over-sized to give sufficient thrust during climb/cruise at high flight speeds (e.g. Mach 0.83). Because of the high thrust lapse rate, the static (i.e. Mach 0) thrust is relatively high. This enables heavily laden, wide body aircraft to accelerate quickly during take-off and consequently lift-off within a reasonable runway length.

The turbofans on twin engined airliners are further over-sized to cope with losing one engine during take-off, which reduces the aircraft's net thrust by 50%. Modern twin engined airliners normally climb very steeply immediately after take-off. If one engine is lost, the climb-out is much shallower, but sufficient to clear obstacles in the flightpath.

The Soviet Union's engine technology was less advanced than the West's and its first wide-body aircraft, the Ilyushin Il-86, was powered by low-bypass engines. The Yakovlev Yak-42, a medium-range, rear-engined aircraft seating up to 120 passengers introduced in 1980 was the first Soviet aircraft to use high-bypass engines.

Turbofan configurations

Turbofan engines come in a variety of engine configurations. For a given engine cycle (i.e. same airflow, bypass ratio, fan pressure ratio, overall pressure ratio and HP turbine rotor inlet temperature), the choice of turbofan configuration has little impact upon the design point performance (e.g. net thrust, SFC), as long as overall component performance is maintained. Off-design performance and stability is, however, affected by engine configuration.

As the design overall pressure ratio of an engine cycle increases, it becomes more difficult to throttle the compression system, without encountering an instability known as compressor surge. This occurs when some of the compressor aerofoils stall (like the wings of an aircraft) causing a violent change in the direction of the airflow. However, compressor stall can be avoided, at throttled conditions, by progressively:

1) opening interstage/intercompressor blow-off valves (inefficient)

and/or

2) closing variable stators within the compressor

Most modern American civil turbofans employ a relatively high pressure ratio High Pressure (HP) Compressor, with many rows of variable stators to control surge margin at part-throttle. In the three-spool RB211/Trent the core compression system is split into two, with the IP compressor, which supercharges the HP compressor, being on a different coaxial shaft and driven by a separate (IP) turbine. As the HP Compressor has a modest pressure ratio it can be throttled-back surge-free, without employing variable geometry. However, because a shallow IP compressor working line is inevitable, the IPC requires at least one stage of variable geometry.

Single shaft turbofan

Although far from common, the Single Shaft Turbofan is probably the simplest configuration, comprising a fan and high pressure compressor driven by a single turbine unit, all on the same shaft. The SNECMA M53, which powers Mirage fighter aircraft, is an example of a Single Shaft Turbofan. Despite the simplicity of the turbomachinery configuration, the M53 requires a variable area mixer to facilitate part-throttle operation.

Aft-fan turbofan

One of the earliest turbofans was a derivative of the General Electric J79 turbojet, known as the CJ805-23, which featured an integrated aft fan/low pressure (LP) turbine unit located in the turbojet exhaust jetpipe. Hot gas from the turbojet turbine exhaust expanded through the LP turbine, the fan blades being a radial extension of the turbine blades. This aft-fan configuration was later exploited in the General Electric GE-36 UDF (propfan) Demonstrator of the early 80's. One of the problems with the aft fan configuration is hot gas leakage from the LP turbine to the fan.

Basic two spool

Many turbofans have the Basic Two Spool configuration where both the fan and LP turbine (i.e. LP spool) are mounted on a second (LP) shaft, running concentrically with the HP spool (i.e. HP compressor driven by HP turbine). The BR710 is typical of this configuration. At the smaller thrust sizes, instead of all-axial blading, the HP compressor configuration may be axial-centrifugal (e.g. General Electric CFE738), double-centrifugal or even diagonal/centrifugal (e.g. Pratt & Whitney Canada PW600).

Boosted two spool

Higher overall pressure ratios can be achieved by either raising the HP compressor pressure ratio or adding an Intermediate Pressure (IP) Compressor between the fan and HP compressor, to supercharge or boost the latter unit helping to raise the overall pressure ratio of the engine cycle to the very high levels employed today (i.e. greater than 40:1, typically). All of the large American turbofans (e.g. General Electric CF6, GE90 and GEnx plus Pratt & Whitney JT9D and PW4000) feature an IP compressor mounted on the LP shaft and driven, like the fan, by the LP turbine, the mechanical speed of which is dictated by the tip speed and diameter of the fan. The high bypass ratios (i.e. fan duct flow/core flow) used in modern civil turbofans tends to reduce the relative diameter of the attached IP compressor, causing its mean tip speed to decrease. Consequently more IPC stages are required to develop the necessary IPC pressure rise.

Three spool

Rolls-Royce chose a three spool configuration for their large civil turbofans (i.e. the RB211 and Trent families), where the Intermediate Pressure (IP) compressor is mounted on a separate (IP) shaft, running concentrically with the LP and HP shafts, and is driven by a separate IP turbine.

Ivchenko Design Bureau chose the same configuration for their Lotarev D-36 engine, followed by Lotarev/Progress D-18T and Progress D-436.

The Turbo-Union RB199 military turbofan also has a three spool configuration, as does the Russian military Kuznetsov NK-321.

Geared fan

As bypass ratio increases, the mean radius ratio of the fan and LP turbine increases. Consequently, if the fan is to rotate at its optimum blade speed the LP turbine blading will spin slowly, so additional LPT stages will be required, to extract sufficient energy to drive the fan. Introducing a (planetary) reduction gearbox, with a suitable gear ratio, between the LP shaft and the fan enables both the fan and LP turbine to operate at their optimum speeds. Typical of this configuration are the long-established Honeywell TFE731, the Honeywell ALF 502/507, and the recent Pratt & Whitney PW1000G.

Military turbofans

Most of the configurations discussed above are used in civil turbofans, while modern military turbofans (e.g. SNECMA M88) are usually Basic Two Spool.

High Pressure Turbine

Most civil turbofans use a high efficiency, 2-stage HP turbine to drive the HP compressor. The CFM56 uses an alternative approach: a single stage, high-work unit. While this approach is probably less efficient, there are savings on cooling air, weight and cost. In the RB211 and Trent series, Rolls-Royce split the two stages into two discrete units; one on the HP shaft driving the HP compressor; the other on the IP shaft driving the IP (Intermediate Pressure) Compressor. Modern military turbofans tend to use single stage HP turbines.

Low Pressure Turbine

Modern civil turbofans have multi-stage LP turbines (e.g. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). The number of stages required depends on the engine cycle bypass ratio and how much supercharging (i.e. IP compression) is on the LP shaft, behind the fan. A geared fan may reduce the number of required LPT stages in some applications. Because of the much lower bypass ratios employed, military turbofans only require one or two LP turbine stages.

Cycle improvements

Consider a mixed turbofan with a fixed bypass ratio and airflow. Increasing the overall pressure ratio of the compression system raises the combustor entry temperature. Therefore, at a fixed fuel flow there is an increase in (HP) turbine rotor inlet temperature. Although the higher temperature rise across the compression system implies a larger temperature drop over the turbine system, the mixed nozzle temperature is unaffected, because the same amount of heat is being added to the system. There is, however, a rise in nozzle pressure, because overall pressure ratio increases faster than the turbine expansion ratio, causing an increase in the hot mixer entry pressure. Consequently, net thrust increases, whilst specific fuel consumption (fuel flow/net thrust) decreases. A similar trend occurs with unmixed turbofans.

So turbofans can be made more fuel efficient by raising overall pressure ratio and turbine rotor inlet temperature in unison. However, better turbine materials and/or improved vane/blade cooling are required to cope with increases in both turbine rotor inlet temperature and compressor delivery temperature. Increasing the latter may require better compressor materials.

Overall pressure ratio can be increased by improving fan (or) LP compressor pressure ratio and/or HP compressor pressure ratio. If the latter is held constant, the increase in (HP) compressor delivery temperature (from raising overall pressure ratio) implies an increase in HP mechanical speed. However, stressing considerations might limit this parameter, implying, despite an increase in overall pressure ratio, a reduction in HP compressor pressure ratio.

According to simple theory, if the ratio turbine rotor inlet temperature/(HP) compressor delivery temperature is maintained, the HP turbine throat area can be retained. However, this assumes that cycle improvements are obtained, whilst retaining the datum (HP) compressor exit flow function (non-dimensional flow). In practise, changes to the non-dimensional speed of the (HP) compressor and cooling bleed extraction would probably make this assumption invalid, making some adjustment to HP turbine throat area unavoidable. This means the HP turbine nozzle guide vanes would have to be different from the original! In all probability, the downstream LP turbine nozzle guide vanes would have to be changed anyway.

Thrust growth

Thrust growth is obtained by increasing core power. There are two basic routes available:

a) hot route: increase HP turbine rotor inlet temperature

b) cold route: increase core mass flow

Both routes require an increase in the combustor fuel flow and, therefore, the heat energy added to the core stream.

The hot route may require changes in turbine blade/vane materials and/or better blade/vane cooling. The cold route can be obtained by one of the following:

# adding T-stages to the LP/IP compression # adding a zero-stage to the HP compression # improving the compression process, without adding stages (e.g. higher fan hub pressure ratio)

all of which increase both overall pressure ratio and core airflow.

Alternatively, the core size can be increased, to raise core airflow, without changing overall pressure ratio. This route is expensive, since a new (upflowed) turbine system (and possibly a larger IP compressor) is also required.

Changes must also be made to the fan to absorb the extra core power. On a civil engine, jet noise considerations mean that any significant increase in Take-off thrust must be accompanied by a corresponding increase in fan mass flow (to maintain a T/O specific thrust of about 30 lbf/lb/s), usually by increasing fan diameter. On military engines, the fan pressure ratio would probably be increased to improve specific thrust, jet noise not normally being an important factor.

Technical discussion

# Specific Thrust (net thrust/intake airflow) is an important parameter for turbofans and jet engines in general. Imagine a fan (driven by an appropriately sized electric motor) operating within a pipe, which is connected to a propelling nozzle. It is fairly obvious, the higher the Fan Pressure Ratio (fan discharge pressure/fan inlet pressure), the higher the jet velocity and the corresponding specific thrust. Now imagine we replace this set-up with an equivalent turbofan - same airflow and same fan pressure ratio. Obviously, the core of the turbofan must produce sufficient power to drive the fan via the Low Pressure (LP) Turbine. If we choose a low (HP) Turbine Inlet Temperature for the gas generator, the core airflow needs to be relatively high to compensate. The corresponding bypass ratio is therefore relatively low. If we raise the Turbine Inlet Temperature, the core airflow can be smaller, thus increasing bypass ratio. Raising turbine inlet temperature tends to increase thermal efficiency and, therefore, improve fuel efficiency. # Naturally, as altitude increases there is a decrease in air density and, therefore, the net thrust of an engine. There is also a flight speed effect, termed Thrust Lapse Rate. Consider the approximate equation for net thrust again:

$F\_n\; =\; m\; \backslash cdot\; (V\_\{jfe\}\; -\; V\_a)$

With a high specific thrust (e.g. fighter) engine, the jet velocity is relatively high, so intuitively one can see that increases in flight velocity have less of an impact upon net thrust than a medium specific thrust (e.g. trainer) engine, where the jet velocity is lower. The impact of thrust lapse rate upon a low specific thrust (e.g. civil) engine is even more severe. At high flight speeds, high specific thrust engines can pick-up net thrust through the ram rise in the intake, but this effect tends to diminish at supersonic speeds because of shock wave losses. # Thrust growth on civil turbofans is usually obtained by increasing fan airflow, thus preventing the jet noise becoming too high. However, the larger fan airflow requires more power from the core. This can be achieved by raising the Overall Pressure Ratio (combustor inlet pressure/intake delivery pressure) to induce more airflow into the core and by increasing turbine inlet temperature. Together, these parameters tend to increase core thermal efficiency and improve fuel efficiency. # Some high bypass ratio civil turbofans use an extremely low area ratio (less than 1.01), convergent-divergent, nozzle on the bypass (or mixed exhaust) stream, to control the fan working line. The nozzle acts as if it has variable geometry. At low flight speeds the nozzle is unchoked (less than a Mach Number of unity), so the exhaust gas speeds up as it approaches the throat and then slows down slightly as it reaches the divergent section. Consequently, the nozzle exit area controls the fan match and, being larger than the throat, pulls the fan working line slightly away from surge. At higher flight speeds, the ram rise in the intake increases nozzle pressure ratio to the point where the throat becomes choked (M=1.0). Under these circumstances, the throat area dictates the fan match and, being smaller than the exit, pushes the fan working line slightly towards surge. This is not a problem, since fan surge margin is much better at high flight speeds. # The off-design behaviour of turbofans is illustrated under compressor map and turbine map. # Because modern civil turbofans operate at low specific thrust, they only require a single fan stage to develop the required fan pressure ratio. The desired overall pressure ratio for the engine cycle is usually achieved by multiple axial stages on the core compression. Rolls-Royce tend to split the core compression into two with an intermediate pressure (IP) supercharging the HP compressor, both units being driven by turbines with a single stage, mounted on separate shafts. Consequently, the HP compressor need only develop a modest pressure ratio (e.g.~4.5:1). US civil engines use much higher HP compressor pressure ratios (e.g. ~23:1 on the General Electric GE90) and tend to be driven by a two stage HP turbine. Even so, there are usually a few IP axial stages mounted on the LP shaft, behind the fan, to further supercharge the core compression system. Civil engines have multi-stage LP turbines, the number of stages being determined by the bypass ratio, the amount of IP compression on the LP shaft and the LP turbine blade speed. # Because military engines usually have to be able to fly very fast at Sea Level, the limit on HP compressor delivery temperature is reached at a fairly modest design overall pressure ratio, compared with that of a civil engine. Also the fan pressure ratio is relatively high, to achieve a medium to high specific thrust. Consequently, modern military turbofans usually only have 5 or 6 HP compressor stages and only require a single stage HP turbine. Low bypass ratio military turbofans usually have one LP turbine stage, but higher bypass ratio engines need two stages. In theory, by adding IP compressor stages, a modern military turbofan HP compressor could be used in a civil turbofan derivative, but the core would tend to be too small for high thrust applications.

Recent developments in blade technology

The turbine blades in a turbofan engine are subject to high heat and stress, and require special fabrication. New material construction methods and material science have allowed blades, which were originally polycrystalline (regular metal), to be made from lined up metallic crystals and more recently mono-crystalline (i.e. single crystal) blades, which can operate at higher temperatures with less distortion.

Nickel-based superalloys are used for HP turbine blades in almost all modern jet engines. The temperature capabilities of turbine blades have increased mainly through four approaches: the manufacturing (casting) process, cooling path design, thermal barrier coating (TBC), and alloy development.

Although turbine blade (and vane) materials have improved over the years, much of the increase in (HP) turbine inlet temperatures is due to improvements in blade/vane cooling technology. Relatively cool air is bled from the compression system, bypassing the combustion process, and enters the hollow blade or vane. After picking up heat from the blade/vane, the cooling air is dumped into the main gas stream. If the local gas temperatures are low enough, downstream blades/vanes are uncooled and not adversely affected.

Strictly speaking, cycle-wise the HP Turbine Rotor Inlet Temperature (after the temperature drop across the HPT stator) is more important than the (HP) turbine inlet temperature. Although some modern military and civil engines have peak RITs of the order of , such temperatures are only experienced for a short time (during take-off) on civil engines.

Turbofan engine manufacturers

The turbofan engine market is dominated by General Electric, Rolls-Royce plc and Pratt & Whitney, in order of market share. GE and SNECMA of France have a joint venture, CFM International which, as the 3rd largest manufacturer in terms of market share, fits between Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney also have a joint venture, International Aero Engines, specializing in engines for the Airbus A320 family, whilst finally, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric have a joint venture, Engine Alliance marketing a range of engines for aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

General Electric

GE Aviation, part of the General Electric Conglomerate, currently has the largest share of the turbofan engine market. Some of their engine models include the CF6 (available on the Boeing 767, Boeing 747, Airbus A330 and more), GE90 (only the Boeing 777) and GEnx (developed for the Boeing 747-8 & Boeing 787 Dreamliner and proposed for the Airbus A350, currently in development) engines. On the military side, GE engines power many U.S. military aircraft, including the F110, powering 80% of the US Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcons, and the F404 and F414 engines, which power the Navy's F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet. Rolls-Royce and General Electric are jointly developing the F136 engine to power the Joint Strike Fighter.

CFM International

CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aircraft Engines and SNECMA of France. They have created the very successful CFM56 series, used on Boeing 737, Airbus A340, and Airbus A320 family aircraft.

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce plc is the second largest manufacturer of turbofans and is most noted for their RB211 and Trent series, as well as their joint venture engines for the Airbus A320 and McDonnell Douglas MD-90 families (IAE V2500 with Pratt & Whitney and others), the Panavia Tornado (Turbo-Union RB199) and the Boeing 717 (BR700). The Rolls-Royce AE 3007 was developed by Allison Engine Company before its acquisition by Rolls-Royce, powers several Embraer regional jets. Rolls-Royce Trent 970s were the first engines to power the new Airbus A380. The famous thrust vectoring Pegasus engine is the primary powerplant of the Harrier "Jump Jet" and its derivatives.

Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is third behind GE and Rolls-Royce in market share. The JT9D has the distinction of being chosen by Boeing to power the original Boeing 747 "Jumbo jet". The PW4000 series is the successor to the JT9D, and powers some Airbus A310, Airbus A300, Boeing 747, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Airbus A330 and MD-11 aircraft. The PW4000 is certified for 180-minute ETOPS when used in twinjets. The first family has a fan diameter and is designed to power the Boeing 767, Boeing 747, MD-11, and the Airbus A300. The second family is the 100 inch (2.5 m) fan engine developed specifically for the Airbus A330 twinjet, and the third family has a diameter of designed to power Boeing 777. The Pratt & Whitney F119 and its derivative, the F135, power the United States Air Force's F-22 Raptor and the international F-35 Lightning II, respectively. Rolls-Royce are responsible for the lift fan which will provide the F-35B variants with a STOVL capability. The F100 engine was first used on the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Newer Eagles and Falcons also come with GE F110 as an option, and the two are in competition.

Aviadvigatel

Aviadvigatel (Russian:Авиационный Двиѓатель) is a Russian manufacturer of aircraft engines that succeeded the Soviet Soloviev Design Bureau. The company currently offers several versions of the Aviadvigatel PS-90 engine that powers Ilyushin Il-96-300/400/400T, Tupolev Tu-204, Tu-214 series and the Ilyushin Il-76-MD-90. The company is also developing the new Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine for the new Russian MS-21 airliner.

Ivchenko-Progress

Ivchenko-Progress is the Ukrainian aircraft engine company that succeeded the Soviet Ivchenko Design Bureau. Some of their engine models include Progress D-436 available on the Antonov An-72/74, Yakovlev Yak-42, Beriev Be-200, Antonov An-148 and Tupolev Tu-334 and Progress D-18T that powers two of the world largest airplanes, Antonov An-124 and Antonov An-225.

Extreme bypass jet engines

In the 1970s Rolls-Royce/SNECMA tested a M45SD-02 turbofan fitted with variable pitch fan blades to improve handling at ultra low fan pressure ratios and to provide thrust reverse down to zero aircraft speed. The engine was aimed at ultra quiet STOL aircraft operating from city centre airports.

In a bid for increased efficiency with speed, a development of the ''turbofan'' and ''turboprop'' known as a propfan engine was created that had an unducted fan. The fan blades are situated outside of the duct, so that it appears like a turboprop with wide scimitar-like blades. Both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney/Allison demonstrated propfan engines in the 1980s. Excessive cabin noise and relatively cheap jet fuel prevented the engines being put into service.

Terminology

; Afterburner: extra combustor immediately upstream of final nozzle (also called reheat) ; Average stage loading: constant * (delta temperature)/[(blade speed) * (blade speed) * (number of stages)] ; Bypass: airstream that completely bypasses the core compression system, combustor and turbine system ; Bypass ratio: bypass airflow /core compression inlet airflow ; Core: turbomachinery handling the airstream that passes through the combustor. ; Core power: residual shaft power from ideal turbine expansion to ambient pressure after deducting core compression power ; Core thermal efficiency: core power/power equivalent of fuel flow ; Dry: afterburner (if fitted) not lit ; EGT: Exhaust Gas Temperature ; EPR: Engine Pressure Ratio ; Fan: turbofan LP compressor ; Fan pressure ratio: fan outlet total pressure/intake delivery total pressure ; Flex temp: use of artificially high apparent air temperature to reduce engine wear ; Gas generator: engine core ; HPC: high pressure compressor ; HP compressor: high pressure compressor ; HPT: high pressure turbine ; HP turbine: high pressure turbine ; Intake ram drag: penalty associated with jet engines picking up air from the atmosphere (conventional rocket motors do not have this drag term, because the oxidiser travels with the vehicle) ; IEPR: Integrated Engine Pressure Ratio ; IPC: intermediate pressure compressor ; IP compressor: intermediate pressure compressor ; IPT: intermediate pressure turbine ; IP turbine: intermediate pressure turbine ; LPC: low pressure compressor ; LP compressor: low pressure compressor ; LPT: low pressure turbine ; LP turbine: low pressure turbine ; Net thrust: nozzle total gross thrust - intake ram drag (excluding nacelle drag, etc., this is the basic thrust acting on the airframe) ; Overall pressure ratio: combustor inlet total pressure/intake delivery total pressure ; Overall thermal efficiency: thermal efficiency * propulsive efficiency ; Propulsive efficiency: propulsive power/rate of production of propulsive kinetic energy (maximum propulsive efficiency occurs when jet velocity equals flight velocity, which implies zero net thrust!) ; SFC: Specific fuel consumption ; Specific fuel consumption: total fuel flow/net thrust (proportional to flight velocity/overall thermal efficiency) ; Static pressure: normal meaning of pressure. Excludes any kinetic energy effects ; Specific thrust: net thrust/intake airflow ; Thermal efficiency: rate of production of propulsive kinetic energy/fuel power ; Total fuel flow: combustor (plus any afterburner) fuel flow rate (e.g. lb/s or g/s) ; Total pressure: static pressure plus kinetic energy term ; Turbine rotor inlet temperature: gas absolute mean temperature at principal (e.g. HP) turbine rotor entry

See also

Jet engine

Turbojet

Turboprop

Turboshaft

Propfan

Variable cycle engine

Jet engine performance

Gas turbine

Notes and references

External links

[[Wikibooks:Jet Propulsion|Wikibooks: Jet

propulsion]]

Category:Gas turbines Category:Jet engines

ar:محرك عنفي مروحي ca:Turbofan cs:Dvouproudový motor de:Mantelstromtriebwerk es:Turbofán fa:توربوفن fr:Turboréacteur#Simple et double flux ga:Inneall Turbai-fean ko:터보팬 id:Mesin turbofan it:Turboventola ms:Kipas turbo nl:Turbofan ja:ターボファンエンジン no:Turbofan pl:Silnik turbowentylatorowy pt:Turbofan ro:Turboventilator ru:Турбовентиляторный двигатель sr:Двопроточни турбомлазни мотор tr:Turbofan motorlar zh:渦輪扇發動機

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	John Dahlbäck
background	non_performing_personnel
origin	Sweden
genre	House, Tech house, Progressive House, Trance, Electro House
years active	2002-
label	Pickadoll Records
associated acts	Jesper Dahlbäck
notable instruments	}}

John Dahlbäck, born 1985, is a Swedish house music producer and DJ currently based in London, UK.

Dahlbäck is also the owner and founder of Pickadoll Records, with releases by, apart from his own work, artists like Sébastien Léger and Dada Life. He has recorded minimal techno under the alias Hug and as Hugg&Pepp; together with his cousin and fellow producer Jesper Dahlbäck. Remixes include Kleerup's "Longing for Lullabies" and Alanis Morissette's "Underneath".

He made an appearance with a set on Pete Tong's The Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 on October 4, 2008.

His track "Don't Speak" features on Disc 2 of Tiësto's ''In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza'' album.

Dahlbäck's debut album ''Mutants'' was released in May 2010.

Discography

Albums

2005 − ''Shades Of Shadow''

2005 − ''Man From The Fall''

2006 − ''At The Gun Show''

2008 − ''Winners & Fools''

2010 − ''Mutants''

Singles

2003 - ''Warm Breeze''

2006 - ''At The Gun Show''

2006 − ''Everywhere'' (feat. Andy P)

2007 − ''Sting''

2008 − ''Blink''

2008 − ''Hustle Up''

2008 − ''More Than I Wanted''

2008 - ''Can´t Slow Down''

2009 - ''Autumn''

2010 - ''Love Inside'' (feat. Andy P)

2010 - ''Bingo''

Come with power

He is not

It feels so good

Now it's not summer

If you give me (feat. DJ Extraball)

Bordeline

Don't speak

Push your body

Hungarian (vs. DJ TA88)

Out There (feat. Basto!)

Golden Walls (feat. Arno Cost)

Valleybrook

Lick My Deck

Pyramid

Olympia

Farao

Sfinx

Kairo

References

External links

Official site

Category:Swedish house musicians Category:1985 births Category:Living people

de:John Dahlbäck es:John Dahlbäck fr:John Dahlbäck it:John Dahlbäck hu:John Dahlbäck nl:John Dahlbäck pt:John Dahlbäck sv:John Dahlbäck

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	London Gatwick Airport
nativename	Gatwick Airport
image-width	250
image2	Gatwick_South_Terminal.jpg
image2-width	280px
iata	LGW
icao	EGKK
type	Public
owner	Global Infrastructure Partners
operator	Gatwick Airport Limited
city-served	London
location	Crawley, West Sussex
hub	British Airways
gates	115 (in terminal)
elevation-f	203
elevation-m	62
coordinates region	GB-WSX
pushpin map	United Kingdom West Sussex
pushpin label	LGW
pushpin map caption	Location within West Sussex
website	www.gatwickairport.com
metric-rwy	yes
r1-number	08L/26R
r1-length-f	8,415
r1-length-m	2,565
r1-surface	Asphalt/Concrete
r2-number	08R/26L
r2-length-f	10,879
r2-length-m	3,316
r2-surface	Asphalt/Concrete
stat-year	2010
stat1-header	Passengers
stat1-data	31,375,290
stat2-header	Passenger change 09-10
stat2-data	3.1%
stat3-header	Aircraft Movements
stat3-data	240,500
stat4-header	Movements change 09-10
stat4-data	4.5%
footnotes	Sources: UK AIP at NATSStatistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority }}

Gatwick Airport is located north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick, it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Gatwick furthermore is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights and has the world's busiest single-use runway averaging 52 aircraft movements an hour.

In 2010, over 31.3 million passengers passed through Gatwick, making it the 9th largest in Europe by passenger traffic and the 12th busiest in terms of international passengers.

Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. (As of 2010, Delta Air Lines and US Airways are the only US carriers to continue serving Gatwick from the US.) The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter.

BAA Limited and its predecessors, the British Airports Authority and BAA plc, owned and operated Gatwick continuously from 1 April 1966 until 2 December 2009. On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick following a report by the Competition Commission into BAA's market dominance in London and South East England. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the owners of London City Airport, for £1.51 billion. Of this amount, £55 million will depend on the airport's future traffic development and its owners' future capital structure (£10 million and £45 million respectively). The sale was formally completed on 3 December 2009. On this day, Gatwick's ownership passed from BAA to GIP. In early 2010, GIP reportedly sold minority stakes in Gatwick to South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). On 18 June 2010, it was reported that CalPERS, California's and the US's biggest state pension fund, had bought a 12.7% equity stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP. An announcement made in the ''Financial Times'' on 21 December 2010 stated that the Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government, planned to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.

History

1241: The name "Gatwick" is first recorded, as ''Gatwik'', the name of a manor on the site of today's airport. Until the 19th century it was owned by the De Gatwick family. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words ''gāt'', 'goat', and ''wīc'', 'dairy farm', i.e. 'goat farm'. (''On the adjacent map, Gatwick Manor is at the northwest end of the racecourse; its name is somewhat obscured by the map's paper being eroded over an old crease. The site of the modern runway runs roughly from the racecourse to the lane junction at Hydefield farm southeast of Charlwood.'')

1890: The descendants of the original owners sold the area to the newly established Gatwick Race Course Company.

1891: The new owners opened a racecourse beside the London–Brighton railway, and a dedicated station including sidings for horse boxes. The course held steeplechase and flat races. During World War I the course hosted the Grand National.

Airport infrastructure and airline operations

1920–45

Late 1920s: Land adjacent to the racecourse at Hunts Green Farm along Tinsley Green Lane was used as an aerodrome.

August 1930: Following a change in land ownership, the aerodrome was licensed. Later in 1930: The Surrey Aero Club was formed at the aerodrome by a Mr Waters, who had been the manager of Home Counties Aircraft Service Ltd based at Penshurst Airfield in Kent. Surrey Aero Club used the old Hunts Green farmhouse as club house.

1932: Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome and operated a flying school. The aerodrome was also used for pilots flying in to races.

1933: The Air Ministry approved commercial flights from Gatwick. The aerodrome was sold for £13,500 to Morris Jackaman, an investor.

1934: Morris Jackaman formed a new airport company named ''Airports Limited''. Hillman's Airways became Gatwick's first commercial airline operator as a result of starting scheduled services from the airport to Belfast and Paris.

September 1935: A new railway station called ''Gatwick'' served by two trains an hour on the Victoria–Brighton line opened. (''The present Gatwick station is on the same site.'')

1935: A new airline named ''Allied British Airways'' was formed, by a merger between Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways. The newly formed carrier, which subsequently shortened its name to ''British Airways'', became Gatwick's principal operator. 30 September 1935: Tinsley Green railway station opened south of the present Gatwick station. 17 May 1936: The first scheduled flight to depart ''The Beehive'' was bound for Paris. The applicable air fare was £4 5s, including a first class rail ticket from London Victoria. June 1936: The world's first circular airport terminal, called ''The Beehive'', opened at Gatwick. It was designed by Frank Hoar and included a subway to Gatwick Airport railway station that enabled passengers to travel from London Victoria Station to the aircraft without stepping outside. Tinsley Green railway station was renamed ''Gatwick Airport''. September and November 1936: Two fatal accidents questioned the airport's safety. Moreover, the area was prone to fog and waterlogging as a result of poor drainage due to heavy clay soils. This in turn caused the new subway to flood after rain. 1937: As a result and because longer landing strips were needed, the pre-war British Airways moved to Croydon Airport. Gatwick went back to private flying and was contracted as a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying school. The airport also attracted repair companies. September 1939: The Air Ministry requisitioned Gatwick. World War II: Although the airfield became a base for RAF night-fighters and an army co-operation squadron, it was mainly a repair and maintenance facility.

1940: Horse racing at Gatwick stopped and never restarted.

1945–1957

1946: Gatwick Airport was officially decommissioned, but the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued to operate it as a civil airfield, initially for a six-month trial period. During that period, the airport provided maintenance facilities and charter companies flying war-surplus aircraft started to use it; however, persistent drainage issues affected the airport's usage. Most commercial air services were cargo flights. The original Gatwick railway station was renamed ''Gatwick Racecourse''.

November 1948: The owners warned that the airport could be de-requisitioned by November 1949 and revert to private use. Stansted was favoured as London's second airport and Gatwick's future was in doubt.

1950: Despite opposition from local authorities, the Cabinet decided that Gatwick was to be an alternative to Heathrow.

July 1952: The Government said that the airport was to be developed, primarily to cater to aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.

1956–1958: Temporary closure for a £7.8 million renovation. During that period, British European Airways (BEA) continued using Gatwick for its helicopter operations. The redevelopment was carried out by Alfred McAlpine. It entailed diverting the A23 London—Brighton trunk road and the River Mole, and building the runway across the erstwhile racecourse site and rebuilding the former racecourse railway station alongside the new terminal. The main pier of what is now the South Terminal was built during this construction work.

1958–1970

27 May 1958: The original Gatwick railway station, which had been rebuilt, reopened as ''Gatwick Airport''. The railway station at Tinsley Green shut and never reopened.

30 May 1958: Before the official opening, Transair operated the first commercial air service from the new Gatwick.; a Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron was the first scheduled aircraft to arrive at the newly reconstructed airport. 9 June 1958: Queen Elizabeth II flew into the new airport in a de Havilland Heron of the Queen's Flight to perform the opening. The first "official" flight to depart Gatwick following the reopening ceremony was a BEA DC-3 operating a charter for Surrey County Council to Jersey and Guernsey. Gatwick was the world's first airport with a direct railway link and the first to combine mainline rail travel, trunk road facilities and an air terminal building in one unit. It was also one of the first to have an enclosed pier-based terminal, which allowed passengers to walk under cover to waiting areas close to aircraft with only a short walk outdoors. Another novel feature of Gatwick's new air terminal was its modular design. This permitted subsequent, phased expansion. 8 June 1959: BEA started using Gatwick. It was followed by BEA Helicopters and BEA Airtours, which made the airport their base. Sudan Airways and BWIA West Indies Airways were among Gatwick's first scheduled overseas airlines. The former's ''Blue Nile'' services were the first scheduled flights from Gatwick by a foreign airline. These services operated between Khartoum and London Gatwick via Cairo, Athens and Rome, initially using Airwork Vickers Viscount aircraft. British United Airways (BUA) assumed this operation the following year, as a result of the Airwork – Hunting-Clan merger. (BUA were also acting as Sudan Airways's technical advisers.) US supplemental carriers Seven Seas Airlines, Capitol International, President Airlines and Transocean Airlines, as well as various South European and Scandinavian charter operators, figured prominently among Gatwick's early overseas users. Late 1950s: From here on, a number of Britain's private airlines established themselves at Gatwick. The first was Transair. It was followed by Airwork, Hunting-Clan and Morton Air Services. In July 1960, these merged to form British United Airways. Throughout the 1960s, BUA was Britain's largest independent airline. During that decade, it became Gatwick's largest resident airline. By the end of the decade, it also became the airport's leading scheduled operator, with a network of short, medium and long-haul routes across Europe, Africa and South America. These were served with contemporary BAC One-Eleven and Vickers VC10 jet aircraft. Early 1960s: Despite rapid expansion of BUA's and other airlines' scheduled activities at Gatwick, the airport was dominated by non-scheduled services well into the 1980s. The bulk of these were inclusive tour (IT) passenger services provided by a growing number of British independent operators and their overseas counterparts. During the 1960s, IT services accounted for between two-thirds and three-quarters of Gatwick's annual passengers, earning the airport its ''bucket and spade'' tag. 1962: Two additional piers were added. 1 May 1963: Non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights only. 1964: Gatwick's original, relatively short 7,000 feet (2,134 metres) 1950s runway was extended by 1,200 ft (365 m) to 8,200 ft (2,499 m) due to new noise rules governing the operation of jet aircraft at airports close to or surrounded by densely populated urban areas. 1965: By now, each of the three piers was nearly long and the entire terminal complex had a floor area of . Fully extendible jet bridges were added when the piers were rebuilt and extended in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

1970–1999

1970: Second extension of Gatwick's runway by 875 ft (267 m) to 9,075 ft (2,766 m) to permit non-stop jet operations to the US east coast with a full payload and full-range/payload operations by British United and Caledonian BAC One-Eleven 500s.

Late November 1970: BUA was acquired by the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways. The new airline was known as Caledonian//BUA. BUA's takeover by Caledonian enabled the latter to transform itself into a scheduled airline. In addition to scheduled routes inherited from BUA, it launched scheduled services to Europe, North and West Africa, North America as well as the Middle and Far East during the 1970s and '80s.

September 1971: Caledonian//BUA became British Caledonian (BCal).

November 1971: BCal commenced the first scheduled service by a wholly private UK airline since the 1930s between London and Paris from Gatwick to Le Bourget. November 1972: Laker Airways became the first operator of widebody aircraft at Gatwick, following the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 aircraft. Laker's DC-10 fleet expanded throughout the 1970s and early '80s with longer-range variants. 1973: Third extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,165 ft (3,098 m) to allow non-stop narrowbody operations to the US west coast with a full payload and commercially viable, long-range widebody operations. April 1973: BCal inaugurated the first transatlantic scheduled services by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles. March and May 1977: BCal introduced its first two DC-10s at Gatwick. 26 September 1977: Laker Airways launched ''Skytrain'', Gatwick's first daily long-haul, no frills flights to John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport. 1 April 1978: As passenger numbers had grown steadily since the late 1970s, as a result of several Government initiatives in support of Gatwick's development, new policies came into effect to transfer all scheduled services between London and the Iberian peninsula from Heathrow to Gatwick, and compelling all airlines that were planning to operate a scheduled service to or from London for the first time to use Gatwick instead of Heathrow. The latter policy was officially known as the "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules". It was applied retroactively from the beginning of April 1977. These rules were designed to achieve a fairer distribution of traffic between London Heathrow and London Gatwick, the UK's two main international gateway airports. The policy was aimed at increasing Gatwick's utilisation to help the airport make a profit. Another pro-active measure the Government took to aid Gatwick's development at the time was to grant permission for a high-frequency helicopter shuttle service linking both of London's main airports. 9 June 1978: BCal, British Airways Helicopters and the BAA jointly inaugurated the new helicopter shuttle service linking London Heathrow and London Gatwick. August 1980: BCal launched the UK's first private scheduled air service to Hong Kong (via Dubai). 1982: BCal started to operate a small fleet of Boeing 747–200s at Gatwick. 1983: As passenger numbers grew, a circular satellite pier was added to the terminal building, connected to the main terminal by the UK's first automated people mover system (now replaced with a walkway and travelators). Construction began on the North Terminal, which was the largest construction project south of London in the 1980s. It cost £200 million. 1984: The new air traffic control tower opened. The non-stop Gatwick Express rail service to London Victoria station was launched. There was a need for more capacity and a second terminal was planned. July 1985: A British Airways Concorde operated the type's first-ever commercial flight from Gatwick. Year ending April 1987: Gatwick overtook New York JFK as the world's second-busiest international airport, handling 15.86 million international passengers – 100,000 more than JFK. 18 March 1988: Queen Elizabeth II opened the North Terminal. End of the 1989/90 financial year: Scheduled passengers outnumbered holidaymakers travelling on non-scheduled services for the first time in Gatwick's post-war history. The latter had accounted for more than half the airport's passengers during the 1970s and most of the 1980s.

1991: The North Terminal was expanded with a second aircraft pier.

1991–1992: Dan-Air replaced Air Europe as Gatwick's principal short-haul scheduled operator following the latter's demise at the beginning of that period. Dan-Air and Air Europe had played an important role in the development of Gatwick and its short-haul scheduled route network. 1994: The North Terminal international departures lounge and phase 1 of the South Terminal international departures lounge opened. Both developments cost £30 million. The North Terminal has an area of 75,000m². Gatwick's two terminals are connected by an automated rapid track transit system. 1998: Fourth extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,879 ft (3,316 m) to enable longer-range operations with fully-laden widebody aircraft.

2000–2009

2000 and 2001: Gatwick's two terminals were further expanded to add more seating, retail space and catering outlets, at a total cost of £60 million. This included an extension to the North Terminal departure lounge completed in 2001.

2005: A £110 million additional aircraft pier (Pier 6) opened, adding an extra 11 pier-served aircraft stands. Linked by the world's largest air passenger bridge to the North Terminal's main building, it spans a taxiway, giving arriving and departing passengers views of the airport and taxiing aircraft. The same year, an extension and refurbishment to the South Terminal's baggage reclaim hall was completed, doubling it in size.

May 2008: Another extension was completed to the South Terminal departure lounge. In addition, a second-floor security search area opened. The South Terminal now covers an area of 120,000m². The terminal is mainly used by low-cost airlines. Many former users have moved to the newer North Terminal.

12 October 2009: Qatar Airways's daily QR076 Gatwick–Doha scheduled service became the first commercial flight powered by fuel made from natural gas. The Airbus A340-600HGW operating the six-hour flight ran on a 50–50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) and conventional oil-based kerosene developed by Shell instead of traditional, purely oil-based aviation turbine fuel. 3 December 2009: The transfer of Gatwick's ownership from BAA Limited to Global Infrastructure Partners became effective.

2009–present

Following the sale of the airport to GIP, Gatwick's new owners announced their intention to proceed with a previously agreed £1 billion investment programme to upgrade and expand the airport's existing infrastructure to transform the passenger experience. It is hoped that this will firmly establish Gatwick as the airport of choice for air travellers whose journey begins and/or ends in London and other parts of South East England. According to Virgin Atlantic communications director Paul Charles, the prospect of offering much better facilities to Gatwick's airlines and passengers as a result of the change in ownership presents a long-term opportunity to leapfrog Heathrow in terms of airport infrastructure and passenger amenities. It is expected that GIP will use its relationships to persuade new and existing airlines to consider launching additional routes from Gatwick, reinstating services suspended as a result of the global recession in the wake of the financial crisis that began in 2007 and Open Skies and/or expanding their existing flying programme from the airport in the near future.

February 2010: It was reported that GIP sold minority stakes of 12% and 15% to South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), for £100 million and £125 million, respectively. These were sold in Gatwick's – rather than GIP's – name. The sale of these stakes is part of GIP's strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the original acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing in additional investors in the airport, GIP aims to retain management control. 18 June 2010: It was announced that Californian state pension fund CalPERS had spent approximately US$155 million (£104.8 million) on acquiring a 12.7% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP, marking the US$200 billion fund's first direct infrastructure investment. 22 June 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited launched a new competitive brand featuring the tagline "YOUR LONDON AIRPORT – ''Gatwick''" alongside a rename from "London Gatwick Airport" to "Gatwick Airport". Created by advertising agency Lewis Moberly, the new blue-and-white corporate identity is intended as a challenger brand to BAA and aims to differentiate Gatwick from rival Heathrow in support of majority owner GIP's corporate goal to establish Gatwick as London's airport of choice for passengers and airlines. 16 November 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited announced the appointment of Guy Stephenson as its new commercial director, with responsibility for the airport's airline route development and car parking strategies. 21 December 2010: The ''Financial Times'' reported that the A$69 billion (£44 billion) Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government in 2006, intended to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP for £145 million. This transaction will complete GIP's equity syndication process for Gatwick. Although this will reduce GIP's stake to 42%, the private equity firm's extra voting rights will enable it to retain control of the airport's board.

Traffic

1958–2000

Gatwick handled 186,172 passengers during its first seven months of operation following the 1956–58 reconstruction. By 1959, the number of passengers passing through the airport each year had grown to 368,000.

In 1968, annual passenger numbers at Gatwick hit the two million mark for the first time.

By the early 1970s, five million passengers used Gatwick each year. Within a decade, this figure doubled to ten million. It doubled again to over 20 million by the late 1980s.

By the turn of the millennium, Gatwick handled more than 30 million passengers annually.

2000 onwards

2.8% 5.0% 1.3% 4.9% 4.2% 4.2% 3.1% 2.9% 5.3% 3.1%

+	style="width:75px"	Number of Passengers !! style="width:100px">Percentage Change !! style="width:100px"| Number of Movements !! style="width:75px"| Freight (tonnes)
!2000	32,068,540	–	260,859
!2001	31,181,770	|	252,543	280,098
!2002	29,627,420	|	242,379	242,519
!2003	30,005,260	|	242,731	222,916
!2004	31,466,770	|	251,195	218,204
!2005	32,775,695	|	261,292	222,778
!2006	34,163,579	|	263,363	211,857
!2007	35,216,113	|	266,550	171,078
!2008	34,205,887	|	263,653	107,702
!2009	32,392,520	|	251,879	74,680
!2010	31,375,290	|	240,500	104,032
colspan="5" style="text-align:right;"

Passenger numbers peaked in 2007 when the airport handled over 35 million for the first time. However, this total had reduced to 31.4 million by 2010, a 3.1% reduction on 2009's 32.4 million. The airport recorded 240,500 aircraft movements during 2010, 4.5% less than in 2009 and the lowest total in eleven years.

The steepest decline in passenger traffic during 2010 related to Irish and North Atlantic traffic, both of which showed double-digit declines of 14.8 and 13% on 2009, to 1.221 and 1.898 million respectively. European scheduled and charter as well as UK traffic showed smaller, single-digit annual declines (down by 0.7, 7.7 and 4.7% to 15.24, 4.8 and 3.5 million respectively). On the other hand, other long-haul traffic constituted the only passenger traffic component to record an annual increase of 3.4% to 4.69 million, while air freight was the only overall traffic component to record a double-digit annual increase of 39.3% to 104,143 metric tonnes. However, this was less than a third of the total amount of freight the airport handled a decade earlier.

July 2011 saw a further increase in Gatwick's passenger numbers – the seventh consecutive monthly gain for the year – and air transport movements. Compared with July 2010, the total number of passengers passing through the airport rose by 5.9% to 3.632 million. Other long-haul was the only passenger traffic component to show a double-digit decline of 10.2% to 360,100 passengers. European charter traffic saw a smaller, single-digit reduction of 3.7% to 667,700 passengers. All other passenger traffic components recorded increases. Amongst these, European scheduled traffic saw a double-digit increase of 14.1% to 1.899 million passengers while UK, Irish and North Atlantic traffic registered smaller, single-digit gains of 5.4, 4.7 and 4.4% to 359,100, 130,800 and 216,200 passengers respectively. Air transport movements grew by 2.7% to 23,938. Average monthly passenger load factors rose by 2.3% to 86.8%, a July record high. The double-digit growth in European scheduled traffic and the rise in air transport movements were the result of increased low-cost carrier activity in short-haul markets compared with the same period the year before. In contrast to the growth in passenger traffic and air transport movements, cargo volume recorded another steep, double-digit decline of 24.1% to 7,260 metric tonnes.

Busiest routes

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%" width= align= |+ '''Busiest routes to and from Gatwick Airport (2010) |- style="background:lightgrey;" ! Rank|| Airport || Passengers handled || % Change2009 / 10 |- |1|| 20px Malaga||909,237|| 18.6 |- |2|| 20px Dublin||842,093|| 20.4 |- |3|| Orlando International||676,265|| 8.2 |- |4|| 20px Alicante||672,228|| 13.7 |- |5|| 20px Faro||669,007|| 17.8 |- |6|| 20px Dubai||629,810|| 10.5 |- |7|| 20px Geneva||624,130|| 3.6 |- |8|| 20px Edinburgh||604,073|| 6.8 |- |9|| 20px Madrid||602,267|| 5.0 |- |10|| 20px Sharm el-Sheikh||579,268|| 5.4 |- |11|| 20px Dalaman||572,882|| 1.4 |- |12|| 20px Amsterdam||548,352|| 1.1 |- |13|| 20px Tenerife South||535,685|| 1.6 |- |14|| 20px Jersey||534,303|| 3.9 |- |15|| 20px Palma de Mallorca||503,286|| 12.9 |- |16|| 20px Glasgow International||488,774|| 5.0 |- |17|| 20px Bridgetown||429,262|| 5.8 |- |18|| 20px Venice Marco Polo||422,295|| 4.5 |- |19|| 20px Rome Fiumicino||376,745|| 12.0 |- |20|| 20px Barcelona||375,944|| 18.8 |}

Gatwick today

Facilities

Gatwick Airport has two terminals, ''North'' and ''South''. Both have shops and restaurants, landside and airside. Disabled passengers can travel through all areas. There are facilities for baby changing and feeding, and play areas and video games for children. Business travellers have lounges offering business facilities. On 31 May 2008, Virgin Holidays opened ''V Room'', Gatwick's first dedicated lounge for leisure travellers. Use of this lounge is exclusive to Virgin Holidays customers flying from the airport to Orlando, Las Vegas and the Caribbean with sister airline Virgin Atlantic. On 9 April 2009, a new independent pay-for-access lounge called No.1 Traveller opened in the South Terminal. It also serves US Airways ''Envoy'' passengers. There is also a conference and business centre. Furthermore, the airport has several on- and off-site hotels. These range from executive to a capsule hotel. The airport has Anglican, Catholic and Free Church Chaplains. In addition, there is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal. A daily service is led by one of the chaplains. The prayer room is open to all faiths.

The Civil Aviation Authority Safety Regulation Group is in Aviation House. WesternGeco, a geophysical services company, has its head office and its Europe/African offices in the Schlumberger House, a building on the grounds of Gatwick Airport, near the south terminal. WesternGeco had a 15-year lease on the building which was scheduled to expire in June 2008. In 2007, WesternGeco reached an agreement with its landlord, BAA Lynton, and extended its lease at Schlumberger House until 2016. Its initial rent was £2.1 million.

In 1968, British United Airways relocated its head office to Gatwick from Portland House in London. After Caledonian Airways acquired British United Airways, the resulting airline, British Caledonian, had its head office at Gatwick. When CityFlyer Express operated, the airline's head office was in the Iain Stewart Centre. When Laker Airways operated, they had their head offices on the airport property.

City Place Gatwick

Gatwick Airport has an office complex on the airport property, called City Place Gatwick. The complex includes four buildings: The Beehive, a former terminal building; the BT building, 2 City Place, and 3 City Place. City Place was developed by BAA Lynton. BT Wholesale and BDO International currently occupy offices in the complex. Companies that once had their head offices in buildings in the complex include GB Airways and CP Ships.

Major airlines

In 2010, EasyJet, British Airways (BA), Thomson Airways, Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines were Gatwick's five biggest airlines, in terms of passengers carried. Amongst these, BA and EasyJet were its two dominant resident airlines. In late 2007, BA and easyJet accounted for 25% and 17% of Gatwick's slots. The latter's share of slots subsequently rose to 24% as a result of its takeover of BA franchise carrier GB Airways, which accounted for 7% of slots (late 2007). The acquisition of GB Airways in March 2008 resulted in easyJet becoming Gatwick's biggest short-haul operator accounting for 29% of short-haul passengers (ahead of BA's 23%) and Gatwick's largest airline overall, with flights to 62 domestic and European destinations (at April 2008). By summer 2011, EasyJet had further reinforced its position as Gatwick's leading airline by increasing the number of destinations served from the airport to 92, using a fleet of 46 aircraft. Gatwick is the airline's largest base, where its 11 million passengers per annum account for 35% of the airport's yearly total.

On 30 March 2008, airlines began down-sizing transatlantic operations due to the new EU-US Open Skies Agreement. Continental Airlines is the second transatlantic carrier – after American Airlines – to pull out of Gatwick altogether, following its decision to transfer the seasonal Cleveland service to Heathrow from 3 May 2009. The slots vacated by these moves as well as by the collapse of Zoom, XL Airways UK and Sterling were taken by EasyJet, Flybe, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair.

By late 2008, easyJet's share of Gatwick slots had grown to about 26%, while Flybe had become Gatwick's third-largest slot-holder accounting for 9% of the airport's slots, as well as its fastest-growing airline. The latter airline has also become Gatwick's largest domestic operator, whose eight routes serving the airport from other destinations in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man carried 1.2 million passengers in its 2010/11 financial year. From a peak of 40% in 2001, BA's share of Gatwick slots declined by 50% to 20% by summer 2009.

Changing character of airport

According to the evidence Flybe submitted at a Competition Commission hearing into BAA Limited's market dominance at the beginning of 2008, Gatwick's dynamics were changing rapidly as a result of recent changes in its traffic pattern. These were likely to transform the airport from a secondary intercontinental airline hub into a predominantly European and domestic operation feeding London and specifically the south London market.

Operations

Gatwick operates as a single runway airport. Strictly speaking it has two runways; however, the northern runway (08L/26R) can only be used when the main runway (08R/26L) is out of use, for example because of maintenance or an accident. The runways cannot be used at the same time because there is not enough separation between them, and during normal operation the northern runway is used as a taxiway. It can take 15 minutes to change from one runway to the other.

The main runway operates with a Category III Instrument Landing System. The northern runway does not have an Instrument Landing System and, when it is in use, arriving aircraft use a combination of Distance Measuring Equipment and assistance from the approach controller using surveillance radar, or where equipped and subject to operator approval, an RNAV (GNSS) Approach, which is also available for the main runway. On all runways, considerable use is made of continuous descent approach to minimise environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night.

Night flights are subject to restrictions. Between 11 pm and 7 am the noisiest aircraft (rated QC/8 and QC/16) may not operate. In addition, between 11.30 pm and 6 am (the night quota period) there are three limits:

An overall limit on the number of flights;

A Quota Count system which limits the total of noise permitted, but allows operators to choose to operate fewer noisy aircraft or a greater number of quieter planes;

QC/4 aircraft may not operate at night.

Security

The airport is policed by the Gatwick District of Sussex Police. The district is responsible for policing the whole airport, including aircraft, and in certain circumstances, aircraft in flight. The 150 officers attached to this district include armed and unarmed officers, and community support officers for minor offences. The airport district counter man-portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS) by patrolling in and around the airport. A separate sub-unit has vehicle checks around the airport.

Brook House, an immigration removal centre of the UK Border Agency was opened on 18 March 2009 by the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.

The airport is one of three UK airports to feature body scanners; as of yet they are stationed only in the north terminal.

Airlines and destinations

Gatwick has two terminals: North and South. The South Terminal is Gatwick's older and busier terminal, and is also where the airport railway station is located. In March 2008, EasyJet split its Gatwick services between both terminals, with many routes taken over from GB Airways now departing from the North Terminal. The following list includes all scheduled services to and from Gatwick Airport, as well as seasonal charter flights.

Ground transport

Gatwick has set the objective that 40% of passengers should be using public transport by the time the annual throughput reaches 40 million (estimated in 2015), from the 2006 figure of 35.3%.

Road

The airport is accessed by a motorway spur road at junction 9A of the M23, which links to the main M23 motorway east at junction 9. The M23 connects with London's orbital motorway, the M25, north. This gives access to much of Greater London, the South East and beyond. The M23 is the main route for traffic to the airport. Gatwick can also be accessed by the A23, which serves Horley and Redhill to the north and Crawley and Brighton to the south. The A217 provides access northwards to the local town of Reigate.

The airport has long and short-stay car parks – at the airport and off-site – although these are often full in summer. Local planning restrictions limit car parking at and around Gatwick.

Rail

The Gatwick Airport railway station is next to South Terminal and provides connections along the Brighton Main Line to London Victoria and London Bridge stations, as well as Brighton and Worthing to the south. The Gatwick Express to Victoria, operated by Southern, is the best-known service from the station, but other companies, including First Capital Connect and First Great Western, use the station as well, and Southern provides services to Victoria and London Bridge under its own brand. First Capital Connect provide direct trains to Luton Airport and First Great Western trains provide a direct rail link with Reading and connections with Oxford and the West.

Foot passengers can reach Heathrow by a X26 Express Bus from outside East Croydon station.

Bus and coach

National Express Coaches operates coaches to Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport, as well as cities and towns throughout the region and country. Oxford Bus Company operate direct services to Oxford. EasyBus operates minicoaches from both terminals to Earls Court/West Brompton. (National Express Dot2Dot used to operate a service to central London, but this ceased in 2008.)

Local buses connect North and South terminals with Crawley, Horley, Redhill, Horsham and other destinations. Services are offered by Metrobus and Fastway, a guided bus rapid transit system which was the first of its kind to be constructed outside a major city.

There are at least two sets of stairs for foot-passengers to leave South Terminal to ground-level (near the cycle route) from Zone L and the train-station area (steps are labelled Exit Q and Exit P on the ground). These allow access to bus stops for local services.

Cycle

Route 21 of the National Cycle Network passes under South Terminal, allowing virtually traffic-free cycling northwards to Horley and southwards to Three Bridges and Crawley. A goods-style lift runs between the terminal and ground level (signed "Lift to Cycle Route"), near Zone L.

Terminal transfer

{| Gatwick Airport|O2=HUB84|O3=HUB82}} |} |}

Gatwick Airport's North and South terminals are connected by a elevated two-way automated people mover track. The shuttle system is normally operated by two automatic, three-car driverless train vehicles. Although colloquially referred to widely as a "monorail", the shuttle system runs on a dual concrete track with rubber tyres and is not technically a monorail.

The original Gatwick transit system opened in 1983 when the circular satellite pier was built, connecting the pier to the main terminal building, and was the UK's first automated people mover system. A second transit track was constructed in 1987 to link to the new North terminal. The original satellite transit line was later replaced with a walkway and travelator link, but the inter-terminal shuttle remains in operation.

The original Adtranz C-100 people mover cars remained in continuous operation until 2009, in which time they travelled a total of . In September 2009 the vehicles were withdrawn from service to allow the transit system to be upgraded. Meanwhile, the two terminals were connected by a temporary free bus service. A new operating system and shuttle cars consisting of six Bombardier CX-100 vehicles was installed and the guideway and transit stations were refurbished at a cost of £45 million. The new system opened for use again on 1 July 2010, two months ahead of schedule.

Development

In 1979, an agreement was reached with West Sussex County Council not to build a second runway before 2019.

In its original consultation document published on 23 July 2002 the Government decided to expand Stansted and Heathrow, but not Gatwick. However, Medway Council, Kent County Council and Essex County Council sought a judicial review of this decision. The judge reviewing the lawfulness of the Government's decision ruled that excluding Gatwick from the original consultation was irrational and/or unfair. Following the judge's ruling and the Secretary of State for Transport's decision not to appeal, BAA published new consultation documents. These included an option of a possible second runway at Gatwick to the south of the existing airport boundary, leaving the villages Charlwood and Hookwood to the north of the airport intact. This led to protests about increased noise and pollution, demolition of houses and destruction of villages.

Prior to the change of ownership, BAA planned an £874 million investment at Gatwick over five years, including increased capacity for both terminals, improvements to the transport interchange and a new baggage system for the South Terminal.

On 2 December 2009, the House of Commons Transport Select Committee published a report entitled ''The future of aviation''. With regard to Gatwick, it calls on the Government to reconsider its decision to build a second runway at Stansted, in the light of growing evidence that the business case is unconvincing and that Gatwick is a better location.

In April 2008, Gatwick began work on a new inter-terminal shuttle which signalled the first major development in a £1 billion programme aimed at modernising the airport. The project included the installation of a completely new shuttle system, new shuttle cars, refurbishment of the rubber track and transformation of the terminal stations. The launch took place in July 2010 and attendees included James van Hofton, from the board of directors. The shuttle cost £43million and features included live journey information and the use of sensory technology to count the number of passengers at stations.

Passengers passing through the airport are being made aware of the redevelopment programme in a number of different ways, including through the use of giant mobile barcodes on top of construction hoardings. Scanning these results in content about the construction work being transferred to the user's smartphone.

Plans

Several options to expand Gatwick have been considered, including a third terminal and a second runway to the south of the existing runway. This would allow Gatwick to handle more passengers than Heathrow does today. If a second, wide-spaced (as opposed to close parallel) runway is approved, a new terminal could be sited between the two runways. This could either complement or replace the current South Terminal, depending on expected future traffic developments.

A less ambitious alternative would extend the North Terminal further south, with another passenger bridge to an area currently occupied by aircraft stands without jet bridges (Pier 7). There are also plans to expand the capacity of the North Terminal and to extend Pier 6.

In October 2009, BAA submitted planning applications for Gatwick to handle an extra six million passengers a year by 2018 and for an extension to the North Terminal to provide new check-in facilities and additional baggage reclaim hall capacity, along with a 900 space short-stay car park. Crawley Borough Council's decision to approve these plans was upheld in November 2009 by the Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry despite objections from local environmental protesters.

Speaking at the first Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (Gatcom) meeting since GIP's takeover of the airport (held on 28 January 2010 at Crawley's Arora Hotel), Gatwick's recently appointed chairman Sir David Rowlands ruled out building a second runway for the foreseeable future, citing the high cost of the associated planning application – estimated to be between £100 million and £200 million – as the main reason for the new owners' lack of interest. At that meeting, Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate stressed GIP's preference for increasing the existing runway's capacity and confirmed GIP's plans to request an increase in the current limit on the permitted number of take-offs and landings.

In October 2010, Gatwick Airport Limited received planning permission from Crawley Borough Council to adapt both terminals to handle the Airbus A380 on a regular, commercial basis.

Incidents and accidents

15 September 1936 – a British Airways Ltd de Havilland DH 86 operating a night mail flight to Germany crashed on takeoff, killing the airline's chief pilot and two members of the aircraft's crew.

November 1936 – a British Airways Ltd Fokker F 12 crashed in a wood south of Gatwick whilst executing its final approach to the airport under a low ceiling in poor visibility, killing both pilots and severely injuring the engineer.

17 February 1959 – a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount 794D (registration: TC-SEV) on an international charter flight crashed in heavy fog at Newdigate, Surrey, whilst approaching to land at Gatwick. The plane hit some trees. Fourteen of 24 on board died. Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was amongst the survivors.

2 September 1963 – an Iberia Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration: EC-AMQ) leased by Aviaco and operating a charter flight from Barcelona, Spain, brushed trees on Russ Hill while on final approach to London Gatwick. Although the aircraft sustained minor damage as a result of this incident, which occurred during the descent, ca. above and from the runway threshold, it landed safely and none of the 75 passengers on board were injured.

5 January 1969 – a Boeing 727-113C (registration: YA-FAR) operating flight 701 of Ariana Afghan Airlines arriving from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport, Germany, crashed into a house in Fernhill near Horley, Surrey, in low visibility. The flaps were not extended to maintain flight at final approach speed. Forty-eight of the 62 on board died as well as two on the ground.

28 January 1972 – a British Caledonian Vickers VC10-1109 (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow, where the aircraft had been diverted due to Gatwick being fog-bound and where all passengers had disembarked. A survey of the aircraft's damage revealed that its airframe had been bent out of shape and that it required extensive repairs to be restored to an airworthy condition. The airline's senior management decided that these repairs were not cost-effective. The aircraft was written off and a decision taken to have it scrapped. It was eventually broken up at Gatwick in 1975.

20 July 1975 – a British Island Airways (BIA) Handley Page Dart Herald (registration: G-APWF) was involved in a runway accident while departing on a scheduled flight to Guernsey. The aircraft lifted off from runway 26 after a ground run of 760m and appeared airborne for 125m with its landing gear retracting before the rear underside of the fuselage settled back on to the runway. None of the 45 occupants were hurt.

See also

List of airports in the United Kingdom

World's busiest airports by passenger traffic

Busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic

Notes and Citations

;Notes ;Citations

References

Gwynne, Peter. (1990) ''A History of Crawley'' (2nd Edition) Philmore. ISBN 0-85033-718-6

King, John, with Tait, Geoff, (1980) ''Golden Gatwick – 50 Years of Aviation'', British Airports Authority.

King, John, (1986) ''Gatwick – The Evolution of an Airport'', Gatwick Airport Ltd. and Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society. ISBN 0-9512036-0-6

Bain, Gordon, (1994), ''Gatwick Airport'', Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85310-468-x

External links

Category:Royal Air Force stations in West Sussex Category:Airports in England Category:Airports in the London region Category:Transport in West Sussex Category:Innovia people movers Category:Crawley

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