Gatwick Airport is about 38 km (22 miles) south of London and is situated between Horley and Crawley. On a peak day Gatwick expects to handle around 100,000 passengers and some 700 flights.
In 1988, North Terminal was opened to cope with the ever-increasing use of the airport, including wide-bodied transatlantic jets, and in the 1990's much remodelling has taken place. Improvements continue to be made to both Terminals to improve facilities and add to passengers' comfort. The airport's reach now extends to nearly 300 destinations, with scheduled airlines covering almost half of these, including 19 key centres in North America to which one can fly direct, and a range in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
Since the 1980's check-in facilities have been expanded at London Victoria station, the state-of-the-art North Terminal has been completed, 'Fast Track' - the service for First and Business class passengers - has been launched, a range of airport lounges has been opened and more than £100 million has been spent on improving passenger comfort. This investment programme is a continuing process, designed to meet the growing needs of the 22 million plus passengers using Gatwick every year.
Similar to many other major London Airports, Gatwick airport parking is in short because of high cost of land and planning restraints. Gatwick parking facilities are sometimes full during the holiday periods.