Gatwick Airport has had another difficult month with cargo volumes falling by 12.2 per cent to 5,628 tonnes in February.

The double digit fall in February follows from January, when volumes were down 9.7 per cent to 5,231 tonnes. On a 12 month basis from March 2015 to February 2016, cargo volumes are down 18.1 per cent to 72,063 tonnes.

In 2016 Gatwick is expecting 20 new long haul routes, including British Airways to Lima in Peru and San Jose in Costa Rica. Cathay Pacific will start services from Hong Kong and Norwegian will increase US connectivity to Boston and Oakland. The other services include a number of Canadian locations served by West Jet, along with Air Canada flying to Toronto. Thomas Cook will increase US and Cuban services, with Thomson increasing connectivity to Costa Rica, Cuba and Sri Lanka. Fly Salone will start Gatwick – Freetown flights and Air Via will start flying to Lagos in Nigeria.

Gatwick Airport chief executive officer, Stewart Wingate says the new routes show why the hub must receive approval for a second runway. “Gatwick is now in the premier league of European airports that fly to more than 50 long haul destinations. Our long haul network can only increase as Gatwick grows and takes advantage of new aircraft that can fly further without the need to change at a hub.”

Wingate adds: “With this growth and momentum behind us, it is more important than ever that Gatwick gets the green light so it can get on and start building a second runway.”