Gatwick Airport’s expanding long haul network has helped cargo volumes grow by 25.6 per cent in August to 8,035 tonnes.

The news comes at Gatwick experienced its busiest ever month for passengers, with 4.9 million jetting off to exotic locations with the Americas proving most popular for long-haul routes.

The top three routes were Fort Lauderdale, St Lucia and Oakland, with destinations including Varadero in Cuba, Ilha Do Sal in Cape Verde, and Los Angeles also proving popular.

Gatwick Airport chief executive officer, Stewart Wingate says the hub will be adding more long-haul destinations with routes to Denver, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Taipei and Singapore in the near future.

He says: “Service has been at the forefront of our summer. We have worked closely with our airlines and ground handlers to help ensure that more planes depart on time and I am pleased with the improvement we’ve made during our busiest ever summer.”

Wingate adds that Gatwick is ready and willing to build a second runway instead of or in addition to a third runway at Heathrow, if the government approves it.

Cargo volumes also grew 19.5 per cent to 88,183 tonnes on a moving annual total between September 2016 and August 2017.