Gatwick Airport’s cargo volumes continue to recover after a weak 2015 with a year-on-year increase of 17.4 per cent to 6,608 tonnes.

The hub, located to the South of London, had a difficult year in 2015, with September 2015 alone posting a 21.5 per cent fall to 5,627 tonnes. The airport says the recovery has come new long-haul routes to countries including China, Peru, Costa Rica, Nigeria, South Africa and the US, with services to Moscow and Cape Town due in the coming weeks.

The UK government is expected to formally respond to the Airports Commission report on expanding capacity, and Gatwick recent traffic results show its forecasts are wrong. The report predicted Gatwick would need a second runway to attain 50 long haul routes and would not reach that mark until almost 2050, something it is already achieving.

Gatwick chief executive, Stewart Wingate says the figures show Gatwick should receive approval a second runway in preference to Heathrow Airport getting a third.

He says: “For the first time in this decades-long debate, Gatwick has demonstrated that it can deliver all of the economic benefits at a dramatically lower environmental impact.”

“Gatwick gives the Government the certainty of a competitive solution which keeps costs and impacts low while laying the foundations of an economy that works for everyone.”