Gatwick Airport chief on South Terminal reopening, travel restrictions easing and the creation of 5,000 additional jobs

The Airport announced it will reopen its South Terminal on Sunday, March 27 - after nearly two years being dormant – to help meet the expected strong demand this summer and beyond as confidence in international travel returns.

The news that testing requirements for those arriving into the UK have been eased significantly has also been announced, with fully vaccinated passengers (two doses) and those under the age of 18 no longer needing to take pre-departure and post-arrival tests.

HAVE YOU SEEN? Gatwick Airport station upgrade moves forward as eight new escalators are installed - watch the timelapse video here | National Apprenticeship Week: Gatwick Airport opens applications for highly-acclaimed Engineering Apprenticeship Programme

And Mr Wingate was in positive mood about the airport's recovery when we spoke to him at the South Terminal today. You can watch the full video above.

He said: "For Gatwick and everybody who relies on their employment at the airport, these are two really important pieces of news.

"For visitors coming to the UK, or those coming home to the UK, not having to test if you are vaccinated is so important. And certainly when we look at the half term holiday, which is upon us, we are seeing really string demand through the next week or two so that's welcome.

"And the thing we are really focussed on as a team at the moment is the reopening of the South Terminal which is no small undertaking.

"This will create about 5,000 additional jobs on the airport. We started recruiting back in November last year and there are a number of job fairs and portals available with the various different companies at the airport.

"By the end of March we will have the two terminals operating and hopefully we will be back on the way to recovery."