England’s Gatwick Airport has witnessed its busiest April ever, with a 4% rise in passenger numbers compared to the same month in 2015.
A total of 3.3 million passengers have travelled to and from the airport this year.
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Gatwick also continues to see transatlantic growth, with 20 new routes being added to the airport in May.
WestJet will launch 28 weekly flights from Gatwick to Canada, while Air Canada Rouge will introduce a daily service from the airport to Toronto.
Gatwick showed a 20% year-on-year rise in North Atlantic routes last month.
Long-haul routes from the airport saw a 6% growth overall.
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By GlobalDataDuring the same period, British Airways also commenced the UK’s only direct routes to Costa Rica and Lima from Gatwick.
Holiday destinations showed a significant rise, with an 87% growth in routes to Split, Croatia; a 48% growth in routes to Valencia, Spain; a 34% rise in routes to Phuket, Thailand; and a 26% growth in routes to Tenerife.
Domestic routes performed well in April, with Belfast recording a growth of 85%, Newquay 28% and Inverness 21%.
Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said: "Gatwick’s 28 new flights to Canada from WestJet plus the UK’s only connections to Chinese growth markets Chongqing and Tianjin, next month, clearly show that Gatwick can deliver the crucial new long-haul routes the UK needs."
