After a report on the past flooding at London Gatwick airport was released, its top management agreed to set aside £30 million to deal with flooding in the future. The report which was based on the flooding that happened from December last year was published on February 26. The document explains the measures put in place to manage the heavy rainfall and flooding on the runways which greatly inconvenienced the travelers at the time. The report gave recommendations to improve traveler experience during extreme and unexpected weather patterns.
The report which was done by Mr. Macmillan stated that although it would always be hard to manage extreme weather conditions, it would be important for Gatwick to try and maintain a normal flight schedule. He added that most travelers might get to fly on such days. Some of these passengers would get their flights cancelled or delayed making them stay longer in the flooded airport. Since the late December rainfall, there was a lot of flooding especially in the northern terminal. Up to 13,000 experienced flight cancellations and others had to wait for 13 hour delay of flights.
Some of the recommendations include moving IT systems from flood prone floors to the upper floors of the building. The report discouraged adding a new runway before improving traveler experience in the existing terminals. It was also suggested that the airport should acquire an upper mole flood alleviation scheme. Mr. McMillan urged the airport to have standby communication system in case of power failure. It was also suggested that each terminal have at least one person in charge of addressing passenger concerns during bad weather or generally if there is a problem at the airport.
Mr. Stewart Wintage, Gatwick’s CEO said that the airport is committed and has already started to take action regarding the findings. He added that all the short term plans will be achieved by October 2014. He stated that their goal now was to improve passenger experience during disruptions.