Passenger numbers at the Sussex airport rose by 5.1% to 26.4 million during the six months to the end of September – with long-haul passengers up by 12.4% over the same period.

This helped to raise revenue by 5.5% to £469.7 million while pre-tax profit rose by 21.3% from £116 million in 2016 to £140.7 million this year.

Gatwick has been boosted by new long-haul services such as Norwegian’s new routes to Singapore, Seattle and Denver, as well as RwandAir introducing flights to Kigali.

This momentum should continue over the next few months with Norwegian due to add three new long-haul destinations – Buenos Aires, Chicago and Austin. While China Airlines is to begin flying from Gatwick to Taipei next week (December 1).

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick now serves 45.5 million passengers each year and is playing a vital role for Britain.

“As we prepare for Brexit, it is critical that we continue to grow our long-haul links in addition to connections within the UK and Europe.

“Our results show significant cargo growth on the back of our ever strengthening long-haul network.” 

Not all of Gatwick’s growth was from long-haul flights, as the airport also saw a 5.3% rise in passengers using its domestic UK routes. Part of the growth came from larger aircraft using the airport as well as higher load factors.

“We have ambitious plans to build on these results to reach 50 million passengers per year and beyond which will further set the standard for a single runway airport,” added Wingate.

“This will be done while continuing to deliver the best passenger experience which is at the heart of everything we do at Gatwick.”

Gatwick is currently preparing a submission for the government’s reopened consultation on airport expansion, which Wingate said would include the airport’s plans to “continue to make best use of the airport’s existing facilities”.