Local and regional businesses joined universities, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Innovate UK, Chambers of Commerce and global companies at London Gatwick’s inaugural Innovation Summit on September 27th.
The Future Airports event was hosted at London Gatwick’s STEM Centre, with representatives from more than 50 organisations hearing from American technology company Nvidia’s Head of Smart Cities and Spaces, David Gregory.
London Gatwick’s Head of Innovation, Abhi Chacko, spoke about the airport’s innovation approach and collaboration with airlines and technology partners to drive new ideas, along with industry professionals from the likes of VINCI, easyJet and IAG.
Businesses across the region learnt about future opportunities for working with London Gatwick as the airport looks for innovative ways to create a more seamless passenger experience and other opportunities within the aviation industry.
Abhi Chacko comments, “The Innovation Summit proved a fantastic opportunity for London Gatwick to collaborate with airlines and other partners across the industry, sharing progress and exploring new ideas to shape the future of aviation. We have a strong reputation in the industry for our innovative solutions to improve operational efficiency and enhance passenger experience.
“We were delighted to welcome such a broad range of organisations to the airport, including a number of businesses from across Sussex, Surrey, Kent and London, and look forward to developing relationships to continue working together.”
Chris Hurley, Director of Brighton-based company Airware, says, “It was great to be at the first London Gatwick Innovation Summit and learn more about the different transformational solutions that are being developed and tested.
“London Gatwick has been an integral innovation partner and has enabled Airware to demonstrate the capabilities of our next generation of mobile passenger processing technologies to airports, airlines, ground handlers and other industry stakeholders from across the globe. With support from the innovation team, we have launched the solution in a live environment and continue to prove that new innovations start at Gatwick.”
London Gatwick – a VINCI Airports Innovation Centre of Excellence - is working on a range of pioneering projects, including app-driven passenger processing, autonomous vehicles, real-time airfield monitoring, and Smart Stand.
If successful, the latter – an ambitious, first-of-its-kind trial in partnership with easyJet – will enable a controller to manage the aircraft turn from a control room, helping reduce flight delays and improving the passenger experience.
GATWICK GAINS ACCESSIBILITY ACCREDITATION
London Gatwick has become the first UK airport to receive Airports Council International’s (ACI) Level 1 Accessibility Enhancement Accreditation. It recognises London Gatwick’s commitment to accessibility services through its strategy, policies, and initiatives.
The Level 1 Accessibility Enhancement Accreditation is designed to help airports measure, evaluate and improve their accessibility management and culture and it is the only international assessment or accreditation programme dedicated to airport accessibility for passengers with disabilities.
The accreditation forms part of a wider programme that provides a continuous path of improvement for all airports’ accessibility for passengers with disabilities.
Anna-Ruth Cockerham, Accessibility Manager, London Gatwick says: “We are delighted to be celebrated by ACI for our work in improving accessibility across London Gatwick for passengers. The accreditation recognises London Gatwick’s commitment to improving accessibility and enhancing the experiences of disabled passengers.
“We have worked hard to introduce initiatives in recent years to improve our accessibility and are extremely proud to lead the way with several projects. We will continue to work with key industry partners and experts to make further advancements, to achieve our vision to be the airport for everyone whatever your journey.”
London Gatwick, part of the VINCI Airports’ network, has been a trailblazer in accessibility initiatives for several years. The airport was the first in the UK to open a sensory room for passengers in 2018 and was the birthplace of the now widely recognised Sunflower Lanyard scheme, supporting people with hidden disabilities.
London Gatwick has also recently launched a series of free, bespoke detailed access guides, in partnership with AccessAble, helping passengers navigate more easily, safely and confidently through the airport.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE adds: “We're delighted that ACI EUROPE member London Gatwick has received accreditation for the ACI Accessibility Enhancement Accreditation Programme. The AEA programme provides a continuous improvement path for airports regarding accessibility for passengers with disabilities.
“As highlighted in our recently published guidance on 'Assisting Passengers with Non-Visible Disabilities', European airports have a long-standing track record of caring for their most vulnerable passengers and visitors. This is exemplified in Gatwick achieving AEA accreditation, and we hope to see more European airports following their path.”
London Gatwick is investing in its long-term future. The examination phase of the airport’s planning application to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use has now concluded, with a decision expected to follow in early 2025. London Gatwick’s low-impact plan will improve resilience, reduce delays, and provide a significant boost to the national and regional economy by supporting trade, tourism, and new jobs.
NEW ROUND OF GATWICK FOUNDATION FUNDING ANNOUNCED
A total of 18 groups across the region benefitted from a financial boost from the London Gatwick Foundation Fund which they will use to pay for staff and core costs or to launch new services.
In Kent, the good causes which received funding were Life and Soul Youth Work in Tunbridge Wells, which secured £6,000 to put towards its annual core costs; St Philip's Church Community Larder in Tunbridge Wells was given a £5,000 donation towards the cost of its food larder; and Compaid Trust in Tunbridge Wells received £4,000 towards its annual core costs.
Sarah Finch, CEO, Life and Soul comments, “We are so grateful to the London Gatwick Foundation Fund for its generous grant towards the work of Life & Soul. Demand for our services is increasing rapidly and this money will go a long way towards enabling us to train and deploy new volunteer mentors and to provide mentoring for young people in more schools.”
Restore Counselling Training and Related Services in Tunbridge Wells benefitted from £2,500 which will help pay for the supervision costs of counsellors; Therapeutic Equine Assisted Learning CIC in Edenbridge and Sevenoaks was given a £5,000 donation towards its annual core costs; Toc H High Brooms will use £5,000 to provide support for low-income families from its hub in the village; and Tonbridge Counselling Service received £2,500 for funding an assisted places scheme.
In Surrey, Amber Foundation will put Stakeholder Engagement Manager at London Gatwick £7,000 of funding towards providing mental health support to vulnerable young adults experiencing homelessness; St Mark’s Church, Tattenham Corner, will spend its £7,000 of funding on providing a children and family worker to serve deprived areas of East Surrey; and YMCA East Surrey received nearly £6,700 to provide inclusive exercise opportunities to people in East Surrey with disabilities.
Home-Start Epsom, Ewell & Banstead (HSEEB) will use its £3,500 of funding to pay for some of its 2024 core costs; and mental health charity Mind of the Student has received £3,000, which it will use to provide workshops in secondary schools in Surrey, allowing it to reach 2,000 more young people in the county. Be Me Project, which delivers school and community courses, was given £2,320 to provide mental health support groups in schools in Surrey.
In Sussex, food poverty charity Free Shop Crawley received £7,640 to put towards its core costs. Park Centre in Burgess Hill benefitted from nearly £9,900 to pay for the staff costs of a community development officer as it puts together an exciting plan to transform an historic building into a multi-use centre for the community.
Befriended will use £5,000 of funding to pay for the role of an operational leader, as it works to end loneliness and isolation amongst older people living in Mid-Sussex.
Hope into Action: Mid Sussex will spend £5,000 on staff costs as it continues to deliver high quality supported accommodation for men, women, families and refugees who have been homeless; while Mid-Sussex Older People's Council will use £2,500 of funding to hold free community events.
Melanie Wrightson, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at London Gatwick, says: “We love making a difference to our local community through the London Gatwick Foundation Fund, which has helped hundreds of good causes over the years.
“We can’t wait to hear updates from the charities and community projects we have supported this year about their completed projects. We encourage all community groups and charities to apply for the next round of funding to enable us to lend a helping hand.”
The London Gatwick Foundation Fund was set up in 2016 to award funding to local groups who work to fight social isolation and tackle disadvantage, raise aspirations and develop skills, improve health and wellbeing, and support children and young people.
Each year, there are three rounds of grants, totalling £300,000, which are made available to beneficiaries in Sussex across Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden; in Surrey across Reigate & Banstead, Tandridge and Mole Valley, and in Kent across Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.
The London Gatwick Foundation Fund is managed on behalf of London Gatwick by individual Community Foundations for Kent, Sussex and Surrey.
To find out more please visit the Gatwick Foundation Fund –
www.gatwickairport.com/company/community/funding.html
