Articles
Gatwick Airport
The Airport
Getting to and from Gatwick Airport in your hire car is relatively easy with excellent road connections to take you to London, Brighton or anywhere in the UK. The airport is located 45 kilometers (28 miles) south-west of London directly on the M23 / A23 London to Brighton road (Junction 9). The M25 which is the ring motorway around London is only ten minutes away heading to London, leave the M23 at Junction 9. The M25 is the gateway to the rest of UK's road networks including the M1, the main road north to Edinburgh.
The airport consists of two terminals (South and North) with both offering drop off facilities well signposted from the approach roads. As with many other international airports you can not leave your car at anytime in the drop off areas as this will result in clamping and tow away. If you are picking up passengers or need to visit the terminals then you must use the short stay parking. The South Terminal's Car Park 3 offers a special pick up tariff of 15 minutes' for only £1 with normal charges applying after this time for your hire car.
Car Hire Locations
Historically the car hire location was found directly outside the North Terminal, to the left as you walk out with the car hire parking found outside of the rental building. As part of a 1 billion pound investment in Gatwick airport they are revamping the site for launch in April 2011 with covered parking and new extended facilities. Until that time the car hire locations have temporarily been placed on level five of the short stay car park. Simply cross the road outside the North Terminal and take the lift to level five where you will find one of the following suppliers who are available through our car hire search.
Hertz + 44 (0) 870 846 0003
Avis + 44 (0) 844 544 6007
Europcar + 44 (0) 129 353 1062
National + 44 (0) 870 400 4581
Alamo + 44 (0) 870 400 4562
Enterprise + 44 (0) 129 360 9090
Thrifty + 44 (0) 129 356 9538
Other Car Hire Locations
There are many coach options to get away from Gatwick to other car hire locations including Heathrow and central London. The Gatwick Express is the fastest way to London, an express train it will take you to London Victoria station in 30 minutes (35 minutes on a Sunday) and run every fifteen minutes. Other trains travel to London apart from the express and service stations along the way and may work out cheaper.
Parking
Gatwick offers over 30,000 short and long term parking spaces in and around the two terminals. All car parks have 24 hour monitored CCTV with shuttle services available to take you to and from the various car parks which are a maximum of nine minute journeys from the terminals.
Short term parking charges are as follows:
15 Minutes = £1.00
15 Minutes to 30 Minutes = £2.50
30 Minutes to 1 Hour = £5.00
2 hours = £8.00
3 hours = £11.00
4 hours = £14.00
5 hours = £17.00
6 hours = £20.00
6 to 12 hours = £25.00
12 to 24 hours = £30.00
Each 24 hour Period after this = £30.00
Services
Gatwick Airport offers a multitude of shopping and eating options with cafes, restaurants and bars available along with many household names in the world of shopping. Both air side and before security you can avail of many retail experiences to test your bank balance and ability to carry.
There are free options to waste some time before a flight. Gatwick Airport is the world's busiest single runway airport so you an watch the bustle from a number of locations past security. Examine a super car which will be located on display in one or two of the terminals from competition company Best of the Best.
There is also sculpture to admire in the North Terminal by William Pye, found in the lower departures after security is Slipstream and Jetstream which are interesting water based features.
