Gatwick Airport will reopen its north terminal and extend its operating hours from Monday.
The West Sussex airport announced the measures as airlines scale up their flying programmes.
EasyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair are among the carriers whose passengers will use the north terminal from Monday.
Since April 1, Gatwick has only opened its south terminal. Flights have been scheduled between 2pm and 10pm, but this will be extended to between 6am and 10pm.
In 2019, Gatwick served more destinations than any other UK airport and saw 280,700 flights and 46.6 million passengers.
However in March this year, the airport had a total of 13,806 aircraft movements, data from the Civil Aviation Authority showed.
Gatwick Airport (pictured) has introduced new measures after the coronavirus pandemic hit
In April, data from the authority showed the West Sussex airport had just 305 aircraft movements.
Airlines Ryanair, Tui, Easyjet and Wizz Air are currently using Gatwick’s south terminal to fly aircrafts, with the site’s live departure board showing aircrafts departing to Mumbai, Dublin, Paris, Belfast and Sofia earlier today.
However as its north terminal prepares to open once again, major airlines including Norweigian, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are likely to begin their operations but with fewer flights.
The coronavirus pandemic caused a collapse in demand for air travel, with airlines grounding the majority of their aircraft.
The airport said it has introduced a series of protective measures as it prepares to accommodate more flights.
These include hand sanitiser stations, protective screens, regular deep cleaning and social distancing instructions throughout its site.
Passengers will be required to wear face coverings within the airport from Monday. Face mask vending machines will be installed, selling four masks for £3 with profits going to a local charity.
Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: ‘Having remained open throughout this pandemic, the wellbeing and safety of our passengers and everyone that works at the airport remains our top priority.
‘We have introduced a range of new social distancing and hygiene solutions to help this happen so we can all help protect each other when travelling through the airport.
Pictured: Aircraft parked at Gatwick airport as it prepares to increase the number of flights
‘We want people to understand that airports and air travel is a safe environment in this Covid-19 travelling world.
‘We are pleased to be in a position to reopen the north terminal and we look forward to welcoming back easyJet as they restart flights alongside our other airlines.
‘The recent Government announcement regarding the 14-day quarantine period for passengers arriving into the UK is, in our opinion, already having an impact on the start of air travel recovery.
‘We accept the Government’s absolute priority is the protection of public health, but we continue to push for regular, country by country reviews of quarantine regulations, based on medical evidence.’
Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. It does not expect demand to return to normal levels for up to four years.
Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will not resume flights at the airport, while British Airways is considering taking the same action.
Day two of quarantine chaos at UK airports: NOW the QR codes on top of compulsory forms ‘DON’T SCAN’ after passengers land with no idea they even had to fill one out
By Mark Duell for MailOnline and David Barrett and Tom Payne for Daily Mail
Passengers arriving at UK airports today described scenes of ‘pandemonium’ after the introduction of 14-day quarantine rules requiring them to fill out an online form.
Travellers told of three-hour wait times at Manchester Airport, some said the QR codes they were asked to scan did not work and others claimed ‘snotty’ border guards were saying they should have filled in the arrival form before landing.
Travellers must give their phone number and an address for self-isolation, but about half of passengers arriving at UK airports yesterday were unaware of the new policy.
Health Minister Helen Whately was asked on Sky News today how many people were placed in quarantine yesterday, but replied: ‘I don’t have the data you’re asking for.’
She added: ‘Because I’m a health minister with oversight of care homes and the NHS workforce… There is a policy of quarantining arrivals in this country, and the reason we’re doing it is because it’s so important to us to keep infection down.’
Home Office sources said e-gates are still operational at airports but Border Force teams can decide to close these for operational reasons such as low demand.
At Manchester Airport today, Lin, 69 and Adrian Shepherd, 67, from North Wales, have flown from Sydney via Doha, Qatar. They said: ‘It’s been horrendous. We have had no help and had snotty border police staff telling us we should have looked on the website before we landed’
Barkat Hussein, 71, and wife Nusrat Begum, 64, have spent the last four months stuck visiting family in Kashmir, Pakistan, but today returned home to Preston, Lancashire, via Islamabad. Speaking at Manchester Airport today, Mr Hussein said: ‘The flight was only seven and half hours so luckily we were able to fill out the form before we set off’
Speaking at Manchester Airport today, salesman Shan Khan (right), 28, of Bradford, told MailOnline: ‘I had to give my address, phone number as well as another emergency number. I was told I had to quarantine for 14 days but I already knew this.
At Manchester Airport today, Lin, 69 and Adrian Shepherd, 67, from North Wales, have flown from Sydney, Australia via Doha, Qatar, after becoming stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic for six months while holidaying.
The couple said: ‘It’s been horrendous. We have had no help and had snotty border police staff telling us we should have looked on the website before we landed.
‘But we have been in the air for the last 23 hours and we don’t have smart phones. It feels a bit too little too late asking us to quarantine now, there’s already 60,000 people dead in the UK.
‘We’ve had six months stranded in Australia with a daily bulletin from the British embassy and they never once mentioned that we would have to do this when we landed. It’s absolute chaos in there, it’s Lin’s birthday today and some way to celebrate this has been.’
Barkat Hussein, 71, and wife Nusrat Begum, 64, have spent the last four months stuck visiting family in Kashmir, Pakistan, but today returned home to Preston, Lancashire, via Islamabad.
Mr Hussein said: ‘The flight was only seven and half hours so luckily we were able to fill out the form before we set off. We don’t mind that we have to quarantine, it is what it is, I’m just glad that we managed to get it sorted and avoid the queues in the airport.’
At Heathrow today, Lisa Willis, 52, from Arkansas, was visiting her long term boyfriend William Davies, 61, from Coventry following months apart. She said: ‘I’ve got to isolate for two weeks once I get to his house but the lockdown has been a lot worse here than it is in America’
At London Heathrow today, Australian national Holly Fraser was returning to Stoke Newington, North London, from an extended trip to Sydney following the coronavirus outbreak but she was not made aware of the critical form she had to fill out
Canada-born David Bender (pictured at London Heathrow today) felt the UK was taking social distancing and the pandemic much more seriously than other countries
Soheil Lyas, 28, from Blackburn, Lancashire, has been in Pakistan since February. Today he flew home via Islamabad. He said: ‘I think it’s really good that they are making us quarantine for health and safety reasons, it’s what we should all be doing. We sorted the form before we boarded the flight so we just went straight to the front, we’ve got no complaints at all.’
Mohammed Jameel, 33, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, returned from Pakistan via Doha, Qatar, with his young daughter.
He said: ‘We had to fill in a form with loads of questions on it, there must have been about 15 questions asking things like when did you travel out, when did you come back, asking for passport numbers, country of issue, expiry date and all that. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes to fill out the full form and you have to have it ready for when you get to passport control.
‘At first I couldn’t find the form online and the QR codes they get you to scan to find it don’t even work. We landed at 11.30am and it’s taken us three hours just to get out the airport. Every person over 18 has to fill the form out, it just seems so unnecessary, they definitely could have made it a lot more simple. We were just stood there for hours trying to sort it before we could come through.’
A woman who did not wish to be named, who had been visiting her son in South Australia and returned via Doha, Qatar, said: ‘It’s absolute pandemonium in there. When you’re trying to get home because you have been stranded in another country for months who is going to look online and try and sort out a form.
‘We have just been flying for the last day and we didn’t even know until we landed that we had to do this, it’s absolutely ridiculous. You have to do the form online as well, you can’t do it with pen and paper but you can’t use your laptop or get online on a flight so how are you supposed to have it ready when you land?’
Adil Chaudhroy, 30, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, flew home via Doha, Qatar, after getting trapped in Pakistan since March on a business trip. He said: ‘The flight was fine, all the air hostesses were in masks and aprons but other than that it was quite normal until we landed.
‘The problem was that no one told us about having to fill out this form until we got here. I think it’s ridiculous that we have to self quarantine for two weeks. I’ve been absolutely fine out there for four months, the lockdown is just as strict, it’s no different to here so if I was fine out there why won’t I be fine here. Now I’m facing random checks and a £1,000 fine if I break the quarantine, it’s ridiculous.’
Salesman Shan Khan, 28, of Bradford, told MailOnline: ‘I had to give my address, phone number as well as another emergency number. I was told I had to quarantine for 14 days but I already knew this.
‘It was pretty orderly to be fair. I don’t mind quarantining as I have been stranded in Pakistan for four months. I am just glad to be home.’
Nasrine Shah, 31, of Blackburn, added: ‘I knew all about it and filled in the form online before I flew. We all knew about it and I was asked when I landed if I knew about quarantine. I certainly did. It was all pretty civilised and not chaotic. It just took a long time to get the luggage.’
At London Heathrow today, Australian national Holly Fraser was returning to Stoke Newington, North London, from an extended trip to Sydney following the coronavirus outbreak but she was not made aware of the critical form she had to fill out.
The 38-year-old personal assistant said: ‘I knew all about the social distancing rules and at Qatar airport I was downloading newspaper articles to make sure I was doing everything right. I was well aware about having to quarantine for two weeks on arrival but they still never said I had to fill in a form.
At Luton today, Nikola Velev said: ‘It is a new system, but it all went smoothly for me. I showed the customs guy the paperwork and he said ‘OK you can go.’ They were not using the E gates, but there were not many people so it wasn’t a problem.’ Ms Velev, 34, who lives in Luton and works for Amazon , said: ‘I am speaking to my manager to find out if I am a key worker. I don’t mind two weeks quarantine if I have to. I have a garden. It will be like a vacation’
Passengers are pictured at the London Luton Airport check-in desks this afternoon
Lefteris Robis and Theopoula Machairidou made their way from Greece to Sofia for a flight into Luton Airport today. Mr Robis, 22, said: ‘It was really fast and easy to get through. We registered on line. Before we took the plane we were informed about what to do and what was going to happen. We filled out the documents to say where we were going to stay.
Insurance company worker Stannislav Stoev flew into Luton from Sofia. He said: ‘The flight was OK. There were no delays at the airport. I did the (quarantine) declaration on-line yesterday. I got through OK’
‘When I got off the plane everybody was queuing up but nobody had told us about the online form. There was no social distancing when everyone was sitting there trying to download the app onto their computers and phones and filling in the form which takes 20 minutes.’
The new mother explained that she was worried about coming back as she heard that the UK had been ‘flooded with cases.’
‘My brother and friends live here and they think the situation is okay. However, after filling in the form at Heathrow they let us walk out of the airport. We had to fill in our personal information including passport details and where we will be self-isolating for two weeks, but I don’t think they will be able to enforce it,’ she added.
Similarly, student at Kings College London Iqra Riaz, her brother Dannish and their family from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had been stuck in Islamabad following a holiday.
‘We were stranded for two months and three weeks. The journey was good, they put everybody a seat apart on the plane. However there wasn’t much social distancing while in the queue to get on the plane.
‘After landing, the e-gates weren’t open, we had to fill out a self-isolation form online and show it to the passport controller but after that we were free to go,’ said the 22-year-old studying mental health.
Inside the arrivals area of Terminal 2 at Heathrow, signs could be seen depicting social distancing measures and all passengers were wearing face masks.
However, holidaymakers were spotted filling up lifts that weren’t emblazoned with social distancing markers and although seats in the terminals were blocked off, passengers were congregating in groups inside the busy airport.
Canada-born David Bender felt the UK was taking social distancing and the pandemic much more seriously than other countries.
The 33-year-old data analyst said: ‘I moved to Finsbury Park, London, in September 2019. My girlfriend lives in Stockholm, Sweden, so when they announced the working from home rules in the UK I jumped on the next flight. I’ve been there for three months but that’s as long as I can stay in the country as I’m not an EU citizen.
‘It’s a completely different world over there, Stockholm doesn’t seem to care about coronavirus at all. There is a vague pretence of social distancing but the bars and restaurants are still open. I’m really uncomfortable wearing a mask because I’ve never worn one before, it’s completely different and the plane was half empty.’
Meanwhile, Elvis Presley fan 52-year-old Lisa Willis from Arkansas in the US, was visiting her long term boyfriend William Davies, 61, from Coventry following months apart due to the virus.
She said excitedly: ‘I just brought him that Elvis jacket and he ripped it right off of me. We’ve been together for five years, we met online.
‘I’ve got to isolate for two weeks once I get to his house but the lockdown has been a lot worse here than it is in America. I’m staying for four months and hopefully if everything stays open, I will be going back.
‘The flight was the best I’ve ever had. There weren’t many people on the American Airways flight, the social distancing was great. But I don’t think if somebody was ill they would say anything to anybody, people just want to get to where they are going at this point.’
A dual-national executive assistant who didn’t want to be named explained she was returning to the UK after a year working in Melbourne, Australia.
‘The flight experience was absolutely brilliant apart from the fact my husband couldn’t find the form he had completed online. We completed the form in Melbourne airport but we obviously couldn’t print it so as soon as you submit it, it is emailed to you and that’s all they want to see.
‘We’ve probably come back prematurely really, we should have waited a few more months but I’m starting a new job at the accountants Sage,’ the 58-year-old added.
Yesterday one passenger arriving at Heathrow from Pakistan, who asked not to be named, said of the online forms: ‘It looked like the whole flight hadn’t filled it out. It was packed.’
London Luton Airport was deserted today with only a handful of Wizzair flights operating. No other airlines were flying in or out.
Air passengers arriving this afternoon at London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Two
Families wear face masks and gloves as they enter the UK after landing at Heathrow today
Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Two is pictured today as passengers arrive after landing
Passengers were supportive of the new quarantine measures and no one reported problems with queues or waiting times.
Those arriving said they registered they had been made aware of the rules and had been able to register where they will be staying on line before they flew.
Harry Wagshal, 38, who had been visiting his ill father in the UK, was flying back home to Israel. He said: ‘My father is ill with cancer. I came to visit for a week. I feel (the quarantine) is worthwhile even though I am going to have to be restricted for two weeks in Israel, like people are here.
‘I will be staying at home. We have to do it because it is saving lives. It is proven that it pays off. We must do everything we can to save lives.’
Maria Naiman, 29, arrived at the airport with boyfriend Gareth Furneau. She was flying out to Tel-Aviv. Ms Naiman, a photographer, ‘When I arrive I am going to be put into a hotel for two weeks, then I will be looking for a place.
‘We have not had any symptoms, but we have survived quarantine together. It will be fine.’
Gareth, also 29, from Kent, said: ‘I used to be working bar tending , but that is not happening anymore. We met in Thailand at the state of the year and then this started happening. When the restrictions are lifted I will go out (to Israel)’.
Insurance company worker Stannislav Stoev flew into Luton from Sofia. He said: ‘The flight was OK. There were no delays at the airport. I did the (quarantine) declaration on-line yesterday. I got through OK.
‘I am going to stay home in a flat in Maida Vale. I am worried about shopping but that is all. I will have to get it on line I guess.’
Nikola Velev said: ‘It is a new system, but it all went smoothly for me. I showed the customs guy the paperwork and he said ‘OK you can go.’ They were not using the E gates, but there were not many people so it wasn’t a problem.’
Ms Velev, 34, who lives in Luton and works for Amazon , said: ‘I am speaking to my manager to find out if I am a key worker. I don’t mind two weeks quarantine if I have to. I have a garden. It will be like a vacation. ‘
Another man said: ‘We did the documents on line. It was an easy. Nobody asked us anything when we arrived. We just went straight through. The airport was empty. Nobody wanted to see our documents.’ He said he and his partner were happy to isolate for two weeks, saying the situation in Bulgaria was the same.
Silvestar Pavlova 30, and Valya Pavlova, 42, who live in Immingham, Lincolnshire, will be isolating with their family. He said: ‘It was an easy process. We have our family here and we all stay together. Two weeks is not a problem.’
Lefteris Robis and Theopoula Machairidou made their way from Greece to Sofia for a flight into Luton.
Mr Robis, 22, a business graduate who is looking for a job, said: ‘It was really fast and easy to get through. We registered on line. Before we took the plane we were informed about what to do and what was going to happen. We filled out the documents to say where we were going to stay.
‘We are really happy about it. It seems the UK is more organised now to fight the problems we are facing. We have a friend who will do the shopping for us. We came from Sofia.’
Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union said: ‘The staff are really angry that this does appear to be very shambolic and they don’t want to be blamed for that.’
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there was no way for border staff to check the address given by travellers and that the system was built on ‘trust’.
Yesterday, just three out of 60 passengers arriving on one Ryanair flight at London Stansted from Eindhoven were said to have filled out the form before landing.
Passengers have to fill out this online form before going through the border at UK airports
Staff at London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex clean the North Terminal this morning
Hassan Shamshir, 36, who arrived at Heathrow yesterday after an eight-hour flight from Islamabad, told the Daily Telegraph he had no idea about the new rules.
He said he was ‘delayed one and a half to two hours just filling out the form’, but those queuing up for a Border Force tablet were there for ‘a minimum of three hours’.
Mr Shamshir added that his family ‘couldn’t really socially distance’ while waiting, and eventually got into a taxi to go to his family home where he will self-isolate.
He said: ‘Fewer counters are open, but the queues are long. It’s causing chaos. They have to open more counters as the airport gets busier or it will be eight hours.’
Dozens of passengers arrive at London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Two this afternoon
Families wait for their relatives to arrive at Heathrow Terminal Two this afternoon
The Telegraph estimated that half of yesterday’s airport arrivals did not know about the new policy – a figure which passengers the newspaper spoke to also gave.
Meanwhile an unwell passenger arriving at Heathrow from Switzerland and needing to go to hospital admitted he was unaware of the new quarantine regulations.
The traveller explained that he was about to board the ‘subway’ into London despite displaying signs of an illness which he claimed were from an ear or tooth infection.
The passenger, who was wearing a face mask, told ITV News London reporter Martin Stew that he was going ‘on the subway’ after being asked: ‘How were you going to get to where you were going?’
When asked: ‘Nobody told you that you have to stay in one place for two weeks?’, the passenger simply replied: ‘No.’
During the clip the reporter went on to ask: ‘And you could have a fine of maybe £1,000 if you don’t stay in one place. It’s quite bad isn’t it? If nobody has told you it’s a problem.’
The passenger nervously laughed at the information before replying: ‘Yeah. I still have other issues right now so I wanted to go to the hospital.’
Passengers arriving at Stansted on the flight from Eindhoven criticised the measures yesterday.
Ali Gurlek, 30, a software developer from London, said the measures ‘lacked common sense’ because he was about to travel home on public transport – as allowed under the rules.
At the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, Sylvain Preumont, 50, a business manager who makes a weekly round-trip from Paris, said as a frequent traveller he was exempt but that he was no fan of the policy.
‘It makes no sense,’ he said. ‘This was invented to reassure people… to please them, and then we realise that it is not feasible.’
At Heathrow yesterday, Jane Mason, 49, who had arrived on a British Airways flight from Washington, said: ‘I could have been lying the whole time and to be honest, nobody is really checking.
‘I completed the online form before I left and when I arrived at Heathrow the immigration official asked me to repeat the address where I said I would be quarantining. After that he just let me pass and didn’t check at all if what I had put down is true.’
Ms Mason, a writer, revealed that she would be staying in quarantine in a private residence in central London rented for her by her publisher.
She said that she was travelling to it via pubic transport, which the Government has strongly advised against ‘unless there is no other option.’
She said: ‘No other option is the ‘get out of jail card. Nobody has arranged to pick me up so I’m going to get on the Heathrow Express. I probably shouldn’t be doing that, but I have no other choice.
‘This quarantine system is going to be difficult to enforce. Are they really going to carry out spot checks to make sure people are in quarantine? Have they got the time and the personnel for that?’
Before boarding the train, Ms Mason revealed that she was only going to be in the UK for three weeks, two of which will be spent in quarantine.
One traveller who arrived from Washington, wearing a black baseball hat and mask, headed straight to Heathrow’s underground station insisting that he was going to work.
When informed that he is meant to quarantine, he fumed: ‘If Boris wants us to stay off public transport then he should arrange taxis for us all. I’ve got to get to work and don’t want to say anything else.’
Seats marked to help with social distancing at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 yesterday
Fiona Gathright, 59 who also arrived from Washington said: ‘It’s not going to be easy to enforce this quarantine system.
‘It relies on people to be honest and it is easy to lie, both on the online form and when you arrive because there are no thorough checks being carried out if you’ve told the truth.’
Ms Gathright revealed that she will be quarantining in a flat in Bristol that she owns and will be staying in the UK for two months. She arranged to travel there in a taxi.
She added: ‘I’ll be in my flat and I promise you, I will quarantine. But I really don’t think anybody is going to turn up to check.’
Britney Medina, 27, a doctor, who arrived from Los Angeles for a six-week stay in Britain to visit friends and family said: ‘I think the quarantine system is not necessary and not enforceable.
‘The UK authorities are relying on people to be honest. It’s a moral question if you are going to tell the truth and stick to quarantining for two weeks. I’m not sure if most people will do it.’
Ms Medina, who is staying in rented accommodation in central London added: ‘The immigration officer just asked me to repeat the details that I had put down on my online form. They need to do more checks before letting people into the country.’
It comes as serious cracks appeared in the quarantine measures on their first day of operation yesterday.
Britney Medina (left) and Jane Mason (right) were both passengers arriving at Heathrow yesterday. Ms Mason, 49, who had arrived on a British Airways flight from Washington, said: ‘I could have been lying the whole time and to be honest, nobody is really checking’
All arrivals to the UK – including Britons – must now fill in an online ‘contact locator’ form setting out where they will live for a fortnight. Refusal to do so risks a £1,000 fine.
But last night it emerged police will take ‘no immediate action’ even if a passenger has been found to have given a false address.
One border source said: ‘It’s been a complete farce. The vast majority of passengers have not filled in forms in advance.
‘Those who have filled it in are given an online reference number, but immigration officers can’t log in to check whether that form has been filled in properly.’
The source added: ‘It’s been impossible to socially distance in the Heathrow arrivals halls because so many people have been milling around.
‘There’s been trouble at Heathrow and at Calais and Coquelles, where the UK border checks take place for the Channel Tunnel. It’s a mess.’
The scheme was further undermined last night as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) issued guidance which revealed the light touch forces will adopt when checking up on travellers during quarantine.
Even if a false address appears to have been given, police should take ‘no immediate further action’, the guidelines say, and the case simply referred to the UK Border Force.
If police visit an address where someone is supposed to be self-isolating and there is no answer, the NPCC says further visits are ‘suggested’ but there should again be ‘no immediate further action by police’.
That case should be referred to Public Health England.
And if police discover someone at a different address to the one they gave on their form, they should only remove the person to their given address ‘as a last resort’.
An NPCC spokesman said most of the responsibility fell to Public Health England, adding: ‘Police have a limited role in quarantine regulations.’
In the event of a case being referred by PHE to the police for action, he added: ‘We will seek to establish the circumstances and we will continue our approach of engaging, explaining, encouraging and, only as a last resort, enforcing.’
Passengers arrive at Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London yesterday, as new quarantine measures for international arrivals begin
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said measures were needed at the border but quarantine was a ‘blunt instrument’.
‘We have got the situation where – weeks ago – other countries put quarantine in and we didn’t,’ he told LBC Radio.
‘Now as everybody’s lifting it we’re putting it in. I would much prefer to see some sort of testing regime at the airport.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘The most efficient way to get through the border is to fill out the form before travelling here.
‘There are also devices at ports for passengers to fill in the form on arrival, to make sure that people who may not be aware are still able to comply.’
British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have sent a pre-action letter, the first step in an application for judicial review, which argues the restrictions are disproportionate.
** Are you stuck or have witnessed quarantine chaos? And do you know the Swiss traveller who said he was ill? Email [email protected] **