Departure Information South Terminal

Flying from Gatwick Airport is very straightforward, but time consuming. The BAA require those taking International flights to check in 2 hours prior to take off and for flights to the USA 3 hours!

South Terminal Departure Area is on the upper level. You cannot go up the ramp anymore, there is a barrier, only permitted vehicles are allowed. If you are being dropped off you need to go under the ramp. On your left you will see the ‘hire car’ offices, just past the building is the entrance to the ‘departure’ area. Park up, unload and go. Follow the signs - it’s a long walk to the main building. If your friend/driver wants to see you off or help you get your luggage into the check in area then they must park in the short term parking area. DO NOT leave the vehicle unattended - there is no excuse!

Titan Private Hire service will drop you off as close to the departure building entrance as possible.

BCP ‘Meet & Greet’ service and others will advise you where to meet them.

When it is very busy you may be directed to the old ‘coach station’ area, by airport staff. There are 2 lifts in this area so it is not necessary to cross to the busy road.

Trolleys - The BAA now charge for the pleasure of using their luggage trolleys. The charge is a £1 coin or a Euro. 10 cents often works also. Airport staff prefer you to use a £1 coin so that they can have it when you don’t return your trolley to the collecting point. They have been know to ‘hover’ in the hope of returning the trolley for you when you have left.

Once in the building follow the signs to the departure area and check the monitors for your check-in zone, they will tell you which zone your flight is ‘checked in’. It might be wise to check the security restrictions on what you can take though as hand luggage before you check in, then you can put restricted items into your hold luggage rather than have them confiscated.

Now, off you go and check in. First come first served and during the holiday season it could be a long wait to get to the front of the queue. If you can check in ‘online’ do so, it will save time.

Once you have checked in and handed over any luggage you will have plenty of time to explore the, expensive, South terminal shopping facilities. The ‘land-side’ (before you go through security to the departure lounge) shopping area is up one level from the check-in level. When you are bored with that go through security and start exploring the shops on ‘air-side’. A word of warning - passing through security can take a long time so leave plenty of time. It would be silly to get involved with shopping land-side and missing your flight due to delays at security.

Once you are in the departure lounge keep checking the monitors for information on boarding and gate number. Boarding usually starts about 45 minutes before departure.

Your boarding pass will be inspected by airport security before you are allowed into the departure lounge. You will also be required to go through a security search.