Gatwick check-in: when desks open, close and where to go

Gatwick's own guidance sets the shape: be at the airport at least 2 hrs before departure, and expect desks to open around 4 hours before a long-haul flight, around 3 hours before a European one, and 2 hours before UK and Ireland departures. Those are airport rules of thumb rather than promises, because every airline sets its own window. The booking confirmation and the airline app are the truth for your flight; the figures here tell you what normal looks like.

Online check-in opens much earlier, typically somewhere between 24 hours and 30 days before departure depending on the carrier, and it is worth doing before you leave home even when you have bags to drop, because it turns the desk visit into a shorter bag-drop stop. On the day itself, the live departures board confirms your flight and terminal before you commit to a queue.

Opening times are comfortable; closing times are the ones that end holidays. These are the current rules for Gatwick's biggest carriers:

• easyJet opens its Gatwick bag drop 2 hours 30 minutes before departure and closes it 60 minutes before. Online check-in runs from 30 days out until 2 hours before the flight, and boarding gates close 30 minutes before departure.
• British Airways closes check-in 45 minutes before short-haul and 60 minutes before long-haul departures. BA asks you to be at the gate at least 20 minutes before the off, and runs self-service kiosks and a fast bag drop in its South Terminal zones.
• TUI opens desks at least 2 hours 30 minutes before short and mid-haul flights and 3 hours 30 minutes before long-haul. Desks usually close 45 minutes before departure, and the airline splits its Gatwick flights between the terminals by flight number.
• Wizz Air opens airport check-in 2 hours before departure and closes it 40 minutes before. That is the tightest desk deadline among the big Gatwick carriers, so the airport's two-hour arrival advice leaves no slack at all.

Two carriers also charge for the desk itself. Turn up without having checked in online and Ryanair charges £55 per passenger for airport check-in, while Wizz Air charges about £30 at the desk (about £10 if you buy the service in advance). Both fees are avoidable in the airline app for nothing. Whatever the airline, gates close 20 to 30 minutes before departure, and the walk to the furthest piers is a long one, so the desk deadline is not the last deadline of the morning.

Before any zone matters, you need the right building. easyJet checks in at the North Terminal only, British Airways at the South Terminal, and TUI splits by flight number, with BY flights at South and TOM flights at North. Allocations move, so check which terminal your airline uses against your booking rather than memory. Arrive at the wrong one and the free shuttle puts it right in 10 to 15 minutes door to door; the shuttle guide covers the recovery.

At the North Terminal, the check-in hall is on Level 20, split into zones A to E plus a self-service area in Zone A, with the security entrance on the same floor. A bank of self-service kiosks also sits one level down on Level 10, by the shuttle link. At the South Terminal, check-in shares Level 20 with arrivals and the walkway from the railway station, in zones lettered A to K plus a Zone A Premium area, and security is one floor up on Level 30. In both halls the airline-to-zone allocation shifts with the schedule, so trust the overhead screens on the day rather than anything printed in advance.

Most Gatwick check-in is now a two-part process: you check in online or at a kiosk, then hand over hold bags at a dedicated bag-drop desk, which moves faster than a full-service queue. Self-service kiosks print boarding cards for Air Transat, British Airways, easyJet, Norwegian and WestJet, and phone boarding passes are accepted everywhere from bag drop through security to the gate, so paper is a preference rather than a requirement.

Anything that will not ride the normal belt, from skis to car seats to musical instruments, goes to the oversized luggage desks right by the check-in desks; allow a few extra minutes for the detour. Size limits, weight bands and what each airline counts as oversized are covered in the Gatwick baggage allowance guide. Keep valuables, medicines and anything you need in flight in your hand luggage before the bag disappears down the belt, and note that the cabin-bag liquid rules changed in 2026; the liquids rules explain what the new scanners allow through.

Four airlines let you check hold bags in the evening before you fly, free, which is the single best trick for a dawn departure. TUI's desks open 14:00 to 21:00 for next-day TOM and BY flights leaving before midday. Jet2 runs 16:30 to 21:00 for next-day departures before 12:00, and asks you to check in online first. British Airways takes bags 18:00 to 21:00 for flights before 13:00 the next day, at the kiosks and fast bag drop in Zone A at South. easyJet opens 20:00 to 22:00 for flights before 08:00 the following morning.

The payoff comes at 05:00 the next day, when the morning wave queues at every bag drop in both terminals and you walk past all of it straight to security with just hand luggage. Bring passports and travel documents for everyone on the booking when you drop the bags, and remember the bags cannot be retrieved once checked, so keep out what the evening and the flight need. Each scheme carries its own small print and the desks are seasonal, so confirm yours is running with the airline before you make a special trip.

The deadlines are enforced by the airline's system, not by the person at the desk: at the cut-off the flight closes and staff cannot add you to it, however sympathetic they are. If you are inside the deadline but stuck in a slow bag-drop queue, flag it to a member of staff rather than waiting in line, because desks routinely pull imminent departures forward. With hand luggage only and online check-in done, you have no desk deadline at all and the pressure point moves to security and the gate.

If the flight does close on you, go straight to your airline's ticket desk. easyJet has the most defined recovery: arrive within 2 hours of your scheduled departure and it transfers you to its next available flight for a rescue fee of about £110. Other carriers rebook under their own fare rules, which can mean anything from a change fee to a new ticket. The one situation where you should not pay is when the airline moved or cancelled the flight itself; the delays and cancellations guide sets out the rights that apply instead.

• Check in online before you leave for the airport. It shortens the desk visit to a bag drop, protects you if the queue eats your margin, and avoids the airport check-in fees Ryanair and Wizz Air charge at the desk.
• Confirm the terminal the night before. easyJet is North-only, British Airways is at South, and TUI splits by flight prefix. The terminal on the booking is the truth, and checking it costs less than a wrong-side shuttle ride at 05:30.
• Aim off for the morning wave. The 05:00 to 08:00 short-haul bank is when bag drop and security queues peak in both terminals. Be at the desk as your window opens, and if the queue behind security worries you, Fast Track starts at £6 pre-booked.
• Flying before midday? Use the day-before desk. TUI, Jet2, British Airways and easyJet all take bags the previous evening for free, which removes the worst queue of the day from your morning.
• Booked assistance? Start at the welcome desk. The Assisted Travel desk sits in the check-in area of each terminal, with a dedicated security lane beside it. Book through your airline at least 48 hours ahead; the special assistance guide explains how.
• With small children, give the desk stage extra time. Pushchairs, car seats and family bag counts all slow the handover, and the family logistics from check-in to the gate are covered in the travelling with children guide. Everything else the airport runs, from left luggage to lost property, is indexed in the services guide.