Gatwick North Terminal: the easyJet terminal

Gatwick North Terminal is the younger and more compact of the airport's two terminals, opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988 with around 98,000 square metres of floor space to the South Terminal's 160,000. What it lacks in size it makes up in traffic: easyJet, Gatwick's biggest airline, has flown its entire operation from North since the start of the summer 2026 season, joining Emirates, TUI's TOM-numbered flights and a spread of long-haul carriers. The airport as a whole handled 43.2 million passengers in 2024, second in the UK only to Heathrow.

The terminal stacks its jobs by floor: arrivals come out at ground level, self-service check-in kiosks and the shuttle link sit one level up, and the main check-in hall, security and departures occupy the top level. The railway station is at the South Terminal, a free two-minute shuttle ride away that runs around the clock (a signed landside walking route exists too, though the shuttle is the practical choice). The North Terminal map shows the layout level by level.

easyJet dominates the terminal. Gatwick is the airline's biggest base, and since it consolidated at North in March 2026 every easyJet departure and arrival at the airport uses this building, filling the morning and evening banks with short-haul Europe. Around it sit roughly 24 carriers in total: Emirates to Dubai, Qatar Airways to Doha, Singapore Airlines, Air China and China Eastern eastbound, and a North American set of WestJet, JetBlue and Air Transat, plus European names including SWISS, Eurowings, Icelandair, Condor and Freebird. The airlines at Gatwick directory lists every carrier and where it checks in.

The one to double-check is TUI, which splits by flight number: TOM flights leave from North, BY flights from South. And if memory tells you easyJet uses both terminals, that ended with the 2026 consolidation. Confirm North or South for your flight against the booking before you set out; the shuttle fixes a wrong guess in minutes, but not with a queue at bag drop already behind you.

By rail, aim for Gatwick Airport station and finish with the shuttle. The station sits inside the South Terminal with a train arriving on average every four minutes: Victoria is 31 minutes away non-stop, London Bridge under 35 by Thameslink, Brighton 30 minutes south, and contactless is valid to and from London. From the platforms, take the lifts or escalators up to the concourse, cross into the terminal and follow the shuttle signs; the ride itself takes about two minutes and cabins leave every few minutes, around the clock. Budget roughly ten minutes platform to check-in hall.

By car, leave the M23 at Junction 9 and follow the North Terminal signs; the sat nav postcode is RH6 0PJ. Dropping someone on the forecourt costs £10 for up to 10 minutes, camera-enforced with payment due by midnight the following day and blue badge holders exempt; the long stay car park's free first two hours are the cheaper option for anything slower. Coaches and local buses stop on the lower forecourt at ground level, and the hire desks (the car hire at Gatwick guide covers the operators and returns) line the arrivals concourse on the same level.

North has more on-airport parking flavours than South, six in all, and the differences are walking time, stay length and who keeps the keys. Short stay means the multi-storeys next to the terminal, car parks 5 and 6. Mid stay is North's extra product, a six-minute walk for stays that sit between a coffee and a fortnight. Long stay is the cheap one, a bus ride out.

Drive-up rates, and the same at both terminals where the product exists. Pre-booking cuts up to 60% off.

The arithmetic is the same as everywhere at Gatwick: drive-up short stay at £70 a day is a distress purchase, and the pre-booked price for the identical space is a fraction of it. Rates, booking windows and walking routes are on the North Terminal parking page, with the full parking guide comparing every option across both terminals.

The main check-in hall spans the top level, split into zones lettered A to E, with Zone A carrying a self-service area and a separate bank of self-service kiosks one level below on the shuttle floor. Screens above each zone show the day's airline allocations; with easyJet's volume moving through the building, trust the screens rather than where you checked in last time. Gatwick's advice is to arrive at least two hours before departure; desks typically open four hours before long-haul, three hours before European and two hours before UK and Ireland flights.

Security is on the same level as the check-in hall, so there are no stairs between bag drop and the lanes. The scanners take liquids in containers up to two litres (not in metal or double-walled containers) and let laptops and other large electricals stay in your bag; coats, jackets and belts still come off. Fast Track security can be pre-booked from £6, a separate premium lane serves the front-of-cabin fares, and a dedicated family and assistance lane runs beside the main lanes; special assistance at Gatwick explains how to book help for the whole journey.

Airside, the departure lounge runs over two levels and the gates hang off three piers: Pier 4 (gates 45 to 55), Pier 5 (gates 557 to 574) and Pier 6 (gates 101 to 113). Pier 6 is the memorable one, reached by a bridge nearly 200 metres long that crosses a live taxiway with aircraft passing beneath, the longest of its kind in the world when it opened in 2005. The screens show a walking time next to every gate; take them at face value.

Landside, the arrivals level covers the essentials: Boots, WHSmith, an M&S Simply Food and a Pret for the practical stops, cash machines, and bureaux de change (see currency exchange at Gatwick for why the airport counter should be your fallback, not your plan). A left-luggage desk sits on the shuttle level, one floor up, next to the link to South. Airside, the route from security runs through World Duty Free before the lounge opens out; the duty free guide covers the allowances and prices, and the shopping guide lists the rest, which at North runs from a Harrods outpost to LEGO.

Three hotels stand at the terminal itself: Hampton by Hilton, linked by its own walkway from the check-in building, with the Sofitel and a Premier Inn on the forecourt loop; hotels at Gatwick compared covers them alongside every other option. For the rest of the practical layer, the services index lists every facility and where it lives, the wifi page covers getting online, and the smoking areas guide maps where smoking is allowed. To see how North, South and the station fit together, start with the whole-airport map.

Landside eating at North is limited: mostly coffee and grab-and-go spread across the check-in and arrivals levels, enough for a meet-up or a delayed pick-up. For a proper landside meal, the restaurants in the three forecourt hotels are the dependable answer.

Airside is a different building. The two-level lounge carries Shake Shack, Tortilla, wagamama, The Breakfast Club, BrewDog and a Wetherspoon, plus Pret, Starbucks and an all-day cafe, with a balcony bar overlooking the concourse. Every venue at North, landside and airside, is listed with locations and typical opening patterns on the North Terminal restaurants page, with the airport-wide picture on the restaurants guide.

Six lounges operate at North, all airside. No1 Lounge is the flagship pay-per-visit option, My Lounge its cheaper and more casual sibling, and Clubrooms the quieter table-service tier with Fast Track security included. Plaza Premium holds the best position of the set, up on the top floor in natural light, and The Gateway is the newest, run by No1 Lounges with easyJet. Emirates operates its own lounge for premium and status passengers. Walk-up entry is never guaranteed at peak; access rules, prices and booking links are on the North Terminal lounges page, and every Gatwick lounge is compared across the airport.

Arrivals lands you at ground level: passport control, baggage reclaim, customs, then out into the arrivals concourse with separate exit doors for international and UK and Ireland flights. Meeting someone is easiest within sight of the international arrivals doors, where the concourse seating and coffee are. The hire car desks are on the same concourse, taxis wait directly outside, and the buses and coaches stop on the lower forecourt a short walk along.

Collecting by car, skip the forecourt and its cameras: use the long stay car park's free two hours and the free bus, or the short stay multi-storeys for a meet-inside pickup. Heading onward by train, the shuttle up on the next level runs to the South Terminal and the station in about two minutes. Live arrival times, delays and diversions live under live flight information.

• Confirm the terminal before you leave home. easyJet is all-North since March 2026, TUI splits by flight prefix (TOM at North, BY at South), and allocations move. The terminal on your booking confirmation is the truth.
• Coming by train, budget the shuttle into your timing. The hop itself is two minutes, but platform to North check-in is a realistic ten with escalators, walkways and a wait for the next cabin. Cutting a connection to the minute works at South; at North it does not.
• Do not improvise on the forecourt. The cameras charge £10 for a drop-off visit and an unpaid charge becomes a parking charge notice. Forecourt for a fast drop, long stay's free two hours for everything else, collections included.
• Flying easyJet at dawn, arrive with the crowd in mind. The first departure bank concentrates thousands of passengers into the same hour of check-in and security. Two hours before departure is the floor in the school holidays, not a comfortable maximum.
• Gate at Pier 6? Enjoy it, but move. The taxiway bridge is the best free view at Gatwick and it adds real minutes to the walk. The gate screens' walking times are honest; start when they tell you to.