Last Updated: October 2026 – by Ian Silva
Gatwick South Terminal (RH6 0NP) is home to British Airways, Jet2, Ryanair, Wizz Air and Vueling, holds the airport’s railway station inside the terminal building, and now runs 2-litre liquid rules at security. Getting the details right matters more at Gatwick than at most airports, because the airline you flew last year may have moved terminals since. This Gatwick South Terminal guide covers who flies from where in October 2026, how early to arrive during school holidays, the security rules that changed this year, and what a transfer actually costs. This guide covers the terminal itself; for a car from the South Terminal, our Gatwick chauffeur service runs 24 hours a day at fixed prices.
- No queue
- Name board
- Fixed price
Skip the taxi queue at Gatwick
A chauffeur inside arrivals with your name, fixed price agreed before you fly. Mercedes E-Class, S-Class or V-Class.
Which Airlines Fly From Gatwick South Terminal? (October 2026)
Gatwick South Terminal serves British Airways, Jet2, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, Norwegian, Turkish Airlines and TAP Portugal, among more than 30 carriers. The big change for 2026: easyJet, which used to split its Gatwick flights between terminals, is now listed by Gatwick as a North Terminal airline across all its flight codes. If your habit from past trips is “easyJet means either terminal”, update it – and if you are flying Jet2 for the first time from Gatwick, your flight leaves from the South Terminal, whatever Jet2 did at other airports you have used.
New for winter 2026/27: from 25 October, British Airways adds a daily Barbados flight and a dedicated daily St Lucia service at the South Terminal, plus Colombo three times a week from 23 October, while its San José flights move to Heathrow.
To check an airline at either terminal, use our complete list of which airline uses which Gatwick terminal.
Verified against London Gatwick’s official airlines and terminals list, October 2026. TUI splits by flight number: “BY” departs South, “TOM” departs North.
The rule that saves every trip: check your boarding pass 24 hours before departure, not when you book. Airlines move terminals, and Gatwick has already seen carrier terminal changes in 2026. MILE5 chauffeurs confirm your terminal from your flight number before pickup – one less thing to think about.
Before You Leave Home: The South Terminal Checklist
Most of what goes wrong at Gatwick South Terminal goes wrong before passengers leave the house. These six checks are quick and all of them are avoidable failure points.
- 1Check your terminal the night before, not at the kerb. Open your boarding pass, find where it says North or South, screenshot it. It takes 90 seconds and can save a 45-minute cross-terminal scramble.
- 2Pre-book Fast Track Security from £6. Gatwick sells it online in advance for less than the on-the-day price, and the dedicated lane runs 4am-8pm in both terminals. For any early-morning or school-holiday departure it is cheap insurance.
- 3Pack an empty water bottle. There are free refill points after security, and airside bottled water carries airport pricing. Metal and insulated bottles must go through the scanner empty.
- 4Charge your phone fully. Your boarding pass lives on it, and Gatwick South’s e-gates accept digital passes without printing. Hunting for a socket while your gate is being called is a bad start to a holiday.
- 5Liquids up to 2 litres can stay in your cabin bag. Gatwick has scrapped the 100ml rule – no clear plastic bag, and liquids and laptops stay inside your bag at the scanner. Check your return airport’s rules separately, because many still enforce 100ml.
- 6If your transfer is not pre-booked, book it now. App-based drivers can see the destination before accepting, and airport jobs are declined disproportionately often. Pre-booked MILE5 transfers are fixed-price with an assigned chauffeur. Get a quote in 60 seconds →
How Early Should You Arrive at Gatwick South Terminal?
Gatwick’s official guidance is to arrive at least 2 hours before your flight, and 3 hours is the safer buffer for long-haul. During school holidays and bank holiday weekends, treat those as minimums for morning departures: the 5am-9am bank is when British Airways, Jet2 and Ryanair all check in at once, and it is the busiest window of the day. Midweek, mid-morning to mid-afternoon, the terminal runs much quieter and 2 hours is comfortable.
Two cut-offs catch people out. Jet2’s check-in desks at the South Terminal open three hours before departure, so there is no benefit to arriving earlier than that for a Jet2 flight. And most airlines close check-in and bag drop 40 to 60 minutes before departure – a hard cut-off, and online check-in does not extend it at the bag-drop desk. Check your airline’s exact deadline the day before.
The simplest way to remove the guesswork is arriving at the right time rather than the earliest time. MILE5 calculates each pickup from your flight time, your address and live traffic, so passengers reach the South Terminal with the right buffer instead of two spare hours in the departure lounge.
How Long Are Security Queues at Gatwick South Terminal?
Gatwick South Terminal security is built for throughput, and outside peak banks it is quick – the new CT scanner lanes clear passengers faster because nothing comes out of your bag. The pressure points are predictable: early-morning departure banks, weekends in the school holidays, and the late-afternoon short-haul wave. This is the pattern MILE5 plans 50,000+ pickups and drop-offs around:
For the latest queue data for both terminals, read our breakdown of how long Gatwick security takes in 2026.
Based on MILE5’s operational experience across 15+ years of Gatwick transfers. Queues vary day to day, so allow extra time at peak.
Three things genuinely shorten the wait at Gatwick South Terminal security. Fast Track from £6, booked in advance online, uses a dedicated lane open 4am-8pm and costs less pre-booked than on the day. The family lane processes buggies, car seats and lap infants separately, which helps families and speeds the standard lanes for everyone else. And the 2-litre liquid rule means bags no longer need unpacking at the tray – passengers who arrive with liquids and laptops already in their bags move through fastest of all.
The cheapest way to avoid security stress is arriving exactly on time – not early enough to queue behind three flights’ worth of passengers, not so late you are sweating. MILE5 sets your pickup from your flight, your address and live traffic.
Navigating South Terminal – Layout, Gates and Arrivals
Gatwick South Terminal is a long, linear building and simple to navigate once you know the shape of it. Check-in zones on the departures level are lettered and organised by airline, with British Airways occupying the largest footprint – its zones are where queues build fastest on busy mornings. Jet2’s desks open three hours before each departure.
Airside, the main shopping and dining area sits immediately after security. The distance that catches people out is the walk to the furthest gates: the satellite gates in the 30s (31-38) are 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the central departure lounge. When a gate in the 50s appears on the screens, start walking – not when boarding is called, when the gate is called.
On the arrivals level, Gatwick South Terminal has baggage reclaim, the arrivals hall with a 24-hour Greggs, and direct access to the railway station, coach stands and taxi rank without leaving the building. MILE5 chauffeurs meet arriving passengers inside the arrivals hall with a name board – not in the car park, not out on the forecourt. If you are landing at Gatwick South and connecting to another airport, see the Heathrow to Gatwick transfer or the full airport-to-airport route list, and for live arrivals boards and terminal pickup points, the Gatwick flight and taxi information page covers both terminals.
Food and Drink at South Terminal
Gatwick South Terminal’s food offer runs from grab-and-go to sit-down, landside and airside. The one outlet worth knowing about before you even clear customs is Greggs: the South Terminal branch in arrivals was the first Greggs at any London airport, it is double the size of a high-street shop, and it is open 24 hours – which makes it the default answer to a 3am arrival or a pre-dawn departure. Airside, the departure lounge holds the usual mix of chains, a Wetherspoon pub, coffee shops and bars.
The money-saving pattern at Gatwick South Terminal has not changed: the same chains charge noticeably more airside than landside, so eat before security where you can, and carry an empty bottle through to the free refill points rather than buying water in the departure lounge. Meal deals from the landside shops travel through security without any issue now that nothing needs unpacking at the scanner.
South Terminal Lounges – What’s Available in 2026
Gatwick South Terminal has four pay-per-use lounge options airside, plus a capsule hotel landside for anyone who needs a bed rather than a buffet. For early departures and long connections the maths usually work; for a short midday wait, the departure lounge does the job for free.
Prices from Gatwick’s official lounge booking pages, October 2026 – pre-booking online is cheaper than paying at the door.
School Holidays – Driving Yourself Is Not Always Cheaper
School holidays and bank holiday weekends are Gatwick’s peak. In school holidays and over bank holiday weekends parking prices move with demand: turning up and paying the drive-up rate at Gatwick’s own Long Stay costs around £230 for a week, before fuel and before the M23 on a Friday. Pre-booking weeks ahead brings that down sharply – but it is worth running the full comparison before assuming the car is the budget option.
What never appears in the parking spreadsheet: landing back from a holiday at 11pm, loading the boot, driving the M25 half asleep, and finding the car where you vaguely remember leaving it seven days earlier. A chauffeur return removes all of it.
Getting to South Terminal – What Each Option Actually Costs
Gatwick South Terminal is the only Gatwick terminal with the railway station inside the building – every train serving the airport, whether Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Southern, arrives at the South Terminal, and North Terminal passengers take the free shuttle across. That makes the South unusually well connected by rail, and it changes the train-versus-car comparison.
Trains thin out sharply after midnight, and our overnight Gatwick to London guide lists what still runs from the South Terminal station.
Train – the South Terminal advantage
Gatwick Express runs non-stop to London Victoria in about 30 minutes, with a standard single around £24 and a 10% discount for booking online. Thameslink and Southern serve London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon, St Pancras and Victoria for less – typically £12 to £16 single depending on time and route. For a solo traveller with light bags heading to central London, the train from Gatwick South Terminal is hard to beat. For a family of four with holiday luggage, four tickets plus the Tube leg at the London end usually erases the saving, and that is before anyone carries a suitcase up the stairs at Victoria. Note that there are no trains between Gatwick and East Croydon on Sunday 10 January 2027, so check National Rail before travelling that day.
Uber and app cars – the variables
App-based cars to Gatwick South Terminal price dynamically, so the fare you see on a quiet Tuesday and the fare on a bank holiday Friday are different products. Surge pricing peaks exactly when Gatwick does. Drivers also see the destination before accepting, and airport runs – with their empty return leg – get declined disproportionately often. For a fuller breakdown of how the apps compare on airport work, see our full 2026 Uber vs Bolt guide. If the alternative you are pricing is a pre-booked minicab account rather than an app, how Addison Lee compares with Uber on airport runs is the closer comparison.
MILE5 – fixed prices to and from Gatwick South
MILE5 runs fixed-price Gatwick airport transfers on every route below – the price is set when you book and does not move with demand, the chauffeur tracks your flight, and pickup is inside the arrivals hall with 60 minutes of complimentary waiting.
Fixed E-Class prices; S-Class and V-Class available on every route. See full MILE5 pricing for all routes →
Parking and Drop-Off at South Terminal – 2026 Rules
Gatwick’s drop-off charge is £10 for up to 10 minutes at both terminal forecourts, then £1 per additional minute up to a 30-minute maximum, after a rise from £7 on 6 January 2026 – one of the highest drop-off fees at any major UK airport. The system is barrierless: ANPR cameras log your plate, and payment is made online by midnight the day after your visit. Miss the deadline and the penalty is £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days. Our drop-off charges ranked across UK airports puts Gatwick’s fee next to Heathrow’s £7 and Luton’s £9. The free alternative is the Long Stay car park, which gives two hours free with a shuttle bus to the terminal.
For parking a car during a trip, the same logic applies as everywhere at Gatwick: book Long Stay South rather than Long Stay North if you are flying from the South Terminal (North’s car park connects to the North Terminal, adding the shuttle-plus-terminal-transfer with your luggage), pre-book as early as you can because drive-up rates run to around £230 a week in peak season, and compare off-site operators, which undercut on-airport parking on longer trips. Every MILE5 transfer absorbs the drop-off charge – it is inside the fixed price, never added on.
Special Assistance
Special assistance at Gatwick South Terminal must be pre-booked through your airline, not the airport, at least 48 hours before your flight. Walk-up help is available at the assistance desks in the check-in hall but is not guaranteed during peak periods – in the school holidays, book well ahead.
MILE5 vehicles accommodate wheelchairs and mobility aids. Contact us when booking your transfer if you have specific requirements – we coordinate with the terminal’s assistance team.
The Shuttle Between Terminals
Gatwick’s inter-terminal shuttle is free, automated and runs every few minutes, 24 hours a day. The ride itself takes about two minutes; allow 10 to 15 minutes end to end with the walk to and from the platforms. You cannot walk between the terminals. If you are airside in the wrong terminal, you must exit, cross on the shuttle, and clear security again on the other side – budget 45 to 60 minutes for a wrong-terminal recovery, more in a morning peak. Flying from the North instead? The Gatwick North Terminal guide covers that side of the airport.
Nine South Terminal Tips Frequent Flyers Use
- Jet2 is at South Terminal, not North. Since March 2026. Anyone who has flown Jet2 from Leeds, Manchester or Edinburgh and assumes Gatwick puts it with the other leisure carriers: it does not. South Terminal.
- easyJet is now a North Terminal airline. Gatwick lists all easyJet flight codes at the North Terminal in 2026. If you arrive at the South out of old habit, the shuttle recovery costs you 45 minutes or more.
- Screenshot your boarding pass the night before. Terminal, gate deadline, seat – all survive a dead signal in the car park.
- Gates in the 50s mean a 15-20 minute walk. The satellite gates are a serious hike from the central departure lounge. Start walking when the gate is announced, not when boarding is called.
- Buy Fast Track before you travel, not at the airport. From £6 pre-booked online, more on the day, dedicated lane open 4am-8pm.
- Leave liquids and laptops in your bag. The CT scanner lanes are fastest for passengers who do not unpack – and containers up to 2 litres are fine at Gatwick.
- If your phone dies, any staffed gate desk can reprint a boarding pass. Do not queue at check-in again – ask at the nearest gate.
- Arriving? The train station is inside the South Terminal. You can be on a train towards Victoria or London Bridge within minutes of clearing customs, no shuttle required – and the arrivals Greggs is open 24 hours if you land hungry at 3am.
- Pre-booking your transfer removes every arrival uncertainty. MILE5 tracks your flight from takeoff – land early or late and the chauffeur adjusts, then meets you inside arrivals with a name board. Book here →
When Things Go Wrong – What to Do
Problem: “I’ve gone to the wrong terminal”
Take the shuttle immediately – it is free and runs every few minutes. If you were already airside, you will exit, cross, and clear security again on the other side, so budget 45 to 60 minutes. This happens to experienced travellers constantly, and 2026’s airline moves – Jet2 arriving at South, easyJet consolidating at North – have made it more common, not less. Check the boarding pass, not the memory.
Problem: “Security is enormous and my flight boards in 20 minutes”
Find a security staff member, show your boarding pass, and explain calmly. Genuine tight connections can be moved up the queue at staff discretion – politeness works, aggression does not. If Fast Track has capacity on the day you can also pay at the entrance, though it costs more than pre-booking.
Problem: “My app driver has cancelled twice”
Drivers see the destination before accepting, and an airport run means an empty return leg – cancellations are disproportionately common on airport pickups. This is the problem pre-booked transfers exist to solve: MILE5 assigns your chauffeur in advance, they are committed to the journey, and the price is fixed regardless of what the M25 is doing. Corporate accounts with monthly billing are available for regular travellers. Exhibitors heading from Gatwick to ExCeL in November will find the fixed prices in our guide to World Travel Market 2026 transfers.
Problem: “Missed the flight”
Go straight to your airline’s desk, not the general information desk. Budget carriers typically charge for a new ticket; full-service carriers may offer a paid same-day change, and elite status sometimes waives the fee. Check your travel insurance before assuming it does not cover the cost – some policies do.
Essential Information
Address
South Terminal, Gatwick Airport, Horley, West Sussex, RH6 0NP
Sat-Nav Postcode
RH6 0NP
By Train
Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Southern – the station is inside the South Terminal
By Car
M23 Junction 9, follow signs to South Terminal – drop-off £10 for 10 minutes
By Chauffeur
People Also Ask
Which terminal is Jet2 at Gatwick?
Jet2 flies from Gatwick’s South Terminal. The airline opened its Gatwick base at the South Terminal on 26 March 2026 with 29 routes, and all Jet2 flights use the South Terminal – check-in desks open three hours before each departure.
Which terminal is easyJet at Gatwick?
easyJet flies from Gatwick’s North Terminal. Gatwick’s official airline list assigns all easyJet flight codes to the North Terminal in 2026 – the old split that placed some easyJet flights at the South is gone. Still check your boarding pass 24 hours before departure, because airlines can move terminals without notice.
Which terminal is British Airways at Gatwick?
British Airways operates all of its Gatwick flights from the South Terminal. BA has the largest check-in footprint in the terminal, and its zones are where morning queues build fastest – arrive at the early end of your window for a peak-time BA departure.
Which airlines use the South Terminal at Gatwick?
Gatwick South Terminal serves British Airways, Jet2, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, Norwegian, Norse Atlantic, Turkish Airlines, TAP Portugal, Air France, Air India and TUI’s “BY”-numbered flights, among more than 30 carriers. The North Terminal handles easyJet, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air Arabia and TUI’s “TOM”-numbered flights.
How early should I arrive at Gatwick South Terminal?
Arrive 2 hours before European flights and 3 hours before long-haul, and treat those as minimums for morning departures during school holidays. Most airlines close check-in and bag drop 40 to 60 minutes before departure, and Jet2’s South Terminal desks open three hours before each flight.
How long are the security queues at Gatwick South Terminal?
Gatwick South Terminal security is quickest after 7pm and through the middle of the day in term time, and busiest in the 5am-9am departure bank – where school-holiday queues can exceed an hour. Fast Track from £6, pre-booked online, uses a dedicated lane open 4am-8pm.
Can I take liquids over 100ml through Gatwick security?
Yes. Gatwick has scrapped the 100ml rule at both terminals – containers up to 2 litres are allowed in cabin bags, with no clear plastic bag, and liquids and laptops stay inside your bag at the scanner. Your return airport may still enforce 100ml, so check its rules before packing for the journey home.
How much is a chauffeur from Gatwick South Terminal to central London?
MILE5 chauffeur transfers between Gatwick South Terminal and central London start from £150 in a Mercedes E-Class, fixed at booking with no surge pricing. Every transfer includes inside-arrivals meet and greet, flight tracking and 60 minutes of complimentary waiting, with S-Class and V-Class options on every route.
Written by Ian Silva, MILE5’s lead content author. This guide draws on MILE5’s 15+ years and 50,000+ airport transfers, plus first-hand research into terminal logistics, fleet operations, and London airport routes.
Questions about Gatwick South Terminal or need transfer advice? Contact MILE5 – 50,000+ airport journeys completed, every terminal covered.
TfL Licensed No. 009161 · MILE5 Limited · Companies House No. 09642693 · VAT No. 301016381 · 450 Bath Road, Longford, Heathrow UB7 0EB
Related posts
