Gatwick Airport closure travel arrangements
The following arrangements have been put in place to support passengers affected by the closure of Gatwick Airport; please be aware that unless stated otherwise this information relates to travel on GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern & Thameslink) train services only:
Passengers whose flights have been diverted to Luton Airport (either arriving or departing) can use their Gatwick Airport rail ticket on our train services to / from Luton Airport Parkway instead.
The tickets will also be valid on the connecting bus service between Luton Airport Parkway and Luton Airport.
People who need to get to King’s Cross to travel to Edinburgh on LNER and who have an airline ticket can travel for free to King’s Cross/St Pancras, Stevenage or Peterborough on GTR services.
Those who can’t travel and need a refund will not be charged any administration fee and any advance tickets to Gatwick can be used any time today or tomorrow (Friday) on GTR services.
Steve White, chief operating officer of GTR, said: “Passengers are facing serious disruption due to the closure of the airport and we want to help them complete their journeys or make alternative Christmas travel arrangements.”
Detailed ticketing arrangements:
If a passengers flight has been delayed to tomorrow and they already have a ticket with today’s (20/12/2018) date; if the journey is solely on our network it can be used on any of our trains tomorrow (21/12/2018); without having to exchange them and they will able to use them at any time tomorrow; whether the ticket would normally have time restrictions or not.
This includes Advance tickets to/from Gatwick Airport routed “Southern Only”.
Passengers whose journey involves using other operators including Transport for London will need to ensure they have a ticket that is dated for tomorrow.
We've issued the following guidance to staff with respect to all tickets irrespective of where they bought them from:
If the ticket is an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket and there is no change to the journey or time of travel apart from they are travelling tomorrow we can change the date of travel of the ticket without the passenger having to pay any extra.
If the ticket is an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket and there is no change to the journey but they are travelling at a different time of day we can change the date of travel of the ticket provided they hold an Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket that it is still valid for the new time of travel.
If the time restrictions of the ticket they hold mean that it cannot be used for the new journey we will not charge the change of journey fee. The passenger need only pay the difference between what they have paid and the cost of the new ticket.
If the ticket is an Advance ticket then we will follow the normal change of Advance ticket process, though we will not charge the normal £10 change of journey fee. The passenger will need to pay the difference between the fare they paid and the cost of the cheapest ticket available for the new journey.
For full information go to https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/service-updates