The UK's second-busiest airport, in Crawley, West Sussex, with a 2- to 3-year graduate scheme and four-year engineering apprenticeships.
London Gatwick is the UK's second-busiest airport, about 30 miles south of central London in Crawley, West Sussex, with a North Terminal and a South Terminal and a single main runway. It started as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, got its first terminal, known as the Beehive, in 1935, and its South Terminal opened in 1958. Gatwick Airport Limited runs the airport, with teams in engineering, operations, security, data, construction, customer service and more. Around 43 million passengers used it in 2024.
We did not find a formal mission statement on the pages we read. What Gatwick says publicly includes a target of net zero by 2030, a goal of one million student encounters through its education outreach by 2030 (over 600,000 since 2021), and a promise to give young people experience of an airport. Its HR Director called the graduate scheme "a fantastic opportunity for young people to develop their skills, build confidence".
Gatwick is in Crawley, West Sussex. The airport's own figures say that around 60 airlines fly there, to more than 150 short-haul and 50 long-haul destinations. It is the biggest UK base for easyJet, and British Airways has a secondary hub there. About 15 million people live within an hour of the airport by road or rail, according to the airport.
A 2025 engineering graduate said "the airport has a real buzz you can't find elsewhere", which is one person's view. A current apprentice said that applying for the apprenticeship "was one of the best decisions I have made". The company runs an apprenticeship fair with talks from current apprentices. We did not find independent culture reviews.
The 2026 graduate scheme opened on 22 October 2025 for a start on 1 September 2026, lasting two to three years depending on the role with team rotations. The roles were Construction Engineering Graduate (two places, three years), Engineering Graduate (one place, two years covering airfield, roads and baggage systems) and Data Analyst Graduate (one place, two years). Gatwick described it as aimed at "ambitious university leavers". Engineering apprenticeships opened on 10 February 2026 until 2 March, with four places starting in August 2026: three Electro/Mechanical (four years, with a Level 4 HNC in years three and four and Engineering Technician registration) and one Heavy Vehicle (three years). The pages we read did not state pay or entry grades, so check the apprenticeship page for the next round.
Website: www.gatwickairport.com
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