Vodafone has deployed a 5G network at Gatwick Airport. The 5G service is live in the South Terminal, with a roll-out planned for the North Terminal early next year.

24,000 people work at the airport, which serves more than 46m passengers a year. With passenger numbers increasing year-on-year, 5G bandwidth can grow exponentially to meet future demand.

The rapid response times of 5G will help Gatwick Airport support the growing number of connected devices and applications which require instant, high bandwidth communications. Examples include an upcoming trial of robotic parking and the further automation of a number of check-in and boarding procedures under Gatwick Airport’s five-year investment programme to create the UK’s leading smart airport.

“We are delighted to announce yet another world-class facility at Gatwick with Vodafone’s new 5G network now available in the South Terminal,” said Gatwick Airport chief information officer, John Barton. “Passengers using the network will benefit from super-fast speeds when surfing the web and downloading files, or even box sets to provide video entertainment during one of the many long haul flights that depart from the airport.

“5G also has the potential to unlock a wide range of new capabilities and to reliably connect everything around us to a network many times faster than those it replaces. Many of the 250 companies based on the Gatwick campus can also benefit from this super-fast 5G service, including those that rely heavily on mobile applications for their day to day business.”