Keeping London Gatwick moving with resilient airport-wide communications

As one of the UK’s busiest airports, London Gatwick is always at full tilt. More than 46 million passengers travel through it each year, across over 220 destinations and more than 40 airlines. With that kind of pace and complexity, communications need to work properly every day, across every team that keeps the airport moving.

The challenge

Gatwick’s analogue radio system had reached the end of the road, and the airport needed a modern platform that could support live operations, improve resilience and keep information moving across the site.

The solution

Servicom deployed a Motorola Capacity Max DMR Tier 3 system across the airport, including 1,298 handheld radios, 716 vehicle radios and 88 desk radios. Multiple layers of redundancy were built into the architecture, and Distributed Antenna Systems were used to extend coverage into harder indoor areas. The result was a communications platform with the reach, resilience and capacity needed across frontline teams, vehicle operations and control rooms.

The system was also integrated into Gatwick’s wider operational and IT environment through software applications. That brought alarm and asset monitoring, personnel tracking and advanced group call management into the day-to-day setup. The wider feature set includes private and group calling, end-to-end encryption, emergency call prioritisation, lone worker and man down features, radio and asset check-in and check-out, custom job ticketing, fire and alarm integration, video security links, and connectivity with Airband, emergency services, Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

That kind of integration earns its keep when the day goes off script. During aircraft diversions or air bridge failures, accurate operational information can be pushed straight to portable devices so teams know what is happening, what has changed and what needs doing next. That helps Gatwick respond quickly, stay coordinated and keep disruption down.

The outcome

The impact has been felt across the operation. The project improved operational efficiency, strengthened communication between departments, enhanced employee safety, improved asset security and cybersecurity, and put a stronger platform in place for future growth. It also helped improve the experience for passengers and visitors by making communication across the airport faster and more reliable.

Support sits close to the operation as well. To help meet stringent SLAs, Servicom established a secondary support hub in Crawley, giving Gatwick rapid on-site response and helping to minimise disruption when support is needed. That support approach is built for live, always-on environments and goes beyond break-fix response. It includes proactive monitoring, Preventative Maintenance Inspections, patching and upgrades, spares, regular KPI packs, quarterly reviews and service reports, so the airport has a clear picture of system health and performance over time. Servicom’s wider managed support model is structured around operational criticality, with 24/7 support coverage and clear service tiers.

Gatwick now has a communications system that suits the way a major airport actually works: strong coverage, resilient infrastructure, tighter integration with the wider operation and support that is close at hand when it matters. For a live site where delays spread quickly and downtime is never convenient, that makes a genuine difference.