On 21st March, the Probus Club of Horsham Arun were the guests of Gatwick Airport for their first, post COVID 'Discover Gatwick' event, part of the Airport's programme of engagement with the local community. It follows on from a Club meeting a few years ago when Stewart Wingate, the Gatwick Airport CEO spoke to us.

The day was hosted by Alison Addy, Head of External Engagement and Policy, and Melanie Wrightson, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, supported by a team of six staff. As one would expect of an organisation handling such complex operations, the day was run by the Gatwick staff with professional precision and nicely tinged with great hospitality and seemingly endless patience with the stream of questions.

Alison started the day by telling us about how the Airport was recovering from the impact of COVID – moving from being a ghost town - and returning to its normal business bustle; not quite yet to pre-COVID levels but moving rapidly to full recovery.

Other members of the team made presentations on their specialisms – some technical and some less so. One of the fascinating talks was on the subject of noise – remember your hertz and dbA - and, in particular, the part that Gatwick is playing in the national and international development of more effective aircraft routes.

Then we set off on an escorted tour 'behind the scenes' of airport operations. We went through the Gatwick staff security checks – done will real rigour, (much to the discomfort of one of the Club members who was rapidly being divested of possessions!).

The tour escorts were all very knowledgeable and it was a fascinating insight into the breadth and complexity of airport operations – the army of snowploughs, the very clever detection system to pick up possible attempts to enter the airport via its external fences, the huge Boeing maintenance facilities on-site – the list goes on.

This visit was definitely a Probus 'highlight' and the whole day was a credit to the Airport team and its determination to engage with us 'locals'.