Thanks to all the team at Gatwick! And if this feels like a video I'd have made a few years ago -- yes! It's filmed on some older equipment, and with the help of an old friend...
I was wondering if all that bank advertising that is plastered on the jetway and such helps with the income. It's almost as if the place is a bank and not an airport terminal.
I seem to recall something about the Montréal-Mirabel airport terminal sitting empty and costing $5 million a year in upkeep, which is part of why they eventually demolished the terminal. Absolutely insane
You have to take heating into account. YMX spends half a year needed constant heat to stay warm. With weather going into the sub 30/40c at time, it adds up fast.
I was there at the opening in 76-77. What a nice modern airport it was, biggest mistake the government made was not closing the Dorval airport! Now we have an airport dead smack in the middle of the city with all the neighbours complaining it makes too much noise. But I can’t complain too much because I use the race track at Mirabelle😁
I was at Rio's international airport (GIG) and a whole terminal had been shut down. The hotel I was in was inside the closed terminal, it was like being in a zombie apocalypse movie. I had so much empty space to myself. But if you walk for 10 minutes to terminal 2, it's as you would expect, busy with lots of people.
2 years ago, I was in Dubai and needed to fly back to Europe. Dubai airport was closed completely, Abu Dhabi became my point of departure. Never seen an airport so empty. It was surreal. Only 3 flights leaving that day, only one in the morning when I was flying.
I once experienced something similar when i were going to Kenya with some of my family. We had to land in Istanbul for transfer onto a different flight to Nairobi. I think it was about 1 or 2 am at the time, so the entire airport was completely empty, save for some airport staff at maybe one or two booths and gate checkin stands and all the stores were closed. It was really weird to see it so empty.
2 года назад+2
Would they let you walk around in the closed terminal?
@@bucherwurm5344 Documentary where Burke did a piece to camera perfectly timed to finish with a NASA rocket launch. You only get one take with that sort of thing, obviously!
I've flown in and out of Gatwick's North terminal many times over the past two years, and when I was begrudgingly waiting for the shuttle to transfer from the train station (which is at the closed South Terminal), I consoled myself by presuming that the South Terminal must have been closed for a complete refurbishment, so I could look forward to a lovely modern terminal one day. I'm now unreasonably disappointed that it's exactly the same as before! 😂
@Steven Bailie This! I also thought it was closed for refurbishment considering all the construction barriers there which you have to navigate to get to the shuttle (also when I flew out of Gatwick recently there were no signs directing people from the platform to the shuttle and everyone who disembarked the train had to figure out the route for themselves). Then on my way back shuttle didn't work (inconvenience for me, potentially missed flights for others). So now I'm wondering why close South Terminal and not the North...
@@WayStedYou But could also be a convenient time for refurbishment while there is no traffic (then would be no need to shut it dow later and lose on profits).
I work for Gatwick Engineering, so was a nice surprise to see Tom covering this ! I can confirm that it's a big task to get it all up and running, but very much needed. Great to see people flying again.
I don't get why it's supposed to be such a huge undertaking other than getting the trained staff going again. I've worked in manufacturing most my life. We've got huge complex systems that get shutdown for periods of time. Maintenance is still done in the systems, upkeep is still done on the safety equipment, minimum housekeeping is needed bc theres no use, etc... We know how to keep things ready to use when it's time to start using things again. It makes no sense to me that procedures weren't put in place to keep this terminal ready for use again. The only thing I can think of is the needed staff may not have been kept to operate the terminal and replacements had to be trained. What am I missing? Can you educate me on some issues that I've missed?
@@olliefoxx7165 The difference being that an airport terminal is never expected to see such a downturn. That is not the case within manufacturing where there are procedures for such events.
@@harrier331 Closing a terminal due to lower passenger traffic and not having a plan to reopen it when passenger traffic kicks back in is incredibly short sighted. What were they thinking? Did they think the passengers were never coming back? Why wouldn't they consider the steps needed to put the terminal in hibernation until it was needed again? This must be a govt run airport. The private sector would never be this inefficient and short sighted.
I flew into both Schonefeld (I apologise for the spelling which I definitely got wrong) and Tegal whilst Brandenburg was sat there waiting, empty... two awful airports! Must be so much nicer now.
@@DT-hg7te I flew from Schönefeld once, which was one time too many. That wasn't an airport, that was a latrine with a runway. Tegel was certainly mediocre but not quite the offence against human dignity that was its east side counterpart.
Brings to mind my favourite Milton Jones one-liner: “I’d like to make a complaint to Gatwick Airport about their sushi restaurant. While there was a lot of variety going around on the conveyor belts, it did all taste a bit luggagey.”
How interesting! I was always curious about how other airports are handling it. Changi Airport, in contrast, did not mothball their airport terminals entirely (only kept one operating) and simply made it into a community space / mall for the citizenry to enjoy. It’s been a space for fun fairs, flea markets, brand collaborations and more. I suppose this is also an interesting perspective.
@@Zadster ah, but I forgot to mention… we’ve always been extremely strict about covid otherwise. Like, you have to sign in every location, masking is absolutely mandatory no questions or excuses provided. Crowd limits are also strictly enforced with lots of space
Perfectly timed at the end! I genuinely hadn't given this sort of thing a second thought. I have been more concerned about the people. Let's hope that no new strains cause any further trouble.
You British people just simply amaze me and how positive you are, and efficant! Thank you for making a small part of the world so interesting to learn about and be apart of!
When they talked about using the terminal for TV shows while it was shut down, a part of me hopes in a big way that Taskmaster was one of those shows. Imagine what tasks they could come up with when they have an entire airport terminal building to play with.
Time to do a report on transporting an F1 team to a circuit and then sign-off seconds before one of the cars fires past. Or, even, just as the starting lights go out.
@@koga1330 I mean given a new "Connections" is being planned with James Burke (although he's getting up there in years) there's a world where that's possible.
I used to work as a security officer at an airport. Part of the reason for the huge queues at the security desks was often because there was a huge turnover in security staff and a constant flow of new officers - who would make more mistakes. This often meant bags would be checked even when they were clear. Even experienced staff will have gone off the boil in this time - but I wouldn't be surprised if security officers will have all lost their jobs and new people brought in on crappier and worse paid contracts. (I didn't work at Gatwick, but I suspect the same conditions and experience will apply here). So anyone going on holiday needs to give themselves plenty of time to get through airport control 🙂
Back when I was in the army on a deployment to the Middle East, we had a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, where they shut down an entire terminal just for us. It was an odd feeling, like we were in the TV movie "The Langoliers". There was absolutely no activity there, not one worker could be seen, except for the small handful needed to refuel the plane and let us in the terminal to stretch our legs. An empty building has a strange, eerie feeling, especially when you know that there should be activity.
The local shopping centre has been like that for the last two years. The place is there specifically for people and having seen it mobbed at Christmas for the last two years it has that feeling you described. Like there is something wrong.
This is incredibly mindboggling to me because I think I've actually been in that terminal? I've been to the UK twice and I went through Gatwick both times. I don't usually recognize the locations in Tom Scott videos 😂
@@MrGreatplum same here! Only once to fly though. Most of the time I'd get off the train at Gatwick coming back from work, because it was quicker to get the bus from there to my house than crawley town centre 😄
@@windows95leon - before they started charging to drop people off at the terminal, I was forever doing drop ups / pick ups there! (Not flown from Gatwick for a few years though!)
@@MrGreatplum I worked on the South Terminal belts for 3 years, I've definately been through it a few times! Even when I moved to valet parking in the North, I still used the South Terminal because that's where the station is. You can only get to the North internally by monorail or airside vehicle.
haha same here. To this day,, however odd it may be, my main memory is being in awe of the hand dryers in the mens toilets. They were like jet engines blasting your skin! So good.
I've worked in airport terminals on occasion in the past, almost always at night when the terminals are empty and usually 'behind the scenes'. It is mind blowing some of the stuff that goes on in these buildings, most people going on their holidays don't have the slightest idea the shear amount of activity involved in just keeping the place ticking over.
I was working in Hetahrow Terminal 3 in March 2020, was a surreal time indeed. It felt like overnight we went from seeing 100+ flights on the departure board to just 3 or 4. Whats often overlooked is March 2020 was also scary, nobody knew what the virus was capable of, when it would slow down or if we'd recover.
When I read that video title, I assumed that you would talk about the new Berlin Airport. Problems while building the airport led to multi-year delays, which then led already finished terminals to have massive problems because of missing maintenance.
What a fab video Tom will bring back lots of emotions come Sunday both for staff and also passengers. Massive well done to the entire team at Gatwick for getting the terminal up and running after so long. Cannot wait to use the south terminal again next Tuesday have not been out of Gatwick since 2019 ( what a crazy 3 years its been ) so will be a strange but very welcome experience to be back again
Aviation has been one of my greatest passions since I was but a baby, and the sound of the 777's GE90s at 2:53 will give me goosebumps every single time
Great video as always Tom. Also shoutout to everyone that are in a position to tip you about an interesting thing they are involved in and for allowing you access to it, priceless.
A thing you might not consider: After two years if you move the bridges, their tires are probably gonna blow in a few days. Most of them. That is actually a part of the problem of the Russian invasion: They didn't move their trucks once a month, so there is a big amount of trucks that break down.
I passed through Gatwick's South Terminal on Sunday morning having arrived back in the UK, which was probably a few hours after it had been opened. Tom was right, I didn't notice a thing, which goes to show how well it must've gone to plan!
If that's how hard it is to get an airport running again, I shudder to think about the thousands of airplanes that have been sitting idle in some desert or hangar somewhere and how many things could go wrong now that they have to get back into service. Let's hope the engineers and maintenance crews do a thorough job with each plane. Not to mention the pilots who might have got a bit rusty themselves. It's why I won't be going on a holiday by plane any time soon, tempting as it may be!
There's a lot of work to do and aviation youtubers (e.g. Mentour Pilot) have discussed this. Airlines have been gearing back up getting planes and pilots current. Even a private pilot like yours truly is doing some spring training flights to get back in the groove after not flying much in the winter. You do this stuff as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
For my airline, we flew each plane every 30 days to keep it going. All of our pilots are back now too and spend a lot of time in the simulator getting ready to return. Its like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it
There will be many fatal accidents in the coming years, airlines talk a good safety game but behind closed doors they are cutting costs and taking risks in exchange for for reduced safety a lot more often than you’d think.
When 9/11 happened and US air space was shut, they were worried that some of the planes wouldn't take off again (particularly from the smaller airports that weren't built for the number of extra planes that landed) and that was only a week. Hopefully, they've been rotating round their stock over such a long time. I've also heard of empty planes being flown so the airlines didn't lose their slots at the airports. So it's possible that a lot of the planes were being used for things like that, even if they didn't have any passengers.
The cost of utilities in an old vacant building was over $1 million dollars a year. You can't leave even a vacant building without heat, air conditioning, or electricity or it will quickly deteriorate. Freezing pipes and mold are huge risks. The owner decided to demolish it instead.
you don't need to keep the AC running if it's not occupied and you only need enough heating to keep it just above freezing, but you do need to ensure the place is ventilated, which is the one thing many forget when buildings are abandoned and buttoned up. Of course it depends on what kind of structure we're talking about. The typical American buildings made from toothpicks and plywood can barely function even if they are in use, but it takes a lot more before steel and concrete structures begin to deteriorate (as long as they're built correctly)
@@thesteelrodent1796 you do need to run air conditioning periodically to keep humidity levels in check, otherwise all that stale (and humid in some areas) air will cause mold to grow
Another aviation story involving logistics is EAA's annual Airventure Oshkosh. In 2019 a city of 67,004 hosted a one week event that welcomed 642,000 people and over 10,000 aircraft. It's really quite remarkable. I live about a one hour drive away so I go every year. You should check it out. Well worth your time!
I'm hoping to fly there myself in the next year or two. My plane's former owners flew her there in 1999. "White low wing over Fisk give me a wing rock!"
I'll be honest with you, this is actually about the right amount of effort that I thought it would take to reopen an airport terminal, having said that I was also at Gatwick when the south terminal was closed so I had some idea of what it would take.
I'm dealing with reopening small offices after 2 years at work, and the technical issues that come from systems being offline and unmonitored for 2 years is a royal pain. I simply can't imagine what it's like on this scale.
I am not going to need the service of this terminal for the foreseeable future, but I'm incredibly grateful for the hardworking staff that is making that reopening possible, or anyone reopening an airport in the wake of the pandemic. Its no small feat to work in an airport as is, and their service and coordination is increasingly more vital in our interconnected world.
As a German, I have to admit I expected something utterly different when reading the description "mothballing". I translated that literally and was expecting this to be a video about pest control.
Probably one of the most important videos that Tom has done. Explaining the recovery from the pandemic, so that it is explicable takes a lot of thought.
They reopened the closed International terminal in STL when a tornado destroyed the main terminal. It was like walking back in time, but they updated quickly.
This is only scratching the surface. I work on airport check-in systems, there's a whole lot of infrastructure services outside the terminals (in my case, various cloud servers and so on) that have also been shut down for the past 2 years to cut costs. On the plus side, a lot of airports have been able to use the down-time to upgrade non-critical systems that are well past their use-by dates. Great video, as always, Tom.
This reminds me of the wind turbines, they have to be rotated once every 24hrs to keep them in good order. Sometimes it takes months from when they are built until they are cleared for regular use, so it can be a big job making sure it happens.
You just reminded me of a story a former aviation mechanic told me about how they had to check out tools and a timer, when the timer went off the tools had to stop being used as soon as possible and returned for inspection I couldn't imagine the sheer amount of paperwork that generated.
It's all been a bit wierd as someone who was 'required' to be out and about during all the lockdowns I've seen some strange stuff. Been the only person in empty office blocks complete with dead house plants, packed lunches that had been festering in tupperware boxes for over a year! Empty roads and terminals are really strange almost dreamlike. Glad things are getting back to 'normal'.
The aim wasn't that they would get back to "normal". The crisis was used to push the so called "Fourth Industrial Revolution". That includes things like working from home, keeping the peasants from travelling far, and automating as many jobs as possible.
@@sonofedmund5004 It's all political. Even calling our current situation "normal". The economic fallout from it has been massive but it's being blamed on anything or everything else. p.s. It's not a "theory". The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already out there and countries are signed up. The UK government has some webpages discussing the relevant legislation.
I live in Horley, very close to Gatwick, and all the residents are dreading the South Terminal opening. It's been so nice having a reduced number of planes taking off; and less traffic on the roads.
I’m surprised by the demand for air travel, given the reality we’re now facing with the climate and the increasing availability of remote work reducing the appeal of business trips. I know people have relatives abroad, but for most holidays there are alternatives which don’t cost the Earth. I’ve sworn off flying now.
@@kirkhamandy I have the odd experience of both working at this airport (sometimes parking in Horley before my staff pass was approved), and living in the coast road to it's south with beach views all year round. Seeing how good Sussex is, it does make me wonder why so many bother to leave. I'm glad they do though as it's a bit more civilised with less people. Couldn't stand to be on a beach like Bournemouth was between the lockdowns.
@@kirkhamandy I guess it depends on our lifestyle. Within 2 miles of where I am, I can have countryside as far as I want to walk, retirement villages where hardly anything happens each decade or the aforementoin deserted beaches. A little further along there is even a retirement village with it's own private beach for residents only. More of a hamlet really. Or you can have the bustle of working at one of the busiest 40 airports in the world within commuting distance. It is what you make of it. And it's far enough away to not notice jet noise. Even quite hard to see the jets sometimes. You're more likely to see the light aircraft of a much older airport!
Great video, this is totally something I wouldn’t think about until I was looking forward to travelling, and then thinking “oh crap I hope they’re up and running”
Got to do it when I was installing signage in Shannon airport a few years ago, we could only work when there was no passenger's around so we worked through the night. It was a fun experience but I hated the job
Get a job at an airport. Not difficult at all. Then work night shifts between summer/ski seasons. You’ll soon lose the hunger for such a ‘glamorous’ lifestyle 😆
@@Monkey80llx Been there done that. As you say, looks like a normal night shift. Sometimes even in the height of summer. I worked at both LGW terminals in summer nightshifts.
Equipments not being used and maintained for quite a while sure does breakdown. I used to work for a franchise of McDonald's in SouthEast Asia. The restaurant's grill has two parts that heats up, 1) the usual flat grill, and 2) the top grill that closes down like a clamshell. The second one is used for faster cooking by cooking the patties both sides at the same time for shorter time. The store's burger orbers are so slow that we rarely used the second one. It just broke down and became unsusable until the whole unit is deemed fully depreciated.
Tom, I really love your videos. Very well made, perfect length, and very informative. Love them all the way around. I do wish you had some longer videos but I’m not going to stop watching because of that. Keep up the AMAZING work sir!
2:57 I still can't believe how a plane can take off; sure the flaps and ailerons are probably almost 100% down (up for the tail), but from the camera angle it almost looks like nothing. incredible!
This explains why the Gatwick Express Class 387 trains have been running elsewhere since March 2020. It'll be awesome to see them running on their home turf again.
People don't realize the large number of systems that have to be tested, maintained and safety checked. Everything takes time to bring them back online one at a time, so you can't just flip a switch. Airports are very complex in operation and require a lot of work and maintenance to keep running safely. It makes you wonder about all of the airplanes that have been sitting around for 2 years as well, and what needs to be done with them before they're allowed to fly again.
I think you should make a video about airport baggage systems :D This one was funny for me because the company I work for (Beumer Group) made the baggage system for this airport.
I dont mean to sound insulting, but I just dont really understand what this video tells you except that systems need to be checked. It doesnt seem to me to have the detailed information that usually comes from Toms videos. But in general, fantastic videos! Keep them coming 😁
The stuff you'd normally think of, like machines, power, security and safety. It's nice to see such a busy terminal calm but yes I agree, it definitely feels like there was not as much info compared to other videos.
Thanks to all the team at Gatwick! And if this feels like a video I'd have made a few years ago -- yes! It's filmed on some older equipment, and with the help of an old friend...
hi tom
Nice
wait, how was this posted only a minute ago? are you a time wizard or something?
Hello Tom
I love your videos!
Keeping the terminal available for tv/movie/video production teams is actually really smart to keep at least some cashflow going.
It isn't anywhere near enough.
@@andybaldman Who said it was?
@@andybaldman So because it wasn't "anywhere near enough" they should have just settled for £0 instead? 🙄
I was wondering if all that bank advertising that is plastered on the jetway and such helps with the income. It's almost as if the place is a bank and not an airport terminal.
@@andybaldman How do you know?
I seem to recall something about the Montréal-Mirabel airport terminal sitting empty and costing $5 million a year in upkeep, which is part of why they eventually demolished the terminal. Absolutely insane
You have to take heating into account. YMX spends half a year needed constant heat to stay warm. With weather going into the sub 30/40c at time, it adds up fast.
Mirabel is still used for some cargo, and as a test track for cars.
Before the terminal's removal, it was also used for film shoots such as "The Terminal" and "Warm Bodies".
I was there at the opening in 76-77. What a nice modern airport it was, biggest mistake the government made was not closing the Dorval airport! Now we have an airport dead smack in the middle of the city with all the neighbours complaining it makes too much noise. But I can’t complain too much because I use the race track at Mirabelle😁
It’s a shame, that building was an architectural masterpiece. Still looks modern today.
Outro of the plane taking off was perfectly timed. Great job on the production
How have you watched the video 1min after it was released? :D
How did you watch the outro of a 3 minute video 1 minute after it released🤔🤔
watched sped up, skipped to the end, or is simply a time traveler
Almost as perfectly-timed as the train passing at the end of the rockfall warning video from a couple of weeks ago!
Yea that was a really great closing shot, I wonder how many times they had to attempt that
They should have asked the BER people. They have some experience with airports that weren't in use for a long, long time.
Or Madrid?
If they did that, the earliest opening of the terminal would have been 2040
then they realize that the fire protection isn't set up properly and close for 5 more years...
Isn't that actually open now
@@faenethlorhalien that is correct! We've had quite the experience with that Airport around here...
I was at Rio's international airport (GIG) and a whole terminal had been shut down. The hotel I was in was inside the closed terminal, it was like being in a zombie apocalypse movie. I had so much empty space to myself. But if you walk for 10 minutes to terminal 2, it's as you would expect, busy with lots of people.
2 years ago, I was in Dubai and needed to fly back to Europe. Dubai airport was closed completely, Abu Dhabi became my point of departure. Never seen an airport so empty. It was surreal. Only 3 flights leaving that day, only one in the morning when I was flying.
I once experienced something similar when i were going to Kenya with some of my family. We had to land in Istanbul for transfer onto a different flight to Nairobi. I think it was about 1 or 2 am at the time, so the entire airport was completely empty, save for some airport staff at maybe one or two booths and gate checkin stands and all the stores were closed. It was really weird to see it so empty.
Would they let you walk around in the closed terminal?
@ As far as i remember, yes. There really werent much to do other than sit around and wait for the departure.
@@Mrstealth93 Oh, but my question was to Robert Bones who stayed at a hotel in a closed terminal.
Tom's slowly working his way up to rivalling that James Burke rocket launch report.
Thought the same thing 😂
I get that reference!
@@Trek001 I dont, would you mind to explain?
@@Wecoc1 I thought the same thing and also thought what you said.
@@bucherwurm5344 Documentary where Burke did a piece to camera perfectly timed to finish with a NASA rocket launch. You only get one take with that sort of thing, obviously!
I've flown in and out of Gatwick's North terminal many times over the past two years, and when I was begrudgingly waiting for the shuttle to transfer from the train station (which is at the closed South Terminal), I consoled myself by presuming that the South Terminal must have been closed for a complete refurbishment, so I could look forward to a lovely modern terminal one day.
I'm now unreasonably disappointed that it's exactly the same as before! 😂
@@jordanfires9777 I was there last week. It really, really doesn’t.
At the rate rebuilds go a modern terminal would have taken as long as the "memeable" BER airport... 🤣
@Steven Bailie This! I also thought it was closed for refurbishment considering all the construction barriers there which you have to navigate to get to the shuttle (also when I flew out of Gatwick recently there were no signs directing people from the platform to the shuttle and everyone who disembarked the train had to figure out the route for themselves). Then on my way back shuttle didn't work (inconvenience for me, potentially missed flights for others). So now I'm wondering why close South Terminal and not the North...
Bold of you to assume refurbishment when their income shut down for 2 years
@@WayStedYou But could also be a convenient time for refurbishment while there is no traffic (then would be no need to shut it dow later and lose on profits).
I work for Gatwick Engineering, so was a nice surprise to see Tom covering this ! I can confirm that it's a big task to get it all up and running, but very much needed. Great to see people flying again.
I don't get why it's supposed to be such a huge undertaking other than getting the trained staff going again. I've worked in manufacturing most my life. We've got huge complex systems that get shutdown for periods of time. Maintenance is still done in the systems, upkeep is still done on the safety equipment, minimum housekeeping is needed bc theres no use, etc... We know how to keep things ready to use when it's time to start using things again. It makes no sense to me that procedures weren't put in place to keep this terminal ready for use again. The only thing I can think of is the needed staff may not have been kept to operate the terminal and replacements had to be trained. What am I missing? Can you educate me on some issues that I've missed?
@@olliefoxx7165 The difference being that an airport terminal is never expected to see such a downturn. That is not the case within manufacturing where there are procedures for such events.
@@harrier331 Closing a terminal due to lower passenger traffic and not having a plan to reopen it when passenger traffic kicks back in is incredibly short sighted. What were they thinking? Did they think the passengers were never coming back? Why wouldn't they consider the steps needed to put the terminal in hibernation until it was needed again? This must be a govt run airport. The private sector would never be this inefficient and short sighted.
@@olliefoxx7165 No-one planned for covid. Why would they have needed to plan for it closing pre-2020?
@@Bartimayus They closed it due to lowered passenger travel bc of covid. That was literally stated in the video.
In Berlin we did this without ever having the terminal in use.
😂😂😂😂
I flew into both Schonefeld (I apologise for the spelling which I definitely got wrong) and Tegal whilst Brandenburg was sat there waiting, empty... two awful airports! Must be so much nicer now.
@@DT-hg7te I flew from Schönefeld once, which was one time too many. That wasn't an airport, that was a latrine with a runway. Tegel was certainly mediocre but not quite the offence against human dignity that was its east side counterpart.
Le oof
Brings to mind my favourite Milton Jones one-liner:
“I’d like to make a complaint to Gatwick Airport about their sushi restaurant. While there was a lot of variety going around on the conveyor belts, it did all taste a bit luggagey.”
Thank you. I hope this comes to mind when next I visit a conveyor Sushi place with friends.
@@DLWELD take a load of miniature luggage and put it on the carousell
I found this really upsetting! But then, I have a lot of baggage...
How interesting! I was always curious about how other airports are handling it. Changi Airport, in contrast, did not mothball their airport terminals entirely (only kept one operating) and simply made it into a community space / mall for the citizenry to enjoy. It’s been a space for fun fairs, flea markets, brand collaborations and more. I suppose this is also an interesting perspective.
you literally comparing one of the best airport(s) in the world to Gatwick
With Covid around, I imagine the last thing they needed was social events in an enclosed space.
@@Zadster ah, but I forgot to mention… we’ve always been extremely strict about covid otherwise. Like, you have to sign in every location, masking is absolutely mandatory no questions or excuses provided. Crowd limits are also strictly enforced with lots of space
@@heichan8657 I know, gatwick was unpleasant
Oh, that's really interesting. Glad to see Singapore made the most out of that empty space.
Perfectly timed at the end! I genuinely hadn't given this sort of thing a second thought. I have been more concerned about the people. Let's hope that no new strains cause any further trouble.
You British people just simply amaze me and how positive you are, and efficant! Thank you for making a small part of the world so interesting to learn about and be apart of!
Efficient? You jest, sir. The UK is incredibly inefficient in many areas. Painfully so
@@thursoberwick1948 can blame tories for a lot of that.
@@atrtsh No, no really. Labour just as much to blame and a culture of slackness. (I don't support either of those parties.)
When they talked about using the terminal for TV shows while it was shut down, a part of me hopes in a big way that Taskmaster was one of those shows. Imagine what tasks they could come up with when they have an entire airport terminal building to play with.
Series 14.
Tom timing outros with transport going past seems to be a new trend
Next: let's see a video about spaceships being launced :D
Time to do a report on transporting an F1 team to a circuit and then sign-off seconds before one of the cars fires past. Or, even, just as the starting lights go out.
@@koga1330 I mean given a new "Connections" is being planned with James Burke (although he's getting up there in years) there's a world where that's possible.
Of course, if you fluff it there's another one in 20 minutes....
Tom saw his great timing with the train vid and said: "you think we could do that again? But bigger."
That was a big deal? Damn, I barely watched that video.
Bro this was years before the train video...
Everybody wants to have their James Burke in Connections moment.
@Velzun OSRS What? This is brand new
☑ Train
☑ Plane
☐ Spaceship
Tom: I can't believe these loud motorcycles keep ruining my shots!
Also Tom: This airport runway seems like a great place to film my outro!
You can at least plan your timing around aircraft taking off.
Imagine you're looking out of the window as your flight takes off only to see Tom Scott filming a video next to the runway as you pass
I used to work as a security officer at an airport. Part of the reason for the huge queues at the security desks was often because there was a huge turnover in security staff and a constant flow of new officers - who would make more mistakes. This often meant bags would be checked even when they were clear. Even experienced staff will have gone off the boil in this time - but I wouldn't be surprised if security officers will have all lost their jobs and new people brought in on crappier and worse paid contracts.
(I didn't work at Gatwick, but I suspect the same conditions and experience will apply here).
So anyone going on holiday needs to give themselves plenty of time to get through airport control 🙂
Cheers for that.
Back when I was in the army on a deployment to the Middle East, we had a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, where they shut down an entire terminal just for us. It was an odd feeling, like we were in the TV movie "The Langoliers". There was absolutely no activity there, not one worker could be seen, except for the small handful needed to refuel the plane and let us in the terminal to stretch our legs. An empty building has a strange, eerie feeling, especially when you know that there should be activity.
The local shopping centre has been like that for the last two years. The place is there specifically for people and having seen it mobbed at Christmas for the last two years it has that feeling you described. Like there is something wrong.
Ahh, yes. Good old Shannon International.
There is a word for that. "Liminality"
This is incredibly mindboggling to me because I think I've actually been in that terminal? I've been to the UK twice and I went through Gatwick both times. I don't usually recognize the locations in Tom Scott videos 😂
I live 5 miles from Gatwick - I’ve been through that terminal a lot!
@@MrGreatplum same here! Only once to fly though.
Most of the time I'd get off the train at Gatwick coming back from work, because it was quicker to get the bus from there to my house than crawley town centre 😄
@@windows95leon - before they started charging to drop people off at the terminal, I was forever doing drop ups / pick ups there! (Not flown from Gatwick for a few years though!)
@@MrGreatplum I worked on the South Terminal belts for 3 years, I've definately been through it a few times! Even when I moved to valet parking in the North, I still used the South Terminal because that's where the station is. You can only get to the North internally by monorail or airside vehicle.
haha same here. To this day,, however odd it may be, my main memory is being in awe of the hand dryers in the mens toilets. They were like jet engines blasting your skin! So good.
What an amazingly timed closing shot. Bravo!
Can we just all appreciate how well planned the timing of the ending was.
I appreciate the scope and tone of your posts.
Excellent stuff, Tom. As someone who lives only around 5 miles from the airport, it’s so good to see the south terminal reopening again!
I've worked in airport terminals on occasion in the past, almost always at night when the terminals are empty and usually 'behind the scenes'. It is mind blowing some of the stuff that goes on in these buildings, most people going on their holidays don't have the slightest idea the shear amount of activity involved in just keeping the place ticking over.
I was working in Hetahrow Terminal 3 in March 2020, was a surreal time indeed. It felt like overnight we went from seeing 100+ flights on the departure board to just 3 or 4. Whats often overlooked is March 2020 was also scary, nobody knew what the virus was capable of, when it would slow down or if we'd recover.
It proves how respected you are as a RUclipsr. To get the interviews and access to airside areas that you get is unheard of.
When I read that video title, I assumed that you would talk about the new Berlin Airport. Problems while building the airport led to multi-year delays, which then led already finished terminals to have massive problems because of missing maintenance.
Well, the title would be all wrong for the BER. Can't reopen something that was never open before.
I think Wendover productions a friend of Tom scotts has covered it, or a similairish case and its a really good watch I do recommend it
What a fab video Tom will bring back lots of emotions come Sunday both for staff and also passengers. Massive well done to the entire team at Gatwick for getting the terminal up and running after so long. Cannot wait to use the south terminal again next Tuesday have not been out of Gatwick since 2019 ( what a crazy 3 years its been ) so will be a strange but very welcome experience to be back again
It’s videos like this that I miss the park bench for behind the scenes 😅
Aviation has been one of my greatest passions since I was but a baby, and the sound of the 777's GE90s at 2:53 will give me goosebumps every single time
Amazing timing and camera work at the end tom, loved some insight into something I did not even think about
A brilliant professional presentation. Thanks, Tom Scott.
The work that goes into these short videos is amazing! The outro itself is so well timed! Great work as well, Tom. :D
Great video as always Tom.
Also shoutout to everyone that are in a position to tip you about an interesting thing they are involved in and for allowing you access to it, priceless.
We all know that Scott is silently cheering to himself off camera about the timing of that takeoff. Planned ahead or not. It was perfect
Fastest I've ever clicked on a Tom Scott video, which was a low bar to begin with. Tom Scott talking about Airports and/or Airplanes, count me in haha
A thing you might not consider: After two years if you move the bridges, their tires are probably gonna blow in a few days. Most of them.
That is actually a part of the problem of the Russian invasion: They didn't move their trucks once a month, so there is a big amount of trucks that break down.
the amount of extra detail you put into the ending is amazing! the entire video is cool, but that timing is just
I passed through Gatwick's South Terminal on Sunday morning having arrived back in the UK, which was probably a few hours after it had been opened. Tom was right, I didn't notice a thing, which goes to show how well it must've gone to plan!
As someone who grew up for Crawley and spent 75% of my life there Gatwick airport feels like home to me. Know it so well.
If that's how hard it is to get an airport running again, I shudder to think about the thousands of airplanes that have been sitting idle in some desert or hangar somewhere and how many things could go wrong now that they have to get back into service. Let's hope the engineers and maintenance crews do a thorough job with each plane. Not to mention the pilots who might have got a bit rusty themselves. It's why I won't be going on a holiday by plane any time soon, tempting as it may be!
There's a lot of work to do and aviation youtubers (e.g. Mentour Pilot) have discussed this. Airlines have been gearing back up getting planes and pilots current. Even a private pilot like yours truly is doing some spring training flights to get back in the groove after not flying much in the winter.
You do this stuff as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
For my airline, we flew each plane every 30 days to keep it going. All of our pilots are back now too and spend a lot of time in the simulator getting ready to return. Its like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it
@@ratedr9544 except getting the ghost out of it... you just don't feel like yourself after that long stopping...
There will be many fatal accidents in the coming years, airlines talk a good safety game but behind closed doors they are cutting costs and taking risks in exchange for for reduced safety a lot more often than you’d think.
When 9/11 happened and US air space was shut, they were worried that some of the planes wouldn't take off again (particularly from the smaller airports that weren't built for the number of extra planes that landed) and that was only a week. Hopefully, they've been rotating round their stock over such a long time. I've also heard of empty planes being flown so the airlines didn't lose their slots at the airports. So it's possible that a lot of the planes were being used for things like that, even if they didn't have any passengers.
I greatly appreciate a well timed outro with something that clearly has to be done with one or very few takes. Tom is a professional
i never realize how interesting normal things are until tom makes a video about it.
Explains why it felt much busier when I landed yesterday than when I flew out the week before! Great video
Oh yes, planes and Tom Scott, the two best things in the world
I bet Sam from Wendover is super jealous.
Tom Scott's good but planes are helping to kill our world.
This is so cool seeing Gatwick airport in one of toms video, I live 12 mins round the corner!! I actually worked in north terminal for around 6 months
The cost of utilities in an old vacant building was over $1 million dollars a year. You can't leave even a vacant building without heat, air conditioning, or electricity or it will quickly deteriorate. Freezing pipes and mold are huge risks. The owner decided to demolish it instead.
you don't need to keep the AC running if it's not occupied and you only need enough heating to keep it just above freezing, but you do need to ensure the place is ventilated, which is the one thing many forget when buildings are abandoned and buttoned up. Of course it depends on what kind of structure we're talking about. The typical American buildings made from toothpicks and plywood can barely function even if they are in use, but it takes a lot more before steel and concrete structures begin to deteriorate (as long as they're built correctly)
@@thesteelrodent1796 you do need to run air conditioning periodically to keep humidity levels in check, otherwise all that stale (and humid in some areas) air will cause mold to grow
I love airports and I love how clever the operations are around the flights and the people
Another aviation story involving logistics is EAA's annual Airventure Oshkosh. In 2019 a city of 67,004 hosted a one week event that welcomed 642,000 people and over 10,000 aircraft. It's really quite remarkable. I live about a one hour drive away so I go every year. You should check it out. Well worth your time!
I'm hoping to fly there myself in the next year or two. My plane's former owners flew her there in 1999. "White low wing over Fisk give me a wing rock!"
@@marsgal42 Land on the blue dot, and welcome to Oshkosh! :)
At one time, you could play nine holes of golf in the UK, take Concorde to Oshkosh, and the back nine there on the same day
I'll be honest with you, this is actually about the right amount of effort that I thought it would take to reopen an airport terminal, having said that I was also at Gatwick when the south terminal was closed so I had some idea of what it would take.
I'm dealing with reopening small offices after 2 years at work, and the technical issues that come from systems being offline and unmonitored for 2 years is a royal pain. I simply can't imagine what it's like on this scale.
What are you experiencing? Genuinely interested.
I am not going to need the service of this terminal for the foreseeable future, but I'm incredibly grateful for the hardworking staff that is making that reopening possible, or anyone reopening an airport in the wake of the pandemic. Its no small feat to work in an airport as is, and their service and coordination is increasingly more vital in our interconnected world.
Loved the outro!
Absolutely love seeing any video you make. You make learning fun and the way you go in depth is impeccable. Keep up the excellent work Tom.
As a German, I have to admit I expected something utterly different when reading the description "mothballing". I translated that literally and was expecting this to be a video about pest control.
Probably one of the most important videos that Tom has done. Explaining the recovery from the pandemic, so that it is explicable takes a lot of thought.
They reopened the closed International terminal in STL when a tornado destroyed the main terminal. It was like walking back in time, but they updated quickly.
This is only scratching the surface. I work on airport check-in systems, there's a whole lot of infrastructure services outside the terminals (in my case, various cloud servers and so on) that have also been shut down for the past 2 years to cut costs. On the plus side, a lot of airports have been able to use the down-time to upgrade non-critical systems that are well past their use-by dates.
Great video, as always, Tom.
The day Tom Scott doesn't have some ridiculously timed ending for a video will be the day the art of the RUclips video is dead for good.
So happy to see progress in the right direction!!!
Me (as a German): "Wait... you can actually _open_ airport terminals?"
It really hurts doesn't it? No wonder everyone in Berlin jokes about it. The airport is open right? Is it any good?
Good luck to everyone involved in the reopening!
This reminds me of the wind turbines, they have to be rotated once every 24hrs to keep them in good order. Sometimes it takes months from when they are built until they are cleared for regular use, so it can be a big job making sure it happens.
You just reminded me of a story a former aviation mechanic told me about how they had to check out tools and a timer, when the timer went off the tools had to stop being used as soon as possible and returned for inspection I couldn't imagine the sheer amount of paperwork that generated.
You get such fantastic access! Thank you for sharing behind the scenes with us. I look forward to your videos coming out more than any other.
It's all been a bit wierd as someone who was 'required' to be out and about during all the lockdowns I've seen some strange stuff. Been the only person in empty office blocks complete with dead house plants, packed lunches that had been festering in tupperware boxes for over a year! Empty roads and terminals are really strange almost dreamlike. Glad things are getting back to 'normal'.
The aim wasn't that they would get back to "normal". The crisis was used to push the so called "Fourth Industrial Revolution". That includes things like working from home, keeping the peasants from travelling far, and automating as many jobs as possible.
I'm not pushing a political or any other theory just making an observation.
@@sonofedmund5004 It's all political. Even calling our current situation "normal". The economic fallout from it has been massive but it's being blamed on anything or everything else.
p.s. It's not a "theory". The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already out there and countries are signed up. The UK government has some webpages discussing the relevant legislation.
Thanks for the great video Tom
I live in Horley, very close to Gatwick, and all the residents are dreading the South Terminal opening. It's been so nice having a reduced number of planes taking off; and less traffic on the roads.
I’m surprised by the demand for air travel, given the reality we’re now facing with the climate and the increasing availability of remote work reducing the appeal of business trips. I know people have relatives abroad, but for most holidays there are alternatives which don’t cost the Earth. I’ve sworn off flying now.
@@kirkhamandy Indeed! Smaller in good and bad ways; the town is less rowdy but the shopping choice is poor
@@kirkhamandy I have the odd experience of both working at this airport (sometimes parking in Horley before my staff pass was approved), and living in the coast road to it's south with beach views all year round. Seeing how good Sussex is, it does make me wonder why so many bother to leave. I'm glad they do though as it's a bit more civilised with less people. Couldn't stand to be on a beach like Bournemouth was between the lockdowns.
@@kirkhamandy I guess it depends on our lifestyle. Within 2 miles of where I am, I can have countryside as far as I want to walk, retirement villages where hardly anything happens each decade or the aforementoin deserted beaches. A little further along there is even a retirement village with it's own private beach for residents only. More of a hamlet really. Or you can have the bustle of working at one of the busiest 40 airports in the world within commuting distance. It is what you make of it. And it's far enough away to not notice jet noise. Even quite hard to see the jets sometimes. You're more likely to see the light aircraft of a much older airport!
Great timing at the end there, love thattttt!!!
I remember while doing PPE flights walking through T3 at LHR when it was completely empty. Was a really weird scene it being devoid of any human life.
Thank you and glad you got to keep your flying hours up safely.
Great video, this is totally something I wouldn’t think about until I was looking forward to travelling, and then thinking “oh crap I hope they’re up and running”
I worked Retail at an Airport during lockdown. It was eerie. I would only do $15 of sales in 8 hours and it was mostly employees buying a drink.
This is a classic Tom Scott video. Love it.
I would love to experience walking through an entire empty airport. That would be cool.
I did it back in December about 5 am in Gatwick. Twas a weird feeling
(and no I didn't take a flight)
Got to do it when I was installing signage in Shannon airport a few years ago, we could only work when there was no passenger's around so we worked through the night. It was a fun experience but I hated the job
Walked through the Baghdad airport with my M-16 back in 2004. That was definitely interesting.
Get a job at an airport. Not difficult at all.
Then work night shifts between summer/ski seasons.
You’ll soon lose the hunger for such a ‘glamorous’ lifestyle 😆
@@Monkey80llx Been there done that. As you say, looks like a normal night shift. Sometimes even in the height of summer. I worked at both LGW terminals in summer nightshifts.
Thanks for this Tom. World is coming back up. Good luck to all at Gatwick
I wonder what they've learned about mothballing for the future. I bet they learned a lot.
I think they are really hope not to wall slam into one... anytime.
The timing at the end again 😂👍🏻
Love these outros
Tom's videos just hit a little different. And they've gotten so good! The cinematography, the writing, the length! Kudos from a follower.
Equipments not being used and maintained for quite a while sure does breakdown.
I used to work for a franchise of McDonald's in SouthEast Asia. The restaurant's grill has two parts that heats up, 1) the usual flat grill, and 2) the top grill that closes down like a clamshell. The second one is used for faster cooking by cooking the patties both sides at the same time for shorter time. The store's burger orbers are so slow that we rarely used the second one. It just broke down and became unsusable until the whole unit is deemed fully depreciated.
a place of high friction, tight tolerances, high traffic, natural processes and expediency. God i love airports
A place of high friction, tight tolerances, high traffic, natural processes and expediency. By Zeus, do I hate airports.
Your videos are always interesting, even when you answer a question I never had.
Tom"s timing is always perfect , the outro's timing was One example
Tom, I really love your videos. Very well made, perfect length, and very informative. Love them all the way around. I do wish you had some longer videos but I’m not going to stop watching because of that. Keep up the AMAZING work sir!
2:57 I still can't believe how a plane can take off; sure the flaps and ailerons are probably almost 100% down (up for the tail), but from the camera angle it almost looks like nothing. incredible!
They hacked the physics engine. No other way to do it!
Got some fond memories flying out of Gatwicks South Terminal over the years, its nice to see it coming back
Reminds me of when the OG TopGear boys went to the empty Ciudad Real International Airport in Spain. They should help open up Gatwick. :)
Wow, that last shot was great!
They make it sound like a favor to bring back the workers they furloughed during the height of the Pandemic.
This explains why the Gatwick Express Class 387 trains have been running elsewhere since March 2020. It'll be awesome to see them running on their home turf again.
People don't realize the large number of systems that have to be tested, maintained and safety checked. Everything takes time to bring them back online one at a time, so you can't just flip a switch. Airports are very complex in operation and require a lot of work and maintenance to keep running safely. It makes you wonder about all of the airplanes that have been sitting around for 2 years as well, and what needs to be done with them before they're allowed to fly again.
Killing it with the timings recently. Nice
I think you should make a video about airport baggage systems :D This one was funny for me because the company I work for (Beumer Group) made the baggage system for this airport.
Of all the videos on RUclips. This ends the best. 💯 to Tom + team on this.
Its really incredible how such a huge and heavy machine can just lift off and fly
I shot at Stansted when one of the terminals was shut and the whole airport was empty. Glad to say I got that experience, was quite something.
I dont mean to sound insulting, but I just dont really understand what this video tells you except that systems need to be checked.
It doesnt seem to me to have the detailed information that usually comes from Toms videos.
But in general, fantastic videos! Keep them coming 😁
Agreed on all counts
+1
+
The stuff you'd normally think of, like machines, power, security and safety. It's nice to see such a busy terminal calm but yes I agree, it definitely feels like there was not as much info compared to other videos.
Might be related to security as it is an airport?
Tom Scott and his classic ending sequence. Absolutely phenomenal timing!
damn, tom really can make anything interesting
Great film Tom and well done to Gatwick Airport for allowing access. Let’s get moving again..!