Gatwick Airport is the UK's second busiest airport by passenger numbers, including transiting passengers.

"The baggage system runs 20 hours a day, 365, so it's intense," says senior engineering manager Stevie Summers.

He's responsible for the machinery that gets passengers' bags to the right aircraft at the right time. His team has 4,000 individual conveyor belts to contend with.

The team plan for higher demand in the summer months in an attempt to make sure that, even on a bad day, "it's seamless and you don't notice".

"We drill ourselves to be ready for the worst day possible so everyone takes pride in what they do, and it's stressful, but it's why we're here," Summers says.

A team of nine people are responsible for safely maintaining the airfield at Gatwick Airport around the clock.

Airfield operations controller Danyell Wickham says the airport sees up to 900 aircraft movements a day during summer months.

"We also need to make sure that we get maintenance done in certain areas, so it's just making sure that everything lines up,” she says.

"The fact that we can take so many movements on a single runway is amazing, everyone works so well together, so it's really rewarding."

Claudia Marlowe is co-owner of the Paskins Town House guesthouse in Brighton and says they have seen guests from near and far this summer.

Many Brits are coming to the seaside city to save money over a holiday abroad, she tells BBC Radio Sussex, but "it's also cheaper for Europeans to come here".

"We've got the festivals all going on on the beach as well, so it's a really joyous time of year for Brighton in general," she says.

Oscar Day has been in the air traffic control industry for eight years.

"It's sort of nerve-racking when you first apply for the job,” he says. But added that his training was so robust that by the time he received his licence “you feel totally confident in the procedures and your ability, and it's just enjoyable”.

He says the job is “much more enjoyable during the summer", when Gatwick is at its busiest.

“It's much more interesting when you've got things moving, things going on and you just do the best you can to get them going as soon as you can,” he says.

The Doctor is among the high-profile visitors in the history of Gatwick Airport.

Six episode Doctor Who series The Faceless Ones, starring Patrick Troughton as the second incarnation of The Doctor, was filmed at the West Sussex airport in 1967.

The airport was the main setting for the plot, which involved a race of aliens, known as Chameleons, stealing the identities of passengers and crew.

Read more about the episodes here.

Image source, Reuters

According to Tourism South East, which promotes tourism businesses and destinations in the south-east of England, more people have opted to stay local in recent years.

A summer of sport, warm British weather and instability in parts of the word have influenced some to have a staycation, chief executive Fran Downton told BBC Radio Sussex.

"Since Covid, we've also seen people's preference to make decisions on their holidays has got later and later," she says. "So I think that has also helped with people saying 'actually I'm going to stay local'."

Downton adds: "People are really wanting to get out there and explore what they've got and what's local to them."

Image source, Reuters

LGW’s busiest days of the summer are expected to be the first, second and third Sundays of August, according to the airport.

About 900 flights are scheduled on the peak dates.

Charlotte, from Southampton, and her daughters had been due to jet off for a week-long holiday this morning.

"The M3 was shut so we had to go all the way through Basingstoke and all that way around," she says.

That means they've missed their flight.

But they've managed to buy new flights - with their father on the phone organising logistics as they speak to the BBC - so they will still be heading off to Lanzarote this afternoon.

Image source, Mohammed Numaan Azam

According to Mohammed Numaan Azam, a consultant at Woking Travel Centre, many holidaymakers "are inquiring but they're a bit scared to give the go ahead" due to uncertainty in the Middle East and high prices.

"More and more people are staying closer to home, they're travelling to Europe - Spain, Italy, France - because they simply can't afford to travel as far," he says.

"We also know some of our regulars who go every year are now saying they're travelling within the UK this year because they simply can't afford the cost of going abroad."

But, he says, there are bargains to be found during gaps in the conflict between the US and Iran.

"If there's a ceasefire some people do take a quick bargain because the hotels are empty and you can get a very cheap holiday," Azam says.

We're pausing our live stream of the runway at Gatwick Airport, but will be back with more takeoffs and landings later on.

Image source, PA Media

Airlines have been reporting challenges linked to conflict in the Middle East.

The price of fuelling a plane has jumped since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February.

Ryanair said it expects summer fares to be slightly lower than last year as it tries to improve demand against "consumer hesitancy" for air travel, after announcing a fall in its profits.

According to the airport, 42.8 million passengers passed through Gatwick in 2025.

But the airfield started off life much smaller in the 1930s - and its original terminal remains preserved.

Listen to the Secret Sussex episode all about Gatwick's original circular art deco terminal, which still stands as a preserved piece of the airport's 90-year history.

This is the first summer peak period since the European Union's new border Entry/Exit System (EES) came in.

The new rules require UK travellers to register fingerprints and a photo alongside a passport scan, replacing the manual stamping of passports.

There have been warnings of the potential for long queues at European airports because of the new system.

You can find out more about the impact of EES in this explainer.

The BBC has secured exclusive behind-the-scenes access at Gatwick Airport to see how teams are preparing to get holidaymakers away for the summer.

Throughout the day we will hear from the people in charge of:

• Baggage handling
• Air traffic control
• Airfield operations

Medina and her family, from East Croydon, are headed to the Canary Islands today.

"It's much needed time from work, and just a break. We're looking forward to it - some bonding time," Medina says.

"We're feeling excited, tummies fluttering, ecstatic to just enjoy our holiday and have some time on the beach."

Medina and her 10-year-old daughter, Kaci, arrived more than four and a half hours before their flight departs.

"We're super early, we like to be ahead of time," Medina says.

Gatwick's busy summers and plans for further expansions are not popular with everyone.

Campaigners have launched a legal challenge against the proposal to bring a second runway into consistent use.

“I don’t think Gatwick really realises the impact it has,” says Sally Pavey, who chairs the Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions group.

“It’s not just the aircraft noise, it’s the impact of all these people going to the airport to fly out of the UK to spend money overseas.”

Peter Barclay of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign is part of the legal challenge.

“The amount of pollution being produced is very concerning," he said. “And there is of course a worldwide problem of the impact of climate change, and that is significant.”

The Department for Transport and the airport's owner are defending the legal challenge.

Gatwick Airport and the government are planning to bring a second runway into use to expand the airport's capacity.

The privately-financed project involves moving the current emergency runway 39ft (12m) north to safely bring it into regular use, as well as other developments such as terminal extensions.

The scheme is expected to increase Gatwick's capacity from about 280,000 flights a year to 389,000 by the late 2030s.

But the plan has been controversial and is facing a legal challenge. You can read more here.