The Flying Horse (JD Wetherspoon), Crawley

Pretty good airport Spoons in the South Terminal, past security. Named after the racecourse that was here prior to the airport. Looks to have been recently done-up, and to a high standard as well. It’s long and narrow but there is plenty of space plus there’s a skylight which helps bounce some light off the attractive copper leaf ceiling. Also liked the little copper tanks above the ‘craft beer’ bit at the bar. Three non-standard ales in Exmoor Hold, Dark Star Hophead and Oakham Citra (NBSS 3). Much more expensive than your regular high street Spoons but cheap in comparison to offerings elsewhere in the airport and they also take the CAMRA 50p vouchers so effectively you are drinking your pint for a normal ‘pub’ price, can’t knock that really. Good service too, a cut above the norm; we had three separate enquiries by different staff as to whether everything was good. An enjoyable start to my holiday and it’s worth making time to get a pint in before your flight based on this visit. Score based on context – a worthy 7.

This pub is for airline passengers only.

The Flying Horse is an airside Wetherspoons pub that is much bigger than the Beehive which is the landside offering from Spoons. The bar along the left hand wall faces plenty of seating that also stretches much further back to the rear. Standard draught is available and I counted six hand pumps, one of which was off. I did have a chuckle whilst I watched the barman try and explain pub etiquette to the line of Europeans that had started queuing by the entrance waiting to be seated. I’ve been in much worse high street pubs so well done Wetherspoons for making this pub half decent even the crowd is captive.

Located airside on the first floor of Gatwick's South Terminal, this Wetherspoons bar seems to have been relatively undisturbed by the terminal's recent revamp. I've always thought that this place has much more of a 'pubby' feel to it than most other airport bars, from the traditional pub name (partly inspired by the former racetrack that the airport was built on) to the hop lined walls which add a nice touch. The pub is set up in a functional way, with the servery down the left hand wall and vast amounts of seating opposite and to the rear. The place is usually packed and if you arrive as part of a group you will almost certainly need to get busy re-arranging the furniture in order to get everyone a seat around your table. Perhaps unsurprisingly, quite a few people had taken their pints out to the airport chairs outside the front of the pub, which no-one seemed too bothered about. Interesting features are minimal, although the servery has a fairly nice 'Flying Horse' mirror on the bar back. Otherwise, there are TV screens showing muted news coverage and handy airport departure boards. There are six hand pumps which were dispensing three 'Spoons regulars and three guest ales on my visit. I tried the Adnams Fat Sprat, which was really good, although when a friend went to get another round in, he returned with a sludgy pint of what he claimed was the same beer, so not sure what had happened to it in the intervening 30 minutes. Plenty of customers were getting stuck into the usual 'Spoons fayre from the comparatively cheap menu and the waiting staff were doing a manful job of despatching the dishes without tripping over various bags and cases. There are no surprises or innovations here - it's a Wetherspoons in an airport and expectations have to be adjusted accordingly, but I found the place to be one of their better airport bars and don't mind spending a bit of time here before jetting off.