Manchester Airport reveals £1bn investment plan
Click here to view an image gallery of how the airport will look by 2025
MANCHESTER Airport has revealed a 10-year investment programme which it estimates will cost around £1bn as it embarks on a project of more than 60 improvements to its facilities and infrastucture.
The ‘Manchester Airport Transformation Programme’ will included better road access to the airport, which has seen passenger numbers surge to record levels this year.
The investment will see Terminal 2 expanded and reconfigured to become Manchester’s primary terminal facility.
For passengers flying to North America, a US pre-clearance facility will be introduced too, which should speed up onward travel by allowing passengers to clear immigration, customs, and agricultural inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) before boarding their flight.
As well as the improvement to Terminal 2, there will be: an upgrade to Terminal 3, the introduction of new and enlarged airside transfer facilities, including the direct linkage between Terminals 2 and 3; adoption of new technology in an enlarged security hall that will screen more passengers, quicker; a number of new “customer friendly enhancements”, including self-service check-in facilities and around 50 food and beverage and retail outlets and the introduction of new stands and piers, offering better departure gate facilities
Bosses at Manchester Airports Group, which owns Manchester and three other airports, say the transformation programme will be undertaken in a phases to ensure minimise disruption to airport operations, passengers and airlines.
They added that the £1bn programme updates and re-profiles its existing long term capital investment plans, but won’t affect its credit rating.
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of M.A.G said: “Today, we’re setting out how the airport will contribute to the development of a Northern Powerhouse and demonstrating the dynamic, can-do spirit that sums up the region.
“The Transformation Programme will ensure Manchester Airport plays its full part in driving economic growth and develops as a key part of the UK transport infrastructure, within a nationwide network of competing airports.
“We continue to work closely with our airline partners to ensure that their requirements and those of their passengers will be fully catered for, both during the programme design and build and upon its completion.”
He added: “Over the next 10 years, the airport will continue to develop as a global gateway for the UK, directly to and from the North, and these enhancements will enable us to further adapt, modernise and transform the customer service experience we are able to offer.”
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, which part-owns MAG alongside the nine other local authorities in Greater Manchester and Australian infrastructure fund IFM, added: “Manchester Airport plays a vital economic role in the region in which it serves. Its annual passenger numbers last year topped a record 22 million and it provides jobs for 20,000 people on site and a further 25,000 indirectly.
“Greater Manchester and the rest of the North West is increasingly competing on an international stage and an airport that is better suited to serving these global aspirations will significantly improve the impact the region can have in attracting inward and outward investment, helping it to realise its full economic potential and create further jobs and opportunities.”
Christian Seymour, from IFM Investors, which owns 35.5% of M.A.G said: “Since acquiring our stake just over two years ago, we have been delighted with the progress the group has made in terms of implementing its capital investment plan and growing passengers and revenues. Of particular note is the turnaround M.A.G has achieved at London Stansted, transforming it into the fastest growing major airport in the country in just two years.”
The investment was welcomed by airlines easyJet and Emirates, which have both been growing their capacity at Manchester.
