MIPIM: Airport City work to start next month

MANCHESTER Airports Group (MAG) plans to start work on its £650m Airport City scheme next month.

At international property convention MIPIM today, MAG’s Airport City director Karen Campbell said engineers were weeks away from starting on a £27m programme of infrastructure works.

“This will include roads, landscaping and utility works that will all help in delivering the first phase,” she said.

She also told an audience at the event’s Manchester stand that a joint venture partner for the development should be announced in mid-June.

She said: “We’re in the process of securing a jont venture partner… we’re very pleased with the level of interest we’ve had from international developers and the standard of people interested in this project.”

Airport City has two areas, the 1.4 million sq ft logistics hub to the south and the one million sq ft office scheme to the north of the airport.

Ms Campbell said Airport City is being marketed at international businesses not served by traditional out-of-town office parks. “We’re looking at international companies looking to locate in the UK who will be a few minutes walk from workplace to check-in.”

Andrew Cliffe, managing director for assets at MAG, told the audience the £1.5bn takeover of Stansted in January was “just the start of our ambitions”.

“It’s been a successful 12 months but you will see an awful lot more from us over the next two years and Airport City will be at the heart of that.”

He said there would be new services, with Asia Pacific growth a “key target”. The airport has been working on a direct service to China for some time.

“We’ll continue to target this area from Manchester and we have the same ambition at Stansted where we’ll be expanding long haul flights and will have greater short haul connectivity.”