Manchester Airports Group (M.A.G) has announced a 10-year investment programme for Manchester Airport that will transform the airport, double its capacity and create 1,500 jobs.
The 'Manchester Airport Transformation Programme' is a series of 60 enhancements that will provide the millions of passengers that use the airport every year with facilities that combine a contemporary look and feel with state of the art services.
The key elements of the Transformation Programme include:
- Additional car parking facilities
- The expansion and reconfiguring of Terminal 2, to become the airport's primary terminal building
- Improvement of Terminal 3 to cater for increased demand and an expanding flight schedule
- The introduction of new and enlarged airside transfer facilities, including the direct linkage between Terminals 2 and 3
- US pre-clearance facility, allowing passengers to clear immigration, customs, and agricultural inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) before boarding their flight
- A new, enlarged security hall that will screen more passengers, quicker
- The introduction of a host of new customer friendly enhancements, including self-service check-in facilities and around 50 food and beverage and retail outlets
- The introduction of new stands and piers, offering better departure gate facilities
- Improved surface access road system making it easier for customers to come to and from the airport
The improvements are scheduled to be completed by 2025, by which time 30 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport each year.
The Rt. Hon George Osborne, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer said: "Today's announcement of £1 billion of private sector investment in Manchester Airport is a massive vote of confidence in the North of England and in our plan to build a Northern Powerhouse.
"The investment, which will completely transform Manchester Airport and double its capacity, will help ensure that it continues to compete with global airports across the world.
"It will play a key role in this one nation government's plan to rebalance the UK economy and boost productivity and is fantastic news for working people across the North."
The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport, said: "The £1bn investment in new terminal facilities at Manchester Airport shows the confidence and ambition of Britain's airports to be among the world's best.
"This programme of improvements will allow Manchester to help meet the UK's aviation needs in the coming decades - something that will be of huge value not only to passengers and airlines, but also in creating jobs and transforming the Northern Powerhouse's transport links."
Commenting on the 'Manchester Airport Transformation Programme', Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive of M.A.G, said: "Manchester Airport is thriving as a national asset, forming a key component of the UK's aviation infrastructure at a time when airport capacity in the country is at a premium.
"The region in which the airport operates and serves has seen a pace of change in recent years almost unmatched by any other in the United Kingdom and we are proud of the role that we have played in driving economic growth – both across the North and the UK as a whole.
"Manchester Airport has responded well to the considerable changes in the aviation industry over the last 20 years and we have invested heavily to meet the needs of our airline customers, passengers and local communities.
"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.
"Over the next ten 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, 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, 35.5% shareholders in M.A.G, said: "As one of the largest airport operators in the UK, M.A.G has an outstanding track record of successful airport management.
"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.
"M.A.G's airports across the UK have a key role to play in meeting the country's aviation capacity needs and today's announcement is a strong signal of the company's commitment and ambition to deliver on that."
Comments
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I wonder if George Osborne consulted with his constituents before he championed this project? There really does seem to be a conflict of interest between the well-being of the constituency (and those who live here) and the vanity projects of the Cabinet.
Get real people, if we don't grow in the global village we go the way of the cotton, silk and pottery industries of the past. Focusing just on the empty office space of today displays alarmingly short - termist thinking.
Perhaps the message from Cheshire East Coucil is working:
"We need to build houses for all the people in the new jobs we are creating" OR
"We need new office space for all the people living in the new houses we have built"
Take your pick!!
How many more houses for airport workers will we now need?
Kafka would be proud.
China will be pleased.
I ran labs in Silicon Valley, Long Island NJ and near Boston USA. No high speed rail, but adequate airports and adequate roads. Boston to NewYork to Philadelphia to Washington DC - an adequate ordinary rail service. Universities galore and science parks of course. I did not see empty new office blocks, they weren't being built, but I did see vacant labs for rent where creativity can flourish. Business there was about the people and innovation.
Empty offices here will remain empty. The 'train has left the station' I'm afraid. An increasing balance of payments deficit is being set up. Sucking in more and more imports from EC and Asia is wrong and not what our taxes should be used for. Remember 'export or die'?
Rebalancing our economy shifts imports from the south to the north. There's nothing being done for exports or import substitution.
I hope that I'm wrong, but for the last 5 years I haven't been.
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Do I think something will change? Will there be another one just like that in T.2 now? Somebody please prove me wrong.