Hours after receiving planning permission to raise the airport’s passenger cap, from 35 million to 43 million, the British-Irish Airports EXPO was given a first-hand briefing on the implications of the decision for the £600 million Stansted Airport Transformation Programme (STP) by the airport’s CEO, Ken O’Toole. The Irishman is a former senior Ryanair executive from Cork, and an airport executive who aptly demonstrates the British-Irishness of the EXPO!
Five years after Manchester Airports Group (MAG) acquired Stansted for £1.5 billion, O’Toole says November’s planning approval means the airport will now be able to make full use of the STP capacity it is creating. This includes the £130 million new Arrivals Terminal which is central to increasing one-hour terminal capacity from 4,250 to 7,450 departing passengers per hour.
“That’s a big chunk added to the London airport market – and we need it – we’re the fastest-growing London airport by some considerable margin, we’re going to account for up to half the growth in London for the next 10 years – we can see the routes just jumping out at us.” O’Toole supports this assertion with a wish-list of over 20 new long-haul routes the airport is planning to secure across the world after the success of the launch of daily services to Dubai in June 2018.
While receiving approval for the new passenger growth benchmark, London Stansted has agreed not to raise the aircraft movements cap above 274,000, while simultaneously it has committed to a reduced noise footprint, made possible in part by improvements in aircraft technology, and the airport’s efforts in Performance Based Navigation (PBN).
“We’re hoping to award the main Arrivals Terminal construction contract before Christmas 2018, and then open for summer 2020. Then we’ll re-model the existing terminal into the dedicated Departures Terminal by summer 2021 – it’s a very quick programme, it’s what all the customers want.”
The designs for Pascall+Watson’s new Arrivals Terminal: O’Toole says there are plans to make significant use of the building’s outdoor areas, which he envisages could become a “Kings Cross-St Pancras Station forecourt experience with a significant F&B and street food offer.”
