Airport Transformation Takes Shape

17 August 2018, 10:13 | Updated: 17 August 2018, 10:15

Manchester Airport's marking one year of construction on its £1bn transformation programme

The work will see Terminal 2 become 150% bigger than it currently is and become the focal point of the airport’s operations.

The programme got under way a year ago after a visit by the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling. Since then, the airport’s skyline has changed dramatically as the first pier has been built and over 70% of the steelwork has been erected on the terminal extension.

It’s one of the biggest construction programmes in the North of England and there are currently 1,200 people working on site, including 80 apprentices, in trades ranging from plumbing and scaffolding to quantity surveying and civil engineering. At the peak of the project, at the beginning of 2019, it is expected that nearly 1,500 people will be working on site with a target of 150 apprentices.

Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, says: "This is the largest investment ever made in the airport and will transform the experience for our passengers and airlines alike, as well as creating job and training opportunities for local people and boosting businesses working on the scheme in the process.
"I’m excited to see the first pier open to passengers in just eight months' time and to press ahead with the rest of the scheme, especially the new terminal building, which is in course to be open to passengers by mid-2020.
"Walking around the site, you really get a scale for how big the project is and the benefits its delivering for not only people securing jobs on the site but also the companies from across the North working on the scheme."
The first pier is set to open to passengers in April 2019. At 216m long if it was stood upright it would be the tallest building in Manchester. The terminal extension is on course to open in 2020.
To enable the new pier and terminal extension to be constructed, work has also been progressing on the airfield. In the first phase of airfield works, the apron has been extended to the west; including new taxiways and apron reconfiguration to allow the pier and additional aircraft stands to be used