Manchester airport is set to open a new passenger pier and multi-storey car park in April 2019, as work continues on a £1 billion transformation programme.
To celebrate the completion of the first year of the project, the airport has released a new timelapse video, along with before and after photographs and CGI images of the forthcoming facilities.
The new multi-storey car park will have space for 3,800 vehicles, while the first of three new passenger piers will be 216 metres in length and will offer 11 contact stands and four remote stands.
The aircraft’s apron has been extended to the west, and new taxiways have been created to allow the pier and additional stands to be used.
Meanwhile the steelwork for the extension to the airport’s Terminal 2 is now 70 per cent complete, with the facility on course to open in 2020.
A second pier is scheduled to open in 2022, along with the completion of a refurbishment of the current Terminal 2.
The extended terminal will eventually become the new focal point for the airport’s operations, with Terminal 1 due to close by 2023, and a third pier opening in 2024, giving the airport a capacity of over 35 million passengers per year.
Commenting on the news Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, said:
“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.”