Manchester Airport (MAN/EGCC), United Kingdom

Manchester Airport is on the south side of the Manchester conurbation adjoining countryside in the county of Cheshire. In spite of the airport's standing often being expressed in terms of its secondary nature to those in the London area (as with being the UK's busiest after Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted), one-third of the UK's population is within two hours' road travel of Manchester.

Opened in June 1938 and also termed Ringway, ownership is now in the hands of ten council authorities in Greater Manchester through the Manchester Airport Group (MAG), which also owns Bournemouth, Humberside and East Midlands Airport – Nottingham, Leicester, Derby. Subsidiary body MADL (Manchester Airport Developments Ltd) handles development and management aspects of MAG. The operators forecast an increase in passenger numbers to around 32 million by 2015.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

Designated T1, T2 and T3, the terminals opened in 1962, 1993 and 1989 respectively. Subsequently much modified, T1 adjoins T3 and there is speculation that the designations may change in future.

Subject to high-profile and long-running environmental objections leading up to, and during, construction, Manchester opened the £172m second runway in February 2001. The project included a new fire station and substantial re-profiling of land on the south side that adjoins a country park. Runway two is subject to an agreement on restricted operating hours.

Generically designated 'The Station', the central transport hub receiving bus, coach and rail services has covered walkways to all terminals. The original railway station, a terminus on a spur from the 'Styal Loop' on the Manchester-Crewe line, opened in 1993. A second major re-engineering to increase capacity and improve train handling will lead to a third platform being opened in late 2008. The airport is integrated in the timetables of long-distance as well as local rail services.

OPERATIONS

In spite of a strong association with package tour operations, Manchester enjoys a broad market base within its 225 destinations with domestic, European and inter-continental areas well represented.

Route expansion by Ryanair and a new EasyJet base was announced in 2007, part of a gradual increase in the proportion of no-frills carriers in Manchester's aircraft movements.

With a marked presence of Asian and North American routes, operations at the 'World Freight Terminal' include many services by wide-bodied aircraft.

To improve security, in 2008 MAG began the introduction of an iris-scanning system for staff at Manchester, the first application for staff at a UK airport.

FUTURE PLANS

The phased £35m T1 redevelopment is due to be completed by 2009, and includes the expansion of retail and catering capacity, increased security throughput and a changed balance of passenger areas with proportionally more space being given over to airside facilities.

As well as space available for phase two at the western end, the present T2 area has the capability of modification for higher numbers. Within the present site there is space available for extension to the east of T3. Although it is possible that dedicated terminal facilities may be provided for low-cost carriers, there is no intention to add a third runway or fourth terminal.

In 2007 it was announced that the current control tower in the terminal complex built 45 years previously would be replaced. Architects have been invited to show expressions of interest in the £8m project, which calls for an over 50m-tall tower to be constructed away from airport buildings and nearer the two runways. To become a base of UK air traffic control body NATS, which also has a regional role at Manchester, the new tower is projected for a late 2009 opening.

Manchester is unusual amongst UK airports in its active encouragement of visitors to see aircraft movements at close quarters and for educational purposes. Attracting around 250,000 annually, the aviation viewing park at the south west of the site is to gain a £1.1m building to house its principal exhibit, Concorde G-BOAC, during 2008.

With Manchester well served by motorways and an M56 exit adjacent, the airport, which has over 21,000 parking spaces, is redominantly accessed by road. To reduce this reliance, MAG's Ground Transport Plan includes a long-term aim for 40% of passengers and staff to use public transport.

MAG is a strong supporter of, and has signalled a financial commitment to, the Manchester Metrolink light rail network. Phase 3b of the Metrolink project would bring a line onto the airport site, with a longer-term aim of reaching Stockport. However, as completion of the earlier phase 3a is not expected before 2012, it may be several years before Manchester Airport can offer light rail services.