Construction work begins this week on a £40 million project to extend Stansted Airport’s main terminal building.

The development will add an extra 5,900m² of floor space to the international arrivals area of the terminal and is due to be open by June 2008, with the project fully completed by December 2008.

Key features of the project include doubling the size of the Immigration Hall, providing extra space for additional baggage carousels and the creation of a new and improved area for ‘meeters and greeters’ at international arrivals, with enhanced retail and onward transport facilities.

Nick Barton, Business Development and Planning Director, BAA Stansted said:

“Stansted Airport has very successfully grown its airline route network over recent years, and now serves nearly 24 million passengers a year, so this is clearly the right time to bring forward this exciting new project. We are committed to providing the best possible airport experience at Stansted, and this significant investment will create additional space and facilities that will benefit both passengers and business partners alike.

“The development has been carefully planned with all the various companies and organisations involved to ensure that while the works are taking place any disruption to staff, passengers and the airport’s safe operation is kept to a absolute minimum.”

The terminal extension will also be a major environmental success. Biomass boilers burning renewable forms of fuel will be used to generate hot water for direct use and heating purposes. They burn fuel that is renewable as it’s in a constant carbon cycle* (see notes to editors), and this initiative will reduce the terminal’s carbon emissions by 1,824,000 kg per year, effectively making the extension project carbon neutral.

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Notes to Editors

• *Trees (just one example) are grown and cut down. The "good" wood is used to make furniture and the rest is scrap or waste. This waste is split into two components. The first is used to fuel the pellet production process and the second is converted by the process into pellets. This leaves only a small amount of ash that is put back into the land. New trees are planted to replace the old in controlled forestry management. The new trees grow and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. In return the biomass fuel pellets are burnt releasing that CO2 and the cycle is closed. So, no additional CO2 is generated and energy is produced. Energy enters the cycle from the trees capturing sunlight; nature's solar panels.
• The main management and construction contractor is mace and the architect was Pascall & Watson
• The terminal extension will be 36m x 162m and will involve the erecting of 22 diagrids (forming the roof) and six support trees.
• Planning permission was granted by Uttlesford District Council in 2002 and was part of the application to handle around 25 million passengers per annum.