From the teething problems that plagued the 2008 opening of T5 to the recent filming of a T-Mobile television advert and pop band McFly, dressed as pilots and air hostesses, switching on the Heathrow Christmas lights this year, Heathrow’s new terminal has barely been out of the news.
However, time moves quickly and work has already begun on the next big thing for Britain’s busiest airport – the new Terminal 2. The £1 billion project will provide a new home for Star Alliance airlines, carrying an estimated 20 million passengers every year.
As well as looking beautiful, the new terminal, which will have 15 security lanes, will be good for the environment too, producing 40% less carbon than the building it is replacing. But don’t get too excited – it’s not due to be completed until 2013.
Manchester airport has seen developments this year too. After being one of the first airports to trial body-scanning technology, it was the location last month for a biometrics-in-motion trial.
Passengers were invited to participate in a trial of new technology that can recognise an individual’s iris while they walk around. After check-in, they had to register so their irises could be used to identify them as they entered the security search area.
More useful for those travelling now is the new Escape Lounge, which opened this summer in Terminal 1. Famous faces such as Sir Alex Ferguson and David Dickinson have already made use of the facilities, which include laptops, massages, manicures, Wiis and PS3s, a TV area and a bar and restaurant.
At Gatwick, a year after the airport was taken over by new owners Global Infrastructure Partners, £1 billion is being spent on modernising airport facilities. Investment in the South Terminal is geared towards upgrading the 1950s building facilities to create a more modern, contemporary space, and at North Terminal, improvement works are designed to support an increase in capacity to accommodate a further 10 million passengers each year over the next decade.
Contracts have been signed to open a 192-room Hampton by Hilton hotel at North Terminal in 2012. A £53 million scheme is also in place to upgrade the airport’s station.
Bristol airport will see exciting developments in the next few months, with the construction of additional aircraft stands, extensions to the terminal and improved car parking all due next year.
Plans have also been approved for an on-site hotel, with work on the 251-room property scheduled to start next year.
Bristol airport is currently the ninth-largest in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, but is the only one of the top 15 airports in the country without on-site hotel accommodation.
Reviews: UK airport hotels
- Radisson Blu, London Stansted (December 2010)
- Hilton, London Gatwick (December 2010)
- Where to stay at UK regional airports (June 2009)
