BAA yesterday held out the prospect of 6,000 jobs being created after it won permission for a £200 million scheme to double the size of London's third airport, Stansted.
The main terminal will be expanded so that the airport operator will be able to accommodate 15 million passengers a year instead of the present 7 million, under plans agreed by the local authority, Uttlesford district council, Essex. A further two wings will be added to the celebrated terminal building designed by Sir Norman Foster, plus additional aprons for aircraft parking. A spokewoman said the 8,000 staff should grow to as many as 14,000.
This would involve everyone from retail and catering workers to aircraft engineers who will be employed by BAA and the growing number of airlines using Stansted, already the country's fourth busiest airport, after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. Stansted has become increasingly popular due to congestion at the other two London facilities.
BA's no-frills subsidiary Go, Ryanair and KLM are the main operators but a host of foreign carriers such as Lufthansa, SAS and Alitalia have recently started using Stansted. Yesterday Go inaugurated routes to Faro and Malaga, while this summer a host of other European destinations will be added.
BAA won outline approval for Stansted expansion following a 1986 public inquiry but the operator had to promise that the increasing volumes would only be added gradually. Yesterday it said work would begin on the first phase of development early next year. BAA underlined the sensitivity of the scheme by promising: 'We will be keeping the local community updated with regular reports.'
BAA said the Stansted plan was part of a wider strategy to develop its airports in the South-east. This includes the proposed fifth terminal at Heathrow, the biggest of BAA's seven airports, and the expansion of Gatwick to 40 million passengers a year. The company, the world's largest publicly quoted airports operator, is enjoying considerable financial success, with earnings before one-off items for the three months to December 31 up from £83 million to £99 million.
Passenger numbers were up by 7 per cent. There was a 7.4 per cent increase in spending at airport duty free shops.
