Plans released for further expansion of Southend Airport
18.01.12
Southend Airport has released plans for Phase 2 of its terminal development. An application for the extension – due to cost a further £10 million – is likely to be submitted to Rochford District Council within weeks, before Phase 1 is even open !
Work on the two-storey terminal started in January last year and the building is due to welcome first passengers on February 28. The 60-metre building has three departure gates and room for five aircraft to line up on the apron outside. It has been designed to handle about 700,000 people a year, most of whom will be customers of budget airline easyJet, which starts fights to nine destinations on April 2.
The airport's owner, Stobart Air, wants to extend the building’s northern end to cope with more passengers. The terminal’s northern wall has been designed so it can be easily removed when the time comes to extend the building. Alastair Welch, managing director of the airport, said: 'These plans will help us ensure the high levels of customer service we will be offering to passengers are maintained as we progress towards our goal of 2 million passengers per year by 2020.'
If the extension gets planning permission, work could start by the end of the year and be completed by early 2014. The number of passenger flights would be likely to rise from a projected 7,700 in 2012 to 18,900 by 2020, with low-cost airlines accounting of much of the business.
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