Manchester Airports Group announces £1.1 billion investment in London Stansted

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced a £1.1 billion programme of investment into London Stansted as it nears completion of its £1.3 billion transformation of Manchester Airport.

The announcement came as part of the UK’s International Investment Summit on 14th October, and will see the airport operator, the UK’s largest and which is majority-owned by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities, deliver an extension to the airport’s existing terminal and increase potential capacity to serve up to 43 million passengers annually. Plans, which were approved in October 2023, will create an additional 5,000 jobs and potentially double to airport’s annual economic contribution to over £2 billion, with some of that figure to return to local authorities in Greater Manchester.

Investment plans follow a record-breaking year for passenger numbers at MAG airports in the 12 months to September 2024, and which has seen London Stansted serve 29.3 million passengers, just behind the 30.1 million figure recorded by Manchester Airport during the same period.

Manchester Airport’s £1.3 billion transformation of Terminal is set to complete in 2025, with work currently underway on a new ‘pier’, which will offer extra aircraft gates, stands and seating and will more than double the capacity of the terminal ahead of the closure of Terminal 1.

Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, said:

“We have been steadfast in our commitment to help British businesses grow and in turn boost the UK’s economy. This announcement is a clear signal that Britain is open for business. 

“Transport is central to this government’s core mission of growing the economy. This is about giving companies like Manchester Airports Group the confidence to invest, boosting regional and national economic growth and supporting the aviation sector while also meeting our existing environmental obligations.“

Ken O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer of MAG – which owns London Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands Airports, said:

“By investing more than £1 billion in Stansted over the next 5 years, we will be able to connect people and businesses in London and the east of England to even more global destinations, while welcoming millions more visitors to the UK.

“We are proud to be investing in our infrastructure in a way that will create jobs and stimulate trade, investment and tourism. 

“Aviation is an essential enabler of the success of the UK’s key high-value industries, and we look forward to helping the government achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7 through the sustainable growth of our airports.“

The investment by Manchester Airports Group was one of a number of major deals announced at the UK government’s first International Investment Summit. Elsewhere in the North-west, Health Innovation Manchester and The University of Manchester announced a strategic partnership with pharmaceuticals giant, Eli Lilly and Company, to research the impact of weight-loss drugs and other interventions to combat obesity alongside plans by the business to invest in life sciences innovation accelerators nationwide.