Manchester Airport today revealed the progress made on its £1bn transformation, with several months to go until it opens its new "super terminal."
The UK's third largest airport also released new images and a video to showcase what passengers using the new facilities can expect, when they start using the new terminal from next summer.
New features unveiled include a honeycomb light installation that illuminates the departure lounge. With 16 million settings, it will change colours depending on the time of day.
A new 83 square metre digital screen will take centre stage in the new extension to provide entertainment and information to passengers. There will also be a new children's play area to help families pass the time before heading on their travels.
The first the phase of the terminal extension is set to open in July 2020. It will see a brand-new security hall, the departure lounge, the immigration hall, arrivals hall, new shops and food and beverage outlets as well as the new bus gate lounge open to passengers.
Once they are up and running, further facilities will start operating during the rest of 2020, including the first of the new 'island' check-in desk banks and the new baggage reclaim facilities. As the various elements of the new extension open, the airport will start to close parts of the existing Terminal Two to allow for that area to be reconfigured to align with the new facilities.
The fully reconfigured Terminal Two will open in 2022 with 32 new shops and food and beverage outlets set to feature in that area. The completed Terminal Two will be 150% bigger than the current building once finished.
Pier Two will also open at that time and will be a similar size to Pier One. It will have the capability to handle the world's largest passenger aircraft, the double-decker A380 and will also include airline lounges. The remaining terminal and airfield infrastructure is due to open in 2024.
Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, said "Our £1bn transformation will allow us to continue playing our role as the UK's global gateway in the North, offering our 29.5m annual passengers and the entire region a world class airport, connecting them to a wealth of vital economic and tourist hubs.
"We're delighted with the progress that's been made on the project and we can't wait for passengers to experience the new facilities next summer. The new extension will offer a real step change to our passengers with state-of-the-art facilities and a great selection of shops and restaurants for them to enjoy."
As one of the largest construction projects in the North of England £688millon has so far been spent on the project and more than 1,800 people are currently working on the project.
The first phase of the programme opened in April 2019 with the first passenger pier and a new 3,800 space multi-storey car park.
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https://www.munich-airport.com/location-expansion-263252
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They both have two long runways with the terminals in-between and separated by sufficient distance to allow each to operate independently of the other. This is not the case at Manchester airport, which has a crazy runway layout that needs much monitoring of the ground movements of aircraft both after landing and before take-off. When Manchester started development in the late 1960's there was a chance to have a perfect runway layout but subsequent terminal expansion took the design away such a possibility and went beyond the point of no return with the siting of terminal 2 and the positioning of the second runway alongside the existing runway instead of adjacent to the M56.