£1.1bn will be invested in Stansted Airport to boost the British economy, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced today at the International Investment Summit.
The five-year investment is expected to double the airport’s annual economic contribution to the UK to £2bn and create 5,000 new jobs.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns Stansted as well as Manchester and East Midlands airports, is funding the investment.
£600mn will be invested to expand the airport’s passenger terminal by a third to secure new routes, while £500mn will be put towards improving the existing terminal and wider airport estate. Construction is expected to begin in 2025.
Ken O’Toole, CEO of Manchester Airports Group, said: “By investing more than £1bn in Stansted over the next five 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 will also deliver on Stansted’s 14.3MW on-site solar farm, which will support the airport’s current and increasing electricity demands.
It follows the recent creation of a new electric vehicle charging forecourt at the airport.
The scheme is expected to significantly improve the passenger experience from check-in to immigration.
It will deliver a larger security hall, an airfield taxiway upgrade and an overhaul of gate rooms, boosting capacity and comfort for passengers before boarding, the Department for Transport said.
The expansion plans already have planning permissions to begin construction, and are in line with previously agreed passenger and flight numbers.
Gareth Powell, managing director of Stansted, said: “Stansted is embarking on an exciting new chapter.
“We aim to add even more choice of airlines to continue growing our extensive route network that is valued and enjoyed by the millions of passengers who choose to fly from London Stansted every year.
“We are already welcoming a record number of passengers, with people drawn to the fact we give them a great choice of destinations, at excellent value and with fantastic access into central London and the whole of the East of England.”
The airport served 29.3 million passengers in the year to September 2024, the busiest 12-month period in its history.
Over the past year, a number of new airlines have started flying from Stansted for the first time, including Royal Jordanian and Sun Express, and the return of British Airways, boosting the number of destinations on the departure board to more than 200 this summer.
