Stansted Airport Expansion Plans

Plans for the expansion of one of London’s busiest airports have been released suggesting the capacity of the airport could be increased from 17.5 million to an astonishing 160 million.

“The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) submitted potential options to the Airports Commission that include a £10bn "hub" with four runways.

Campaigners against expansion called them irresponsible and opportunistic.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of MAG, said developing Stansted would be a ‘pragmatic approach’.

The expansion plan has been submitted to the government-appointed Airports Commission, headed by former Financial Services Authority chairman Sir Howard Davies.

Best for passengers

It is reviewing how the UK might expand its airport capacity in south-east England.Mr Cornish said: ‘Stansted is uniquely placed to meet the UK's aviation capacity needs now and over the next 15 years.’

‘Almost overnight, Stansted could double the number of flights it handles without any need for significant investment in new infrastructure.’

‘Looking to the long-term, the interests of passengers will be best served by a pragmatic approach, focused on delivering new capacity that is cost-effective and flexible, and capable of driving competition across the aviation industry.’

‘Developing new capacity at a number of airports is likely to be best for passengers.’

Completely Unnecessary

‘Should the Commission take a different view and conclude that the UK needs an effective hub to provide international connectivity, then Stansted could certainly fulfil that role in a cost-effective way.’

Peter Sanders, Stop Stansted Expansion chairman, said the MAG proposals had been ‘framed’ in an ‘unenthusiastic, half-hearted way’.

Mr Sanders said: ‘We will be doing everything possible to convince the Airports Commission to reject the idea of any new runways at Stansted.’

‘With the airport currently operating at only half its permitted capacity a second runway - never mind a four-runway hub double the size of Heathrow today - is completely unnecessary on business grounds and it would be completely unacceptable on environmental grounds.’

The Airports Commission will consider MAG's proposals for Stansted alongside expansion proposals it has received for Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham and plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

The commission is due to produce a shortlist by the end of the year and make its final recommendations in two years' time.”

Stansted currently do not use British Airways as an airline but in light of these expansion plans it may well be that we see major airlines become a feature at the north east London airport. If you are interested in finding out any more information about British Airways and the services they offer, contact them directly on the British Airways contact number. We also strive to stay up to date with all of British Airways’ business developments and publish as many news articles as we can to you equally up to date. Follow this link for all news stories http://www.customerservicescontact.co.uk/news/british-airways-news-update-new-plane-added-to-fleet/.

Article originally found on the BBC website.

The History of Emirates

It was October 1985, the 25th to be precise, that Emirates first flew out of Dubai. They had two aircraft - an on-loan Boeing 737 and an Airbus 300B4 - and it was these two flights that launched Emirates onto the international air travel scene. The main thing that has not changed in the 28 years that they have been in operation is their main attitude of quality not quantity, which has guaranteed them the position of influential, international airline conglomerate. Their business structure includes:

-    Award-winning international cargo division
-    Fully-fledged destination management and leisure division
-    Airline IT developer

Emirates is wholly owned by the Government of Dubai and after the initial investment, they decided to treat the airline company as a separate entity to and focussed on delivering extremely high standards in every aspect of their business. Dubai has an 'open skies' policy which means the competition is high but Emirates relish this challenge. The preservation of this policy means Emirates are constantly striving to maintain their identity.

The Numbers

Emirates have a fleet of 190 aircraft that fly to 130 destinations worldwide, covering six continents and in excess of 70 countries. 12000 Emirates flights leave Dubai each week and nearly 40% of all the flight movements in and out of Dubai International Airport are accounted for by Emirates. They have repeatedly broken the records for the largest aviation orders in history. In 2001 they placed an order for 58 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft valuing $15bn. 2005 brought about the first time they bettered this offer and requested 42 aircraft from the Boeing 777 family in a deal worth $9.7bn. When Boeing announced their new Boeing 747-8F aircraft powered by General Electric's GEnx jet engines, Emirates attended the Farnborough Air Show and signed a Heads of Agreement for 10 of the new aircraft, totalling a deal of $3.3bn.

In 2007 Emirates placed yet another mammoth order of contracts to 120 Airbus A350s, 11 A380s and 12 Boeing 777-300ERs worth $34.9bn in total. The agreement with Airbus had involves 50 A350-900s, 20 A350-1000s and 50 options for the A350-900s. The first A350s will be with Emirates in 2015. In June 2010, at the Berlin Air Show, Emirates ordered an additional 32 Airbus A380s and then one month later 30 Boeing 777-300ERs. The order reached a combined value of $13.4bn.

The most recent major purchase was to be the largest in Boeing's history and involved 50 Boeing 777-300ERs worth $18bn, 20 Boeing 777-300ERs options valued at an additional £8bn, so a total of 70 aircraft at $26bn.

With Emirates order log currently reading in excess of 230 aircraft their service of carrying 34 million passengers and 1.8 million tonnes of cargo in 2011-2012 articulates how influential a company they are considering their youth and modernity.

For more information on the service provided by Emirates, contact them directly via the Emirates contact number.