Operations

Following the UK Government’s announcement in March 2011 that Manchester Airport has been designated as an ‘Enterprise Zone’ – a new initiative to stimulate and support economic growth and employment – the airport’s property development arm MAG Developments has revealed plans for an ‘Airport City’, which will form the core of the zone and transform the airport into an international business destination over the next ten to 15-years.

While Manchester’s Airport City will be a uniquely different proposition to anything that currently exists anywhere else in UK, airport cities are fast-becoming a common phenomenon across Europe and North America, where they have been typically developed around existing airport infrastructure; whilst in Asia and the Middle East, airport cities are forming entirely new settlements centred around the construction of brand new airports.

The examples of Amsterdam Schiphol airport, with its Amsterdam Connecting Trade (ACT) logistics hub; and Frankfurt airport, with its Gateway Gardens office complex and the Mönchhof Logistics Park, are considered to be the pioneers of airport cities in Europe. And, whilst just five or six years ago there were only four examples around the world, 13 of the top 25 airports in Europe alone, are now pursuing airport city concepts.

In North America, Memphis, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airports have all evolved into sprawling ‘aerotropoli’, effectively accommodating both passengers and cargo operations, with gargantuan international logistics and distribution centres, supplemented by hotel, office, conference, retail, leisure and entertainment facilities.

“Manchester Airport is the principal international gateway to the North of England and is primed for an investment of this scale,” said Stephanie Mullenger, Business Development Director, MAG Developments.

“It is the only regional airport in the UK with the required infrastructure capacity, network of international air routes and developable land assets to make a project like this work – with its second runway it is also in a strong position to pick up traffic as space and slots become increasingly limited at the capacity constrained London airports.

”Airport City will build on the global connectivity of the airport and create a project to compete with other similar locations in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Düsseldorf. Our development programme will expand the World Freight Terminal to provide accommodation for freight forwarders, integrators and other types of airport logistics businesses.”

Manchester’s existing cargo proposition, its World Freight Terminal (WFT) is already one of the largest in the UK providing some one-million square feet of space – it recently attracted Globelink China Logistics and Kuehne + Nagel; which isn’t surprising given its close proximity to the M56 motorway, placing it within a two-hour drive of two-thirds of the UK’s population.

The WFT is currently home to around 50 freight-forwarding firms, handling agents and transit-shed operators, which combined with a number of direct services to 190 destinations across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and the Far East; saw Manchester Airport handle around 120,000 tonnes of freight last year, forecast to rise to 250,000 tonnes in 2015.

In terms of passengers, the current figure stands at 20 million passengers year, with growth in long-haul services a prominent driver of this. The airport has daily services to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Singapore, whilst Emirates launched daily A380 services to Dubai in September 2010 – a first for a regional airport – and have recently hinted that the second daily service may also be operated by an A380 within the next 12 months.

Earlier this year Etihad Airways announced that it would be locating its new European Contact Centre at Manchester Airport, which was a major coup not just for the airport but for the city itself too, with Manchester winning the bid process that include seven other major European cities. Etihad also announced in the same month that its service to Abu Dhabi from Manchester would be increasing to double daily.

Stephanie Mullenger, added: “The Etihad announcement gives you an example the calibre of international business that we want to attract and demonstrates our belief that Airport City can meet the critical demand for high quality and well-connected business, manufacturing and logistics development in the UK.

“It also presents a wider set of opportunities within the local area and we hope to build upon the proximity of University Hospital South Manchester, to create an international centre of excellence for science, health, research and development.

“Enterprise Zone status further strengthens the proposition and will help to attract new investment and brings trade into the country.”

It is anticipated that incentives to locate within the zone will include incentives such as business rate discounts and prioritised super-fast broadband.

MAG Developments, has confirmed that design work is now underway and occupier enquiries are already being received; with infrastructure development on the project set to commence in 2012.

With the regeneration of Manchester City Centre and the development of ‘Media City’ and ‘Sport City’ to the west and east of the city respectively; the plans for the Airport City, further strengthens Manchester’s offering as it seeks to realise its ambitions of becoming a world-class city.

To register interest in the Airport City proposal, call MAG Developments on 0800 8499 747 or visit the website at: www.manchesterairportez.co.uk