London Stansted Airport
Stansted Airport is an international airport serving the south-east of England. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, in the district of Uttlesford, Essex; it lies north-east of Central London.
As London's third-busiest airport, Stansted serves over 180 destinations across Europe, Asia and North Africa. London Stansted is a base for a number of European low-cost carriers; this includes being the largest base for low-cost airline Ryanair, with over 150 destinations served by the airline., it is the fourth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom, after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, it ranked second in the country. Stansted's runway is also used by private companies, such as the Harrods Aviation, Titan Airways and XJet terminals, which are private ground handlers that can handle private flights, charter flights and state visits.
Converted to civil use from RAF Stansted Mountfitchet in the late 1940s, Stansted was used by charter airlines. It came under British Airports Authority control in 1966. The privatised BAA sold Stansted in February 2013 to Manchester Airports Group as a result of a March 2009 ruling by the Competition Commission against BAA's monopoly position.
The airport has one main passenger terminal, which opened in 1991, with three passenger satellites containing the departure gates. The terminal building was designed by Foster and Partners and is regarded as influential for airport architecture.
From 1997 to 2007, Stansted had rapid expansion of passenger numbers on the back of the boom in low-cost air travel, peaking at 24million passengers in the 12 months to October 2007, but passenger numbers declined in the next five years. Passenger totals later increased and it recorded an annual increase of 8.0% to 24.3million in 2016; numbers have since continued to rise.
History
Second World War
The airfield opened in early July 1943 with a dedication ceremony for the Stansted Airfield with a parade of builders, the 825th Engineer Aviation Battalion EAB and the 850th Engineer Aviation Battalion EAB of the United States Army, along with a small group of the British Royal Engineers who offered to help and wanted to learn how to operate the heavy construction equipment. Stansted Mountfitchet Airport was used during the Second World War as RAF Stansted Mountfitchet by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber airfield and as a major maintenance depot. Although the official name was Stansted Mountfitchet, the base was known as simply Stansted in both written and spoken form.The station was first allocated to the USAAF Eighth Air Force in August 1942 as a heavy-bomber airfield. As well as an operational bomber base, Stansted was also an Air Technical Services Command maintenance and supply depot concerned with major overhauls and modification of B-26s. After D-Day, these activities were transferred to France, but the base was still used as a supply storage area for the support of aircraft on the continent.
Postwar use
After the withdrawal of the Americans on 12 August 1945, Stansted was taken over by the Air Ministry and used by No. 263 Maintenance Unit, RAF, for storage purposes. In addition, between March 1946 and August 1947, Stansted was used for housing German prisoners of war.In November 1946, the recently established British cargo airline, London Aero and Motor Services, equipped with ex-RAF Handley Page Halifaxes, moved into Stansted, using it as a base for its operations until it was wound up in July 1948.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation finally took control of Stansted in 1949 and the airport was then used as a base by several UK charter airlines. The US military returned in 1954 to extend the runway for a possible transfer to NATO. The transfer to NATO was never realised, however, and the airport continued in civil use, ending up under BAA control in 1966.
During the 1960s, '70s, and early '80s, the Fire Service Training School was based on the eastern side of the airfield under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, now the Civil Aviation Authority. The school was responsible for the training of all aviation fire crews for British airfields, as well as those of many overseas countries.
Under BAA ownership (1966–2013)
Beginning in 1966, after Stansted was placed under BAA control, the airport was used by holiday charter operators wishing to escape the higher costs associated with operating from Heathrow and Gatwick.Stansted had been held in reserve as a third London airport since the 1950s. However, after a public inquiry at Chelmsford in 1966–67, the government set up the Roskill Commission to review the need afresh. The Commission for the Third London Airport of 1968–71 did not include Stansted as one of its four short-listed sites and recommended that Cublington in Buckinghamshire should be developed as London's third airport. However, the Conservative government under Ted Heath agreed with a minority recommendation that a site at Foulness in the Thames Estuary, later renamed Maplin, should be developed, but in 1974, the incoming Labour government under Harold Wilson cancelled the Maplin project because of the economic situation.
Stansted was then considered as an option for long-term development in the Advisory Committee on Airports Policy and the Study Group on South East Airports and was selected from a short list of six by the Conservative government in December 1979. The proposal, for a new terminal associated with the existing runway and the safeguarding of land for a second runway, was considered at the Airports Inquiries of 1981–83. The Inspector's Report was published in 1984 and the decision, announced in a white paper in 1985, was to approve a plan to develop Stansted in two phases, involving both airfield and terminal improvements that would increase the airport's capacity to 15million passengers per year, but to reject the second runway.
Redevelopment into London's third airport
The redevelopment of Stansted into London's third airport began with outline planning permission granted in 1985, for a new terminal building to accommodate up to 15million passengers annually.Initially, the project was planned in two phases. The first phase was designed to permit an annual capacity of 8million passengers, while the second phase was intended to expand the terminal's capacity to 15million passengers per annum. It was initially believed that any future development beyond this capacity would require the construction of a second major terminal building.
Foster Associates terminal
, founded by architect Norman Foster, was commissioned to design the new terminal building, with structural engineering led by Peter Rice at principal engineers Ove Arup & Partners. The plans were approved in 1985, and construction took place between 1988 and 1991 by the John Laing company at a cost of £100million. The terminal building originally comprised a square structure of 11 bays by 11 bays, and opened to the public in 1991. It received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 1990. As part of the development, a railway branch was built to the airport for Stansted Airport railway station, built at ground level within the terminal.The building was recognised as a landmark work of high-tech architecture. Foster + Partners' design for Stansted Airport is widely regarded as a transformative influence on airport architecture. The building features open canopies that visually connect the landside and airside, and challenged conventional airport layouts by relocating essential services underground, instead creating an open and flexible main concourse that is naturally illuminated. The "floating" roof, supported by a space frame of inverted-pyramid roof trusses, creates the impression of a stylised swan in flight. The base of each truss structure is a "utility pillar", which provides indirect uplighting illumination and is the location for air-conditioning, water, telecommunications, and electrical outlets. The layout of the airport was originally designed to provide an unobstructed flow for passengers to arrive at the short-stay car park, move through the check-in hall, and go through security and on to the departure gates, all on the same level. These principles influenced the design of future projects around the world.
In 1999, planning permission was granted for Phase 2 of the terminal expansion, which included extending the width to 15 bays, as well as the addition of the third satellite building.
Further developments
A major expansion programme to the terminal took place between 2007 and 2009, extending the width by 2 bays, with nearly of floorspace, to give space for additional baggage carousels, a new immigration and passport control hall.In November 2006, Uttlesford District Council rejected a BAA planning application to increase the permitted number of aircraft movements and to remove the limit on passenger numbers. BAA immediately appealed against the decision and a public inquiry opened, lasting from May until October 2007. Planning Inspector Alan Boyland made his recommendations in January 2008. Those recommendations were largely followed by the Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who jointly allowed the applicant's appeal in October 2008. A legal challenge by community campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion was rejected by the High Court in March 2009.
The Competition Commission ruled in March 2009 that BAA should sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports within two years. The ruling was quashed within a year following an appeal, but was subsequently upheld. The Competition Commission reconfirmed its ruling in July 2011 that the airport be sold, and the Court of Appeal turned down an appeal by BAA on 26 July 2012. In light of the result, BAA chose not to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and confirmed on 20 August 2012 that the airport would be sold.