Stansted begins preparations for what is expected to be the busiest summer yet

London Stansted is recruiting hundreds of new staff and investing significantly in new facilities and service improvements as the airport gets set for another record-breaking summer season.

In 2018, Stansted experienced its busiest ever summer, with 8.4 million passengers passing through its doors between June and August and 100,000 passengers passing through in one day at its peak. The airport is planning on introducing a succession of enhancements, both large and small, that will further improve the experience for passengers travelling through during the summer 2019 season.

Improvements include:

• Recruitment of up to 200 new security officers and customer service ambassadors
• Recent opening of a new technology-led terminal control centre, ‘The Hub’, which will help ensure a smooth flow of passengers through the airport and enhance the airport’s ability to respond swiftly to any operational issues
• The introduction of more seating into the Departure Lounge, including a dedicated family seating area offering colourful children-friendly bench seating for groups travelling with younger children
• Construction of a new ‘quiet area’ space for passengers who wish to relax away from the main departure lounge
• Addition of new water fountains across the terminal and satellite buildings to help encourage wider use of re-useable bottles
• Introduction of additional in-terminal charging points for electronic devices
• Doubling the number of terminal cleaning staff to 100 and in-sourcing the service to enable the direct management of this essential element of the customer journey
• Upgrades to passenger wayfinding and help points, including new information desk airside
• Opening of a new 2,700 space multi-storey car park with additional blue badge spaces, and an increase in the price of the Express Set Down area to ensure its continued smooth running, reduce further instances of ‘kiss and fly’ and to further encourage sustainable transport choices to and from the airport
• A brand-new fleet of over 30 high quality buses serving airport carparks and airside, reducing journey times and introducing real-time information for passengers for the first time
• Opening of new and upgraded toilet facilities.

These steps taken by Stansted Airport complement work already underway by the airport’s partner organisations, including the investment by Ryanair in new ground handling operations.

Steve Griffiths, London Stansted Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are fast approaching our busiest time of year and another very exciting summer season with over 200 destinations on offer from London Stansted and up to 100,000 passengers regularly using the airport on a daily basis.

“A priority for us is to ensure that all of our passengers have a great airport experience as they head off on their holidays. We’ve been working very closely with our operational teams and airport partners to develop our plans for the summer, carry out essential maintenance work and ensure our teams are where they need to be to keep the airport operating smoothly.

“To help us manage the increase in passenger numbers we are recruiting more security staff and adding more customer service ambassadors to ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time at every point of the passenger journey.

“Terminal operations will also benefit from the development of a new control centre at the airport, The Hub, that uses state-of-the-art, real-time technology to coordinate airport resources and respond to changes to passenger flows and demand, and to any form of disruption and knock-on impacts.

“In addition, we are ensuring many of the basic facilities are of a high standard and always available by upgrading and adding more toilet facilities, installing more water fountains, charging points, seats and passenger help points and a dedicated ‘quiet area’ area near the departure lounge.

“These are just some of the steps we are taking now to deliver the best airport experience at Stansted this summer but, as part of our longer-term vision for transforming the airport, we continue at pace with our larger multi-million pound investment programme that will deliver a very different look and feel for users of the airport.”