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Stansted Airport Guide
Stansted Airport is 48km north east or central London and located at
Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex.
It is the third busiest airport in the UK and the third largest
airport serving the London area. It is connected to northeast London
and Cambridge by the M11 motorway and to Braintree, colchester and
Harwich by the A120. Stansted Airport has 2,500 short stay parking
spaces and over 8,000 long stay parking spaces, with a courtesy bus
service to the terminal.
The Airport is owned and operated by BAA, who also own and operate
five other UK airports.
Stansted is the airport of choice for many european low cost airlines,
the majority of their flights are with Easyjet and Ryanair, although
the airport still offers many charter and long haul flights.
Stansted Airport has one passenger terminal, and three passenger
satellites in which the departure guests are situated. The terminal is
an oblong glass building which is separated into three areas: Check
in, Arrivals and Departures. There are no gates in the main terminal,
but three separate oblong satellite buildings where the gates are
located. A fourth satellite building is under construction. You can
reach two of the satellite buildings by transit train, which takes
passengers from the departure hall to the arrivals hall. The third
satellite building is connect to the terminal by a walkway. The fourth
satellite building will be served by transit trains.
Stansted Airport has applied for planning permission to expand the
airport by 3 square miles and to construct a second terminal and
second runway. If permission is granted, the second runway would allow
Stansted Airport to handle more passengers thanHeathrow Airport does
today.
HISTORY:
Second World War:
Stansted Airport's airfield was opened in 1943 and used during World
War II, and although its official name was Stansted Mountfitchet, it
was known to all as simply Stansted. It was used as an operational
bomber base and an ATSC maintenance and supply depot.
Post War:
In 1945 Stansted was overtaken by the Air Ministry and used for
storage purposes. Between March 1946 and August 1947 Stansted was used
to house German prisoners of war. The Airport returned to civil use in
1957, and came under BAA's control in 1966. During the 60s, 70s and
early 80s, the airfield was used by the Fire Service School for the
training of all Aviation Fire Crews for UK Airfields, as well as those
of many countries overseas.
In 1966, after Stansted was in BAA's control, the airport was used by
holiday charter operators as a cheaper alternative to Heathrow Airport
and Gatwick Airport. However, it was always planned to expand Stansted
Airport to become "london's third airport" and to relieve Heathrow and
Gatwick of future excess congestion. In 1969 the first terminal
building opened, and in 1970 it was expanded.
In 1984 the government approved a plan to develop Stansted, regarding
the airfiled and improvements to the terminal. The aim was to increas
the airports capacity to 15 million passegners per year. Construction
began in 1988 and was completed in March 1991. Long haul scheduled
services commenced in the early 90s.
Since 1984 Stansted airports capacity has been limited to a maximum of
25 million passengers per year.
A major exapansion program to the terminal happened during 2007 and
2009 which added almost 5,900m2 of floor space.
This provided extra baggae carousels, a new immigration and passport
control hall and a hypostyle arrivals hall with improved facilities.
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