Manchester Airport unveils how its £1bn extension will look as boss calls for more investment in the North
Manchester Airport boss Ken O'Toole has called on the government to inject more investment into the North as the airport unveiled a new glimpse at what its £1bn expansion will deliver.
The airport has released a range of new images showing what it will look like following its £1bn investment, which it announced back in 2015.
The 10-year investment programme will overhaul the airport to improve its facilities, including the expansion of Terminal 2 and new technology brought in to create a bigger security hall to screen more passengers, more quickly.
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Here's how it will look:
And O'Toole has called on the government to unlock the potential of airports in the North like Manchester, saying it is key to creating "a truly global Britain", especially considering the 10-15 years it will take to build Heathrow's new runway.
Today, O'Toole urged ministers to make a clear commitment to the Northern Powerhouse, including throwing their weight behind infrastructure projects like Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
"If the Northern Powerhouse is to be truly competitive on the global stage, it should be as easy as possible to travel from Hull to Hong Kong; Liverpool to Los Angeles and Sheffield to Singapore," O'Toole said, speaking at the UK Northern Powerhouse Conference in Manchester.
Slashing journey times through investment in NPR could lead to the North securing direct flights to 20-30 key global markets, with millions more people in easy reach of Manchester Airport.
It is connectivity like that that will maximise growth in sectors like life sciences, advanced manufacturing, technology and energy. It is connectivity like that that is key to delivering an industrial strategy that rebalances the UK economy.
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Manchester Airport is currently the UK's third largest and currently has two runways serving over 70 airlines.
O'Toole's comments come after new research revealed London receives the lion's share of the UK's transport investment, getting more than half of it.
Londoners will receive £1,500 more per person in transport investment than those living in the rest of England over the next five years, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research North.