When is an airport not an airport? The answer is when it is a city – at least according to those who are in control of Manchester Airport.
It seems as if our views of airports may soon change if (or more likely when) this ambitious plan gets off the ground. While the airport itself will continue to function as it always has, sixty acres will now be devoted to the Airport City project.
We’ll have to wait some time to see what the finished project looks like though. While the plan was unveiled early in March at the Cannes property convention, it could be some ten to fifteen years before it comes to fruition.
So what can we expect to see when it is finally unveiled?
Well it seems as if the area is going to see a number of uses. Commercial needs will be taken care of rather than residential ones, seeing as the area is obviously very close to the airport itself. Facilities that would be of use to business people who use Manchester Airport a lot would be built into the final plans. Retail uses are also likely to be included in the vision that is beginning to take shape.
It may be some time before we find out more though. Half of the sixty acres of land have only just been snapped up by Manchester Airport Group Developments Limited. This will go together with a parcel of land they already own, to provide the huge area that will be devoted to this new vision of an Airport City.
So could this plan for Manchester Airport and the land around it be replicated in other areas around the country?
Obviously it depends on the amount of land that is available elsewhere. In other areas it is more essential to expand the airport itself, rather than trying to build a commercial city of this type. It has been done abroad though, and as such we might expect it to happen in more than one location here too. It could be however that other airports will wait to see how the plans at Manchester Airport develop in the future, rather than diving into similar plans themselves.
No firm plans have yet been announced for how these sixty acres will be used. Obviously the scale of the project is ambitious, and those in charge will want to ensure that the best possible use is made of the land. The airport itself will play a key role in this too, one would imagine, since it has the ability to bring thousands of people to the area every single day.
So we must now wait to find out what the plans will entail, which could take some time. Needless to say once they have decided on the final design of Airport City, we can expect an announcement to be made before building begins. This is clearly an exciting project, and we await further news with interest.