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Laing O’Rourke sign Manchester Airport contract

Contracts have been signed between Laing O’Rourke and Manchester Airports Group (MAG), formally launching a £1bn programme which includes the transformation of Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport.

Appointed as preferred bidder in July 2016, Laing O’Rourke has been carrying out advanced and enabling works in preparation for the award of the main contract. Now finalised, Laing O’Rourke will proceed with a four-year plan to create Manchester’s ‘super-terminal’.

Liam Cummins, Laing O’Rourke’s head of UK Building, said: “This is a contract of international significance, working with a progressive client on such a high profile aviation sector transformation. We will be required to work sensitively in a live, high-intensity environment, drawing on our engineering expertise as well as our ability to deliver complex and challenging programmes.

“Laing O’Rourke combines its local knowledge of Manchester where we have recently delivered the extension to Manchester Metrolink, Two St Peter’s Square, the expansion of the Etihad Stadium and the transformation of the Manchester Town Hall Extension and Central Library, with experience of delivering major, complex projects in the aviation sector including Heathrow’s Terminals 2A and 5.”

Laing O’Rourke’s contract represents the majority of the works associated with the programme and involves the design and construction of an extension to the existing Terminal 2 building, more than doubling its current size. Works include:

  • Reconfiguring  and extending T2 by over 150%
  • Two new security halls with an option for a USA pre-clearance facility 
  • New International Departure Lounge with around 50 food, beverage and retail outlets
  • New business lounges with airfield views
  • New baggage handling facilities to serve the increase in capacity
  • New airside piers, increasing the available number of contact stands, with direct linkage to the terminal
  • A new 3,800 space multi-storey car parks with direct links to the terminal building
  • Construction of a new access ramp, linking the exit of the M56 onto an upgraded and extended forecourt around T2
  • Reconfiguration of permitted access roads in and around the new terminal.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of MAG, said; “The transformation programme is a significant moment in the history of Manchester Airport and demonstrates the confidence that we have in the long term future of both the north and the UK economy. The increased connectivity that the transformation programme will deliver will help the north to become one of the most accessible and productive regions in Europe.”

At its peak, the project will employ some 1,500 people and Laing O’Rourke has committed to creating 150 apprenticeships. With the new development complete, the airport will be able to handle 45 million passengers a year, an increase of almost 20 million compared to today.

If you would like to contact Andy Walker about this, or any other story, please email awalker@infrastructure-intelligence.com.