My comments regarding the seating were directed more at the lower gates i.e.40-43 which will be used for coaching to the south apron. A further check today and it looks like 8 seats (2x4) per gate apart from gate 43 which seems to have 16 seats. On a positive note there seem to be lifts at the upper gates i.e. 30-33, with one of the biggest existing gripes I hear coming from passengers having to carry baby buggies/prams down up to 6 flights of stairs as is the case elsewhere around the airport.
At the moment, gate numbers are displayed on the flight information screen 45 minutes from STD. Theoretically this gives passengers plenty of time to get to the right gate. Problems with displaying gate numbers earlier are two-fold; firstly there are no preboard zones in the new pier unlike the ones that serve (I think) gates 22 and 26 on the other pier. Passengers congregating well in advance of their boarding time would only impede access to the other gates. This was evident today, with a Wizz A321 boarding at gate 31 where the "cattle pen" quickly filled up and the rest of the passengers filled the width of the pier. Secondly, parking space is at a premium, especially in the morning, with the combination of departing aircraft incurring delays, and arriving aircraft turning up ahead of schedule, leading to last minute changes to the planned stand allocation and consequent changes of gate.