Originally Posted by
JW95
Assuming the TP materialises into what we’re seeing in the CGI images in the press release today, what’re everyone’s thoughts? The new departure lounge layout actually looks pretty good and more spacious- sort of reminds me of what STN’s departure lounge was like when BAA owned the airport before MAG remodelled it during 2013-15.
It's definitely better than the initial proposal of the arrivals terminal as a first phase of development, but there's pros and cons to both.
Main benefits include:
-The maintaining of a single security area, able to be enlarged with the replacement of domestic arrivals.
-A larger departure lounge extension without having to displace much of the existing baggage reclaim infrastructure in arrivals.
-Allows decommissioning of the TTS. They'll be mixed opinions on this no doubt, but this is too expensive to maintain/upgrade and creates all sorts of bottlenecks in both BAU and breakdown scenarios, as well as having to retrieve passengers that cannot return to the main terminal currently if they go to the wrong satellite or have a missed/cancelled flight.
-Terminal extension to the rear effectively moves the main passenger dwell areas closer to the satellites, mitigating the impact of further walking distances/level changes created by TTS removal.
The main disadvantage is that there's limited ability to improve landside capacity with only a rear-Terminal extension, especially towards the arrivals end as well as forecourt drop-off/pick-up. The new domestic arrivals facility I feel will likely be somewhat temporary until a possible subsequent phase of development for arrivals beyond 2030, which MAG have loosely referred to in a previous annual statement.
I think one of the earlier fears was that any terminal extension was going to be an "on the cheap" tin shed style building bolted on the side of the existing building, much like the forecourt security extension which is supposedly temporary. This however wouldn't really provide an adequate solution partly because of the scale and elevation of the building above ground level which would still require substantial structural support. Plus it would essentially be a separate peice of infrastructure requiring different electrical, lighting, heating requirements and would not be so compatible with net zero goals, which I believe is why a single terminal concept with the original Norman Foster design has been stuck with for the extension... so I've heard anyway.
With regards to gate improvements, this is not simply a case of aesthetics. The passenger flow needs to be addressed with the new skylinks access in which the current domestic area with Gates 81-88 is particularly problematic, since there's no way to segregate departures from intl arrivals currently, hence Sat 2 will need to be reconfigured into a fully split-level facility much like Sat 1 is. The reference in the MAG release to "gate room reconfiguration to create more space for passengers pre-boarding their aircraft" will most likely be in the form of fully closed-gates more conventional to modern airport design (ie you scan your boarding pass then wait in an enclosed space/room until the aircraft is ready to board). Currently Gate 52 in the far end of Sat 3 is the only real pre-board gate at STN, with everything else a botched solution by holding passengers in corridors or stairwells. Ryanair is happy to do that, but most other airlines will not pre-board unless there's a certain level of space/seating provision.
As for shoreline check-in, there's not much ability to add additional desks but this isn't the way to create planned additional throughput. Currently the zoned check-in layout is restrictive as there isn't the floor space, whereas the shoreline layout should largely address that along with more common-user check-in rather than individual desks for each airline, in which a zoned layout wouldn't really work. Only this week Ryanair have indicated their aim to remove check-in desks entirely and have all boarding passes issued electronically by next summer. The future will become increasingly an express baggage drop-and-go type service pooled amongst most airlines, and that goes for everywhere not just STN.