New Tower
From the airport website - confirmation of plans for the new tower, to be in service by the end of 2009.
"Manchester Airport is to get a new £8 million Air Traffic Control tower.
Architects from around across the north west, UK and European Union, have been invited to put their names forward to be considered for the opportunity to design the new control tower.
The new structure will be built on the airfield to allow the air traffic controllers even better views of both runways and is expected to be more than 50 metres tall making it the highest structure at the Airport.
In the first stage of the process, the project to build a new tower has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting architects to show an expression of interest in the scheme. A project team from the airport will now narrow down the field of applicants and choose a design and construction firm to lead the development.
The new tower will be home to the Air Traffic Control team at Manchester Airport, which is provided by NATS, the company that operates air traffic control services throughout the UK. It will be fitted with state-of-the-art air traffic control management systems to help the air traffic controllers manage current and future capacity.
Manchester Airport’s Director of Operations, Andrew Holl, said: “The current control tower has served the airport well since it was built over 45 years ago.
“However, we do need to build a new tower with the latest technology and closer to both our runways to cope with increased numbers of flights in and out of Manchester and this is the start of a process to find the right design and the right experts to do that for us.”
The new control tower is expected to be open for use towards the end of 2009."