PASSENGERS and visitors to
Bournemouth Airport will be starting to see the beginning of the main terminal's redevelopment as work gets off the ground on the £45million expansion project.
The project, which is due for completion by summer 2010, recently received a boost with an extra £13 million cash injection by owners Manchester Airport Group.
The multi-million-pound project suffered months of delays after the New Forest National Park applied to the High Court for a judicial review of Christchurch Borough Council's decision to grant permission for the development scheme last year.
But a High Court judge rejected the call in April, meaning work could continue on building the new terminal, extra car parks and highway improvements.
The initial work, set to take place over the next few weeks, includes the provision of an interim security search area, which will be used while the terminal redevelopment is in progress.
With the existing entrance to the terminal closed, passengers will have to use a temporary entrance to the side of the building.
And in an effort to improve road safety along Parley Lane, a 1.5 metre bund is being dug along the existing perimeter to prevent drivers becoming distracted by the airport activity, with trees also set to be planted along the boundary in due course.
There will also be changes to the arrival hall, which will include the relocation of one of the baggage belts.
And drivers picking up or dropping off travellers will also find changes to the car parks, as the short-term spaces will be relocated to car park one.
Rob Goldsmith, managing director of
Bournemouth Airport, said: "We are now moving into an extremely important phase within the redevelopment programme and we are conscious of the fact that work within the terminal building could have an impact on our passengers.
"We will do our utmost to ensure that any inconvenience is kept to a minimum and would remind passengers to allow plenty of time to travel to the airport and for their journey through the terminal building."
7:00pm Wednesday 24th September 2008