Pleased the new masterplans have been released...
They are very much as expected, nothing too exciting and just essential expansion to keep the airport ticking over till 2030, when the current operator license with Abertis runs out.
Also this seems to be realistic expansion for an airport primarily served by LCC that demand value. Shame the odd airbridge or two are not being considered!
I am surprised we saw no additional apron being added to the plans south of the existing one on the eastern side of the airport where the new southern pier will be added.
Its going to be a tight squeeze increasing the number of parking spaces from 6-8 on this section of apron. But when originally built it was meant for aircraft like 767's and suppose eight aircraft is realistic if used by A320's and 737's.
Also they mark out how there is going to be new parking in front of the Thomson and Monarch hangars for 8 aircraft. If these are heavily used, this will require a lot of busing too and from the terminal. Also I wonder how these companies feel about having their hangars entrances blocked. If aircraft maintenance is taking place overnight in these hangars, this potentially causes problems for aircraft that are night stopping.
One area I am disappointed to see not being addressed, is the connections between the terminal and railway station. I think the airport needs a dedicated link, that doesn't need to use the public roads between the two. This is a major gripe with airlines and passengers.
I am thinking something along the lines of a monorail or cable car to bring passengers up the mountain from the station to the airport. That brings them over the old westerly apron and drops them off and docks in the terminal. We need a seamless transfer between both transport hubs.
I always hear people complaining about having to get the bus, but passengers at Gatwick (using the North terminal) and Birmingham airports train station is a similar distance from the terminal to the station and they do not think twice about it.
The gripe is the reliability of the buses, that are supposed to be every 10 minutes, but regularly you can wait 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic, then have to wait for the bus to fill and can take up to about 10-15 mins in rush hour.
I don't think there is any cheap option available, to address this issue...
Last edited by gilesdavies; 4th Sep 2012 at 13:35.