Found this on another airline forum
 

The new owner of Stansted Airport has kickstarted major expansion of the security area in the main concourse to speed passenger flow-through and improve the travel experience.
The £45 million revamp over the next two years forms the first phase of a five-year, £230m investment programme by Manchester Airport Group, which bought Stansted in the BAA London portfolio breakup.
Stansted managing director, Andrew Harrison said MAG didn’t pay £1.5 billion for the airport in January to let it stand still. Having battled a protest group called Stop Stansted Expansion for several years, Stansted was on the front foot and Harrison said a new campaign was underway – Stop Stansted Shrinking.
He said MAG was determined to engage more passionately with the business community in the East of England region and build on Stansted’s midway point between Europe’s leading technology cluster – Cambridge – and financial centre (London). The airport was also stepping up dialogue with global carriers about bringing sustainable long-haul services to Stansted, especially to the US and Asia.
Harrison said: “We have strong credentials both as the leading low fares hub for pan-European passengers and also as a major player for regional traffic. We intend to build on those strengths and also step up the dialogue which is already underway with airlines that can bring long haul services to Stansted.”
The existing security area will be moved and expanded with more lanes to avoid congestion. The plan will entail some of the retail and food outlets in the main concourse being shifted to other slots with a concentration airside.
“We want to speed passengers through security so they can enjoy their shopping, eating and relaxation time while they wait for their flights. It is vital that we improve the entire experience of using Stansted for existing and new customers alike.”
While it is early days for MAG, Harrison said it was clear that Stansted had “loads of potential.” Formerly MD at Manchester Airport, Harrison was moved to Stansted following the acquisition to maximise that potential.
He said: “This acquisition is arguably the most important thing the group has ever done as a business so it is vital that we get the growth strategy right. It is also the most exciting mission I have ever undertaken.
“The infrastructure at Stansted is fantastic and primed for growth but the experience for passengers is not as good as it should be, so changing that is an absolute priority. We need to make it efficient as well as enjoyable for the user – and scaling up the security allied to subtle changes to the check-in, retail and refreshment areas will play a major part in that aspect of our strategy.”
Harrison said the move would double the space available in the security area, which would have extra lanes and be generously staffed. The mix of shops and calibre of business lounges will also form part of the revamp.
“Firstly, only around 50 per cent of people using the airport physically use check-in desks these days – they are increasingly checking in online. So we can take some of that capacity and channel it into the enlarged security area which is the first port of call for most passengers.

Sounds like the security search area will be relocated to the landslide food court
And the food outlets will move to to areas where check in desk are now located all sound good but guess this means disruption of some sort for the next year or two.

Firstly, I think you meant "Landside", just to clear that up.

Secondly, I beleive the security area will be extended forward, closer to the front, replacing some of the main concourse area, hence:

I'm unsure though if they will retreat the exist of security further back as well to allow for a larger departures area to accommodate more shops and restaurants airside.

But the main thing is that there is a committed owner who want to invest and make it a better airport to use and ultimately help attract new airlines and passengers. Never would we have had anything like this in line at Stansted with BAA.

I think MAG have really hit the right nail on the head with this one, will be great if/when it's done since I have noticed the main concourse emptying over the years but the departures still remains busy, especially before the early morning rush!

I am a very frequent passenger out of Gatwick and Heathrow and am using Stanstead for the first time in May.

I am looking forward to comparing with Gatwick for ease of use and quality of facilities.


My own problem with Stanstead is journey time to airport which means a overnight hotel stay to ensure I don't miss flight.


I will post my comments on my return and hope they will be positive.

Presumably your destination is not available from LHR or LGW?

Well it is but I took advantage of very good fares to Izmir on Pegasus airlines ex Stanstead.

Even with a nights accommodation at Stanstead it works out much cheaper than flights ex LGW. Also getting 15 days parking included in room rate.


So this trip is a test bed all round, new airport and new airline for me!

Stanstead
 

What is the problem with people and the spelling of this airport's name.

It's STANSTED - not Stanstead! :ugh:

They also probaby spell easyJet as Easyjet!

Mis-spelling
 

I know it's irrelevant to any thread in particular,but spelling and punctuation in both txtng and emailing has made us all a little lazy.Even when spell checker is available it sometimes doesn't recognise airline names or airports for that matter.:rolleyes:
anyway I'll crawl back to where I came from.C ya!

God how will I ever hold my head high in airline circles again I added an a to Stansted!

I've heard many, many people talk about heefrow over the years though.....

A comic way to hand your notice in

BBC News - Stansted Airport worker bakes resignation 'letter'

A Border Force worker from Stansted Airport quit his job by baking a resignation 'letter'.

It went viral on Twitter and Facebook leading to his website crashing as too many people were tryi g to access it.

Quote: "Stanstead
What is the problem with people and the spelling of this airport's name.

It's STANSTED - not Stanstead"

Indeed, and those of you who have seen BA's moving map may have noticed that Stansted is also a village in Kent!

Stanstead is in Suffolk, near Sudbury.

They had an advertisement slogan in the 80's "Use Stansted Instead" which didn't help.

It totally annoys me as well when you see 'Stantead' rather then Stansted especially by so called aviation enthusiasts as well as the general media.

Another one that seriuosly annoys me and yes you can probably forgive most for spelling it as Stanstead but when you see 'Thompson' or even 'Flythompson' rather then just Thomson that gets my back up even more!

Sorry about the rant but after the last few posts I felt I needed to get it of my chest :ok:

That's entirely the fault of the commercial organisation for choosing a trading name which is so readily mis-spelt. It is based on a common name but with a less-common spelling.

Likewise Easyjet. Proper nouns are spelt with an initial capital letter. If some marketing type likes it done differently, so be it, but the rest of the world does not have to follow the mistake.

Thomson
 

But the Thomson brand has been in existence for many years.

Thomson Holidays were origionally owned by the Canadian publishing giant Thomson before being sold to Tui AG in 2001.

Thomson publishing also own and print amongst many others the OAG schedules as well the Thomson Local directorys.

The new Air Moldova service from Chisinau scheduled at 18:50 landed this evening at 19:03.

And since it's of some discussion on several airport threads, Thomson's Summer 2014 timetable from Stansted will be exactly the same as this year except there is no 22:55 departure on Monday evenings to Corfu in the peak summer hoilday period. Instead Thomson will fly to Gran Canaria on Monday afternoons for the whole summer since there will no longer be a W pattern from Minorca to Doncaster/Sheffield with the Stansted aircraft.

Could a designated plane spotting site benefit Stansted?
 

No news, no rumours, no mention of it in fact, but just an idea that popped into my head during this spell of warm spring weather we're all enjoying.

I know this is not a spotters thread but I'm trying to see the benefit to MAG by providing such a facility since they offer similar facilities at East Midlands and Manchester Airports. There are a few locations they could have an official spotting area. I'd say between Apron Z (cargo apron) and the Ryanair Hanger is best.

Whilst I would never expect it to be much, MAG could benefit from a bit of extra cash each year by opening an official spotting site at Stansted and charging a small entry or car parking fee.

A small car park (which there seems to be a few isolated ones already around that area if you look on Google Maps), perhaps a few picnic benches, ice cream van in the summer... nothing too fancy, and I think MAG could get themselves an extra source of income.

If people pay £2 to drop someone off at various airports across the UK, I'm sure they would be happy to pay at least that to spend a day out with family/friends at their local airport, and it's a small price for enthusiasts to pay. You only have to look at the Aero Park at East Midlands Airport to see how busy that gets in the summer!

Plane spotting is quite big in Britain and the airports should use that to their advantage, rather than telling them to p*** off as it can often be. Providing an official area also makes the airport more community friendly, which is always a good bonus to have.

Could a designated plane spotting site benefit Stansted?
 

Not a chance; if anyone did suggest it it would almost certainly been shot down with the UK mantra "security is paramount"!

Security is, I'm sure, paramount across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands etc - but that doesn't stop them providing enthusiast facilities.

As the old saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way, trouble is there is no "will" to do anything else in the UK than fleece the punter - and your average spotter clearly isn't "fleeceable enough"