Manchester Airport's Terminal 3 is set to increase the size of its departure lounge by over a third after a multimillion-pound project received the green light. The plans aim to add about 2,000 square metres of floorspace to the departure lounge, creating extra room for passengers, boosting natural light levels and providing space for a range of new shops.
Recent improvements and new facilities
The expansion follows recent upgrades to the terminal, which now serves the airport's Ryanair passengers exclusively. These include the opening of the new Sporting Chance bar and the creation of a new entrance and security area. A new Italian restaurant, Terracotta, is also set to open in the coming weeks.
Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: "Here at Manchester Airport we are proud to connect the North to the World – serving record-breaking passenger numbers via a route network that is unrivalled outside the capital.
"We've completely redeveloped our award-winning Terminal 2 through our £1.5bn investment and now we're turning our attention to Terminal 3.
"We've already made significant changes but now we're ready to accelerate that work and provide more space and facilities for our Ryanair passengers.
"It's a really exciting project and I'm really pleased to see it starting to take off. We'll be announcing even more in the coming weeks."
Terminal 2 redevelopment and Terminal 1 closure
Manchester Airport has invested around £1.5bn over the past decade in the complete redevelopment of Terminal 2. The award-winning terminal building now handles around 75% of the airport's passengers, which allowed the old Terminal 1 to close.
Terminals 1 and 3 are joined, so parts of Terminal 1 – including its security hall and entrance – have been incorporated into Terminal 3 to improve it.
Next steps for the expansion
The new plans will make use of space that was once part of the landside operation in Terminal 3 but has been out of use since late last year. Among the next steps will be a competitive tender to bring new retailers into the added space, with details of the process to be announced in the coming weeks.
