From welcoming school groups to Aerozone and supporting students through Stansted Airport College, to working with schools, colleges, local councils and government, helping young people discover opportunities and develop skills is an important part of the airport's role in the local community. 

We caught up with Marcella M'Rabety, Head of Social Sustainability at MAG, to find out more. 

Why is it important for the airport to support young people with skills, education and career opportunities? 

"Supporting young people is important because it helps us build the future workforce the airport needs while creating opportunities for local communities. By helping young people develop skills and access careers, we're investing in both their future and the future success of the airport." 

What's the overall aim of Stansted's education and skills programme? 

"Our aim is to inspire young people, equip them with relevant skills and create clear pathways into employment at the airport. We want to open up opportunities, build confidence and help young people move into meaningful careers with MAG or one of the many employers based at Stansted." 

How do we work with local schools and colleges to help inspire young people and show them what's possible? 

"We work closely with schools and colleges to give young people first-hand experience of the aviation industry. Through Aerozone visits, mentoring, careers talks, work experience and events such as our recent Careers Festival, we help young people understand the opportunities available and the skills needed to succeed." 

Aerozone has welcomed thousands of students over the years. What makes it such a good experience for young people? 

"For many young people, a visit to Aerozone is the moment aviation becomes real. The interactive exhibits, careers talks and viewing platform overlooking the runway help bring the industry to life. It gives young people the chance to step beyond the classroom and imagine themselves working in aviation one day." 

What are some of the careers at the airport that people are often surprised to hear about? 

"Most people know about pilots, cabin crew and security officers, but they're often surprised by the huge range of careers available. There are opportunities in digital and technology, engineering, sustainability, logistics, airfield operations, communications, retail, hospitality, HR, finance and many more. With more than 12,000 people working across over 200 companies, the airport is like a small town." 

How does Stansted Airport College help young people prepare for the world of work? 

"As the UK's only on-site aviation college, Stansted Airport College sits right beside the runway, placing learners at the heart of one of the UK's busiest airports. Every day, students are surrounded by the sights, sounds and opportunities of the aviation industry, helping bring their learning to life. Its employer-led curriculum is designed alongside industry partners, helping students develop the practical skills and experience needed to succeed. Last year, 98% of graduates progressed into employment or further study." 

Is there a success story that really stands out? 

"What stands out most is seeing young people progress through the entire journey. We've seen students visit Aerozone, discover what's possible, train at Stansted Airport College and then go on to start their careers here at the airport. It's a powerful example of how the right support and opportunities can help turn ambition into reality." 

What skills will be most important for young people starting their careers? 

"It's not just about qualifications - it's about mindset. Communication, teamwork, adaptability and a willingness to learn are all hugely important. Above all, we're a customer-focused industry, so understanding people and delivering great service is key." 

How does helping young people develop skills today support Stansted's future growth? 

"As the airport grows and creates thousands of new jobs, we'll need a strong pipeline of skilled people to fill those roles. Through Aerozone, Stansted Airport College and our wider education and employment programmes, including our Employment and Skills Academy, we're helping ensure local young people are ready to take advantage of those opportunities. Supporting young people in this way is important because it helps us build the future workforce the airport needs while creating opportunities for local communities and helping reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)." 

With World Youth Skills Day approaching, what message would you give to young people? 

"Believe in your potential and stay open to new opportunities. You don't need to have everything mapped out. Every experience, whether that's work experience, volunteering, mentoring or simply asking questions, can help shape your future." 

Looking ahead, what would you like the programme to achieve? 

"We want to create an even more connected education and skills ecosystem that brings together schools, colleges, employers and the airport. Our ambition is to support at least 25,000 young people by 2030 and expand Stansted Airport College to more than 1,000 learners, helping even more people access rewarding careers in aviation and beyond." 

By Gareth Powell, Managing Director at London Stansted

Last week, I had the pleasure of opening London Stansted’s first ever Aviation Careers Festival, and honestly, it was a brilliant event to be part of.

We welcomed more than 500 students from across Essex and Hertfordshire, all curious, enthusiastic, and keen to understand what a future in aviation could look like.

Standing in that room, you couldn’t help but feel energised and reminded of just how important education and skills are to the long-term success of our airport and our region.

The festival was held at the Radisson Blu and was made possible through our successful bid to the CAA and Department for Transport’s Reach for the Skies programme.

The aim was simple, to open young people’s eyes to the huge range of careers available in aviation today. And that’s exactly what it did.

Students explored everything from engineering and air traffic control to hospitality, logistics, security and customer service.

With more than 20 airport partners taking part, including UK Border Force, Essex Police, Jet2, NATS, Swissport, Titan Airways and our own MAG teams, they got a real, hands-on feel for what goes on behind the scenes at a busy airport like Stansted.

They climbed into flight simulators, got up close to the latest technology, and most importantly, spoke directly to the people who keep the airport moving 24 hours a day. The energy in the room was fantastic.

One story that really stuck with me on the day was about a student called Louis, from Chelmsford. He really wants to become a pilot, and that coming to the festival made that goal feel more achievable.

That’s exactly why we do this. It’s about showing young people what’s possible and helping them believe they can get there.

Events like this don’t sit in isolation. They’re part of a much bigger picture. At Stansted, education and skills sit right at the heart of our vision, and we’re proud to support this through three key initiatives.

First, there’s our Aerozone Education Centre, which introduces children aged four to 18 to aviation in a fun, hands-on way. For many, it’s their first ever visit to an airport and often the spark that leads to a lifelong interest in aviation and STEM.

Then there’s the Stansted Airport Employment and Skills Academy. It helps local people access jobs with the 200-plus employers based on our campus, offering training and clear pathways into work.

And finally, Stansted Airport College, which is run by Harlow College and is the only further education college in the UK based on a live airport campus. Students learn in a real-world environment and leave with the skills and experience employers are looking for.

The Careers Festival really showed the power of bringing employers and young people together in one place. As one of our education partners said on the day, it helps bring careers to life.

I also want to thank the Civil Aviation Authority for supporting this programme. The future of aviation depends on attracting new talent and fresh ideas, and initiatives like this play a huge role in making that happen.

For us at London Stansted, this is just the beginning. As the airport continues to grow and evolve, we’re determined to make sure local communities share in the opportunities that growth brings.

And if the enthusiasm and ambition we saw this week is anything to go by, the future of aviation and London Stansted is looking very bright indeed.

These figures underline what we already know: the East of England and London together form one of the UK’s most globally-connected and economically influential regions.

With world-leading strengths in tech, life sciences, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing, and key hubs stretching from Ipswich, Cambridge, and Chelmsford to Colchester and Peterborough and London, the region sits at the heart of the UK’s competitiveness.

The Trade Barometer shows that businesses here are not just weathering global uncertainty they are actively reaching new markets and driving growth that benefits the whole region.

At London Stansted, we are proud to play a central role in supporting this ambition. We welcome around 30 million passengers a year, flying to more European destinations than any other UK airport, and move more than 220,000 tonnes of cargo annually.

Our location places us on the doorstep of one of the UK’s most dynamic economic corridors, home to global companies such as Google, Microsoft, GSK and Raytheon, and world-class institutions like the University of Cambridge, all of which rely on strong international links to reach new markets and collaborate across borders. 

That’s why our plans for sustainable growth matter. We have submitted proposals to increase our annual passenger capacity to 51 million over the next two decades without adding more flights than are already permitted and within our existing airport boundary. By making smarter use of our single runway, we can deliver growth in a way that is both responsible and sustainable.

Alongside this, we are investing £1.1 bn in a transformation programme, with a £600m terminal extension at its heart. This will deliver a brighter, more spacious terminal with new seating, shops, bars, and restaurants, as well as upgraded lounges and security. The investment is set to double our annual economic contribution to £2bn and create thousands of jobs across the region.

Looking ahead, one of our priorities is attracting more long-haul airlines. Just last month we announced Turkish Airlines will join us in March 2026 as it launches 14 weekly flights to its hub at Istanbul. This service will also provide convenient access to 79 onward destinations in Asia and Australia and 56 more across Africa. This is on top of the double daily service from Emirates connecting to over 150 global destinations via Dubai.

We know there is huge demand, particularly from businesses in Cambridge and the wider tech corridor, for direct links to destinations such as Boston, the US West Coast, and in Asia. Meeting this demand will help the region strengthen its position as a global leader in innovation and trade.

That, in turn, will increase the number of businesses that trade globally, driving up productivity and growth across the region.

Despite global uncertainties, East of England exporters are seizing opportunities to grow. At London Stansted, we are determined to match that ambition by providing the connections, capacity, and facilities that businesses and communities need to succeed on the international stage.

By Gareth Powell, Managing Director, London Stansted

This year we’re celebrating 10 amazing years of the Aerozone – our dedicated education centre here at London Stansted. And there’s even more reason to cheer because we hit 25,000 visitors last November!

That’s more than 25,000 school kids, teens and students who’ve come through our doors since we opened in 2015, all getting a taste of what it’s like to work in aviation and learn about life at the airport.

What the Aerozone is all about

We set up the Aerozone to be a fun, hands-on place where young people from local schools and colleges can learn all about our airport – what happens behind the scenes, what it takes to run an airport, and what kinds of jobs are out there.

It’s not your typical classroom. We’ve got a flight simulator, interactive activities, cool videos, and a spectacular viewing platform where you can watch planes take off and land.

Everything’s designed to be exciting, inspirational and educational – with a big focus on subjects like science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), plus the environment and sustainability.

Opening eyes to new opportunities

One of the best things about the Aerozone is how it gets young people thinking about their future.

Whether it’s becoming a pilot, air traffic controller, airside ranger, security officer, engineer or working in customer service, there are loads of career options to explore.

We’ve even had students who first visited with their school later go on to study at Stansted Airport College and now work at the airport – which is just brilliant to see.

A big thank you

We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved – and we couldn’t have done it without the help of the brilliant airport staff who give up their time to talk to the students, share their career journeys and highlight what they do.

Their support, along with all the positive feedback we get from visitors shows that the Aerozone is making a real difference.

What’s next?

We’re not stopping here! We’ve already started bringing in new tech, updated activities, and expanded our lessons on sustainability – including our Jet Zero resources that explore the future of green aviation.

This all ties into the airport’s new five-year Sustainability Strategy: Creating a Sustainable Future for All, which puts environmental responsibility and social impact at the heart of everything we do. And the Aerozone is a key part of that – helping the next generation understand how aviation can be part of a greener future.

Want to find out more?

Get in touch with us to find out more about the facility including how to book a visit: https://www.stanstedairport.com/community/community-support/inspiring-young-people/

Here’s to the next 10 years – and another 25,000 visitors!  

By Alex Smith, Education Manager at London Stansted

From its origins as a vital wartime airfield to its transformation into one of the UK’s busiest airports, here’s a look back at some of the key moments that have shaped Stansted:

1943 – Wartime beginnings

"Stansted began life as an airfield for the US Army Air Force, playing a key role in WWII missions across Europe."

In 1943, Stansted opened as RAF Stansted Mountfitchet, serving as a base for the United States Army Air Force. Briefly renamed George Washington Field, it played a crucial role in the Allied war effort, supporting missions across Europe.

1944 – Home to the ‘Silver Streaks’

"As the ninth largest USAAF base in East Anglia, Stansted was home to the 344th Bomb Group – the 'Silver Streaks' – flying B-26 Marauders."

Just after 4am on D-Day, 56 Marauders from Stansted led 600 aircraft from the 9th Air Force into action over Normandy. Their bravery earned the Bomb Group a Distinguished Unit Citation in July 1944.

1945 – Post-war transition

"After the war, Stansted began its journey towards becoming a civilian airport."

Following the end of WWII, Stansted played a key role in repatriating troops and transporting cargo. This marked the early stages of its transformation into a commercial airport.

1966 – Civil aviation begins

"The 1960s saw the start of commercial flights – and the beginning of Stansted welcoming passengers!"

 In the 1960s, Stansted opened its first passenger terminal, officially entering the world of civil aviation and welcoming travellers from around the world.

1983 – Over the moon to welcome the Space Shuttle

“In 1983, the Space Shuttle visited Stansted as part of a European tour – with 200,000 people turning out to see it!”

The iconic NASA orbiter made a memorable stop at Stansted, thrilling the crowds and marking a proud moment in the airport’s history.

Stansted has also served as a backdrop for Hollywood films, popular TV shows, and music videos, with appearances in James Bond, Bridget Jones, and Only Fools and Horses.

1991 – The Foster terminal opens

“Our iconic terminal, designed by Sir Norman Foster, opened in 1991 – and still defines Stansted today.”

 The opening of the award-winning terminal designed by Sir Norman Foster marked a turning point for Stansted. Sleek and innovative, it became a symbol of modern airport design and set the stage for rapid growth.

2020s – A global gateway

"Today, Stansted serves almost 30 million passengers a year and connects to 200 destinations worldwide."

Now one of the UK’s busiest airports, Stansted is home to major airlines including Ryanair, Jet2.com, and Emirates, connecting millions of passengers to destinations across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

The airport has welcomed many prominent global figures - including U.S. Presidents arriving on Air Force One on seven occasions.

2025 and beyond – transformation and sustainable growth

"Our £1.1 billion transformation is underway – we’re growing sustainably and aiming to serve up to 51 million passengers a year."

Stansted is investing in its future through a £1.1 billion upgrade of its facilities, including a major extension to the terminal. As part of our Sustainable Development Plan, we’re preparing to serve up to 51 million passengers, all while continuing to operate using a single runway.

During bad weather it’s vital to keep the airport’s single runway clear of snow and ice so aircraft can land and take-off safely.

In late summer the airport’s 200 strong snow team start training and making sure that our specialist fleet of vehicles are fully maintained and ready to go.

We are constantly checking several different monitoring systems from November to build up an accurate picture so we can be ready to take appropriate action.

We use sophisticated weather forecasting systems to make sure we can prepare for whatever the climate throws at us.

When temperatures do plummet, we start by preparing the airfield and applying de-icer to all our surfaces to ensure that are safe for use. This solution prevents the build-up of ice for around 24 hours.

It is also necessary for airlines to de-ice their aircraft in cold, snowy weather in order to ensure that they can function safely.

When snow arrives, we are equipped with around 50 specialist vehicles that can clear our 3048 metre runway in  approximately 30-40 minutes.

However, if the snow continues failing, we will have to re-treat it by clearing again and possibly de-icing.

While we understand that closing the runway will impact our schedule, safety must always be our first priority.

Our main objective when it does snow is to ensure that the whole operation recovers as quickly as possible once aircraft are able to take off and land again safely.

The airport, our airlines, and the air traffic control provider will continue to do everything they can to get flights into the air as quickly as possible, and to get passengers to their destinations.

The snow team put in many hours of practice, so they know exactly what their job is. During winter, the team is on stand-by 24-7 so whatever the weather brings, we are there to keep the airfield safe and minimise any disruption as much as possible to passengers and airlines.

The kit

Snowploughs are the airport’s heavy-duty pieces of kit and London Stansted 11 of these costing around £400,000 each. They drive along in formation on the runway and taxiway and push the snow to the edges.

Powerful snow blowers follow the snowploughs and cut through the snow and funnel it off to the side so aircraft can safely land, take-off and taxi.

GPS anti-icers with extra-long booms spray anti ice solution which prevents the build-up of ice for 24 hours.

This week marks one year since the country went into its first lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This has meant 12 months of disruption not only for London Stansted but for the entire travel industry, the like of which none of us could have imagined.

Airports around the world have seen a big drop in traffic, with Stansted’s passenger numbers dropping to as low as 1-2% of pre-pandemic levels.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel as the UK’s impressive vaccine rollout continues to gather pace.

Naturally, attention is now turning to the reopening of our economy and international travel must not be left behind.

The next few weeks for our industry are critical, as the Government’s Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) considers how international travel can resume from its target date of May 17.

The prompt and sustained reopening of travel is of course about giving people the opportunity to enjoy a much-needed holiday and visit loved ones after an extremely challenging 12 months, but it is also about much more than that.

The Taskforce is due to report in April. We are playing an active role in those discussions and will continue to make the case for a system that is risk-based, affordable, easy for consumers to understand and puts our industry on a path to sustained and consistent recovery.

This, in turn, will protect the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on our world-leading aviation sector getting back on its feet at the earliest opportunity.

Important role

With extremely high fixed costs and no scope to diversify, airports have suffered significant financial losses over the last year while staying open during the pandemic.

Stansted has played an important role in supporting repatriation flights, helping transport key workers, and vital supplies including medical equipment and PPE passing through our cargo facilities.

Our parent company, MAG, has implemented a range of measures to mitigate losses as much as possible, including pausing all non-essential expenditure, reducing costs wherever possible and making widespread use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, with up to 70% of colleagues on furlough.

Because of the lower number of passengers, we’ve also scaled back the terminal’s hours of operation, temporarily closing two of the satellite departure gates and most of the onsite car parking and retail offerings.

Sadly, we have also had to reduce the size of the business and say goodbye to some valued colleagues, with MAG around a third smaller than it was before the pandemic hit. This is a similar story across many of the companies who base themselves at the airport, from airlines to ground handlers and retailers.

Adapting our airport

We have prioritised making Stansted COVID-19 safe. Our teams transformed the airport to meet Government guidelines, including more regular and intensified cleaning, installing sanitising stations and requiring staff and passengers to use face coverings.

COVID-19 signage was installed across the airport to highlight social distancing and redirect walkways, helping to protect staff and passengers.

I am very proud that we’ve been able to play a small but vitally important part in supporting the Government’s national testing programme by making available one of our main long-stay car parks.

We also worked closely with the Government to open a brand new COVID-19 passenger testing facility in the terminal.

This offers a full range of tests for both departing and arriving passengers in partnership with airport services and travel medical provider, Collinson.

Proud of our colleagues

It is during times of crisis that you see the best of people, and no more is that the case than across the Stansted Family.

Many have signed up for volunteering opportunities, especially for those colleagues on furlough.

Since the start of the pandemic, they’ve clocked up over 7,000 volunteering hours, with the majority being in direct response to helping local residents who are shielding or isolating.

Our Community Engagement team is currently working alongside the NHS to support the COVID vaccination programmes.

Stansted is promoting the national registration programmes through the Royal Voluntary Service and St John’s Ambulance Service alongside requests for support at local centres (particularly Council for Voluntary Services Uttlesford and the East of England Ambulance Service).

The last year has been like no other, but I am confident that with the right framework put forward by the Government’s Global Travel Taskforce and the continued success of the vaccination programme, we can look forward to better days ahead.

I cannot wait to welcome back our passengers through our doors again, and for the terminal to return to the buzzing, thriving hub we all know and love.

I am confident the airport has a bright and successful future and look forward to seeing Stansted play a central role in reuniting friends and families separated by the pandemic, and helping people get away for that well-deserved holiday.

Steve Griffiths - Managing Director London Stansted Airport

The challenges facing UK aviation are serious and well documented. Passenger numbers are in freefall and the industry continues to press hard for changes to the government’s handling of this crisis to protect jobs and support economic recovery.

However, behind the quiet terminals, ever-changing lists of ‘safe’ countries and self-isolation, lies an emerging story of aviation growth which, in part, is a beneficiary of reduced passenger traffic combined with changes to consumer habits.

Civilian passenger aircraft carry not only people and their luggage, but packages and parcels too. When they’re not flying much, the goods they should have carried need to be flown by other means. This has resulted in increased demand for dedicated air cargo specialists to transport goods to customers around the world.

MAG’s East Midlands and London Stansted airports are home to the UK’s two largest dedicated air cargo operations. Between them, they handle over 600,000 tonnes of goods each year which are flown to and from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The volume of goods they are handling, and have been doing so all summer, is more akin to what we would expect to see in the autumn and winter in the run-up to Christmas. In July, the volume of goods handled at EMA was up 26% on the same month last year, while London Stansted saw a 40% rise.

Both airports have seen an increase in the number of cargo flights to North America due to passenger air traffic between the US and UK dropping by 80% on this time last year. Therefore, cargo airlines have been stepping in to fill the gap. At East Midlands, DHL have launched new routes to Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and JFK while, at London Stansted, FedEx have added three additional weekly rotations to the US.

Furthermore, during the pandemic, increasing numbers of people have turned to popular e-commerce platforms for all shopping. While online commerce was already on the rise, Covid has nudged more people into internet shopping, many of whom are now buying a wider range of goods online including everything from phones, tablets, clothes and books to white goods. Earlier in the year, when lockdown was in its infancy, internet sales rocketed from 19% in February to 33% in April.

Such is the demand for next-day-deliveries, people are also prepared to pay more to receive their purchases quicker. Therefore, the demand for express freight services has never been so great. This is another major factor in why the likes of DHL, UPS and FedEx, who have global operations at MAG airports, say they are operating at peak season levels.

This is not just a rare good news story for aviation during what is arguably the biggest crisis the sector has faced, but there are positives for the economy too. Logistics is one of the few sectors that continues to employ more people and create new jobs. The evidence is there for all to see around East Midlands Airport, for example, with the neighbouring East Midlands Gateway a good example of growth which complements the airport’s own cargo operation. This is primarily due to EMA’s ‘hub’ status as a cargo airport where not all goods that come into EMA are for the UK. Some will be offloaded onto different aircraft, while others will be collected by lorry which are driven to end users or even other airports where they are loaded onto long haul passenger flights.

Airports are engines of growth in their own right and thousands of jobs depend on them. While the current climate has created the ideal conditions for dedicated air cargo operators to grow, our airports need both passengers and parcels to be successful businesses in the long term. The demand we have seen for dedicated air cargo at MAG demonstrates how critical the UK’s airports are to the future success of our trading capability.

Strong trading links and the ability to move people and goods quickly across the world have been at the heart of the UK’s success for centuries. This is more important than ever as we prepare for life outside the EU, which is why leaders across our industry have called repeatedly on the government to give aviation the support it needs if the UK is going to avoid being at the back of the queue as the world economy gets to its feet. Therefore, the government needs to reconsider its response to the current crisis and give aviation the support it needs for the UK to bounce back quickly from the current economic slump.

Stephen Harvey Group Head of Cargo and General Aviation, MAG

Aerozone Stansted is a hi-tech education centre designed to inspire children and young adults about the key STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths, skills the UK is extremely short of, and bang the drum for careers in the aviation industry.

The £500,000 aviation-themed learning hub opened its doors in 2015 and has so far welcomed an incredible 15,000 children.

We welcome schools and colleges from across the country but in particular Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk. They get to experience our range interactive activities, informative videos and resource packs as well meeting staff from across the airport.

A big favourite amongst the children is the viewing platform which has panoramic views across the airfield, so they can watch the airport in full operation.

What’s your role?

First and foremost, my role is to make sure the children have a fun and exciting day at the Aerozone finding out how London’s third busiest airport works and what airport life is all about.

We’ve more than 12,000 people working at Stansted, the biggest single site employer in the region, and I’m responsible for bringing the hundreds of job roles to life to inspire young people visiting the Aerozone to perhaps choose a career at the airport or the aviation sector when they leave school, college or university.

Day to day, I host school visits for children aged 4-18, and then liaise with the airport’s volunteer network to arrange for pilots, airfield rangers, police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, security officers, engineers, customer service ambassadors to visit in their spare time and give the children a glimpse into their working life.

All the activities we set up focus on the key STEM subjects as we recognise there’s a shortage of employees skilled in these areas. We have a variety of interactive hands-on exhibits and audio visual experiences to show how hundreds of planes take off and land and the thousands of passengers travel through the airport safely every day.

What are your highlights from the year? 

This is my first year at the airport and it has been a busy one for me, I've certainly learned a lot. Previously, I was a school librarian so my background in education was helpful, however I needed to learn all about aviation, which thanks to all of the wonderful Aerozone volunteers I definitely have.

Highlights include welcoming our 15,000th visitor in June this year, hosting two successful Girls in STEM events, being involved in the airport college opening and visit from Baroness Sugg, Aviation Minister, and getting to be an Airfield Ranger for a day.

But my biggest achievement has been launching the London Stansted Little Book of Travel Tales in celebration of this year's World Book Day. The publication features winning entries to our competition from local students on the theme of airports, aircraft and travel. Look out for copies of the booklet, featuring travel inspired poems, drawings and short stories, in the terminal.

Do you focus on any particular area or subjects?

Our primary focus is on the STEM subjects as they are some of the most relevant to a career in aviation, and particularly how we can encourage more young women to follow a STEM career path. However, we do get school groups coming for all manner of curriculum topics including business studies, local history and geography, people who help us, flight and travel, and careers advice! There’s so much going on at the airport that there isn’t much in the curriculum we can’t link it to.

What feedback do you get from schools after visits?

Feedback from the schools is overwhelmingly positive and on more than one occasion I have been told that the Aerozone visit is the best school trip ever. For some of the students, it’s their first encounter with an airport, or the first time they have seen a plane in real life, which is really inspirational for them. The teachers are always so grateful to the volunteers for giving their time to speak to the students, and the chance for them to ask questions to a real-life pilot, engineer, police officer is invaluable.

Any amusing moments?

Always! It really is true that children say the funniest things, and when you have up to 60 children visiting each day, I’m never short of anecdotes. One funny moment that happens regularly is when we watch our welcome video and a photo of the Queen on a visit to the airport in the 1970s appears. When I ask the children ‘who is that?’ I’ve had answers from Florence Nightingale to Mary Poppins and a few have even guessed that it might be me. Another is the time when we had a visit from Police Dogs Buddy and Holly and a little girl came up to me at the end to tell me about her Nana’s dogs, but they aren’t like Buddy and Holly, because ‘they’re vegetarians’- that certainly made me chuckle! Or, the time when I was accidentally soaked by one of the children having a go with the hose during a visit from the fire fighters; it’s never a dull moment here.

What are you looking forward to? 

I’m looking forward now to having all the schools back at the Aerozone after the summer holidays and getting to meet even more students eager to learn about Stansted. I’m also very pleased to be welcoming two groups of airport staff and their children at our Bring Your Kids To Work Day at the end of August. We have so many wonderful volunteers at the Aerozone who come and speak to the children who visit, so it’s really nice to be able to give their own children the same opportunity. If all goes well, this will hopefully be something we can offer up to more staff in the future.

What’s in store for the Aerozone over the next 12 months?

We are always looking for new ways to make visits to the Aerozone more exciting and inspirational so I am currently exploring how we could make use of new technology to make more of the airport experience accessible to the students during visits.

We are also hoping to build on the fantastic work being done by the airport around disability awareness by launching a scheme for children on the autism spectrum to come and learn a bit more about the airport and speak to staff to hopefully relieve any anxieties around travelling through airports.

We will be continuing to build on the fantastic Girls in STEM events held this year with more days dedicated to inspiring more young women to consider careers in aviation and reaching out to even more female colleague to get involved.

In the autumn term we will be relaunching our annual mentoring scheme which pairs colleagues with Year 11 students from our partner schools to give them some guidance and support during their challenging GCSE year.

Looking further ahead to summer 2020 we will be aiming to hit our 20,000^th visitor and planning a big celebration to mark this incredible milestone.

How do people find out more?

For any queries about the Aerozone or if you would like to arrange a visit to come and find out more please email stn_communityrelations@stanstedairport.com.

As we come to the end of a busy summer, I wanted to share some insight into the year-round work of the Commercial team in constantly improving and innovating around the airport experience and how we showcase this to airlines.

We are investing heavily into the development of the airport. Hundreds of millions of pounds are going into building new facilities and our service offering, to transform the airport into a 21st century leading airport of the world.

This investment all comes from a vision of being pioneering. We want to do things differently so that we can better address passenger needs. We are looking at this from every single level, not just making sure the fundamentals are in place, but we want to offer an experience that is different, innovative, seamless and simple.

The region in which we sit is one of the fastest-growing in the UK, particularly as a hub for technology and life sciences. I see London Stansted as a gateway to the further growth of the region, and we need to develop as a gateway to best meet the region’s demands and – as the first port of call for visitors coming in – be an impressive ‘shop front’ for London and the East of England.

Wouldn’t it be great to be known as an interesting, innovative airport for customers to fly into, where they have an enjoyable experience that shouts out about the region? To enable the region’s passengers to fly anywhere in the world, eliminating the need to traipse for hours round the M25 to be able to fly to North America, India, the Far East, to Africa? And to be able to welcome people from those countries to come and experience our region as well? That’s the ultimate vision.

So we are out there, all year round, talking to airlines and sharing our ambitions. Whether it is the World Route Development Forum which took place in China last month, or the many smaller, more regional airline conferences not usually attended by airports, we are taking every opportunity to speak to potential new partners about Stansted’s aims and future development.

I have no doubt there are many opportunities for airlines here. Emirates started services in June and by all accounts they are doing fantastically well selling not just to Dubai but into destinations across the Far East, Australasia and more. Emirates works because they do it right and I think any airline that comes here and does it right will succeed.

We are talking to airlines all the time, not just new ones but our existing partners as well, because we want them to succeed. We are of course talking to North American carriers, and have had a lot of positive interest, again highlighting our innovative approach when we speak to them. We bring them over here, show them around the airport and demonstrate how easy it is to operate into Stansted - something airlines are not always aware of.

And our job is to raise that awareness using data to back us up. We have some exciting, unique partnerships in progress which I hope to share very soon, providing us with extensive data which will give us, and airlines, the confidence to develop proven, in-demand routes.

Beyond North American carriers, we are furthering talks with airlines serving India and the Far East, developing the long-haul relationships and networks across the board. It’s a long game, because when you’re talking about long-haul, the radius becomes quite wide. For an airline it isn’t just Stansted versus Heathrow or Gatwick, it could be London versus Sao Paolo, Europe versus South America before you even get to the ‘local’ detail of which London airport.

So as we move through the winter season we will continue to work on these budding relationships we’re developing. We will also keep pushing on with our innovative new partnerships and some other exciting new technological developments we can’t wait to reveal.

London Stansted has seen strong year-on-year growth of 9 per cent during the summer season from April. We’re London’s fastest growing major airport, and have seen a host of new long haul route launches, complementing the continued growth of our short haul network.

This growth is set to continue and we are forecast to deliver up to 50 per cent of London’s total expected passenger growth over the next decade. We will do this by making best use of the available runway capacity we currently have, capacity that is unlocked by a £600m investment program currently underway, and which will see a new arrivals terminal open in less than 2 years time. You’ll get a clear view of our plans via the video playing on screen behind me.

London has never been in greater need of a vibrant aviation market - as we look to the future we need to ensure we have the connectivity to trade globally, attract overseas investment and encourage tourists to our shores. Stansted will be critical to achieving those objectives.

Stansted is the London airport with most available capacity today. London and the East of England will remain both resilient and buoyant, and to keep stimulating growth for the airport and wider economy, we are transforming our facilities through our £600 million investment programme.

With that level of financial investment being made by ourselves we therefore welcomed the Government’s policy support for airports seeking to make best use of their existing capacity. But policy needs to be backed up with specific strategies and actions; – the Aviation Strategy currently under consultation needs to be much more ambitious and airport specific for the industry to grow, particularly for larger airports like Stansted with a strategic role to play in providing connectivity. Government must also lead in delivering short term improvements in the quality of rail connections between London, Stansted and Cambridge, and a fundamental review of long-haul APD and investment to reduce queue times at the Border is now well overdue.

It’s vital for the UK economy, and London, that this country has the best possible aviation connections and there is an urgent need to actively support airports, like London Stansted, that can deliver that access now. In February of this year we put forward a strong planning application to increase the cap on passenger numbers that are allowed use Stansted from 35 million to 43 million passengers per annum, an increase we will deliver within existing limits on flight movements and noise impacts.

We’ve had tremendous support from business, local authorities, investment agencies and other stakeholders to our plans and that application, which will be considered by UDC shortly. Our stakeholders understand the value of connectivity and they know that passengers, whether they be on leisure or business, want to travel from an airport that is most convenient for them to access and provides the destinations they want to travel to. If you are a major international bioscience company in the Cambridge cluster, or an investment bank or tech company in the City of London or on the eastern edge towards Silicon Roundabout, then that airport is Stansted.

At the start of the summer Emirates began a daily direct service between Stansted and Dubai and this created a huge buzz and ticket sales have been incredibly strong – I know of one company in Essex which has already used it 60 times to fly to Mumbai. The success of Emirates, coupled with 4 extremely busy transatlantic routes which also started this year, are important milestones for Stansted but are also only the beginning for us. Stansted is the only airport in London where airlines can take a strategic view of growth opportunities over the next decade and in doing so ensure London will not standstill.

In the five years that MAG has owned Stansted, it has nearly trebled the number of airlines operating at the airport and that trend continues to gather pace. As I spend time speaking to people across the East of England and into London, it is clear to me that there is huge untapped demand for further long haul from our airport – I estimate there are between 20-30 viable long-haul routes which we will unlock over the next number of years.

So, in conclusion, there is a huge amount going on at London Stansted and as we continue to grow, transform and expand over the next decade we will not only continue to be one of the most interesting places to be but also play a leading role in delivering the aviation capacity that London so desperately needs. And as we do so, we will continue to help make London, and the East of England, some of the best places in the world to live, work and do business.

Despite it being only the start of March, we’ve already had the announcement of a new transatlantic route to Washington from Primera Air. We also just hosted a big event for the region’s travel trade to meet our airline partners, providing vital networking opportunities.

Looking to the East…

Excitingly, I recently returned from a trip to China with CEO Ken O’Toole and Aviation Director Mats Sigurdson which we hope will eventually lead on to more developments in the future.

Countries like the US and China are important for future growth of the airport, because the demand is there. We know many people from North and East London and the East of England travel to the US from other London airports – not because they prefer to but because the routes aren’t yet available from Stansted.

Primera Air was the first airline to appreciate the opportunities presented by this regional demand and have such confidence in their decision that they have added to their transatlantic route network even before the first flight has taken off.

With a rapidly growing combined population of 2.7 billion people in China and India, you can appreciate the opportunities this presents to airlines in those countries. From our conversations with them, we understand that London is top of the list when it comes to demand, and with other London airports reaching runway capacity, it provides London Stansted a huge opportunity.

Better connections to these countries will of course bring benefits to the region, from the chance to avoid M25 traffic to regional businesses being able to reduce travel costs while growing in new overseas markets. The better connected the region, the more businesses the area will attract, which benefits all economically.

Selling London Stansted

The obvious next steps for us are to try and form partnerships with airlines looking to make the most of this demand. But the process is not always quick, and can take months or even years with many, many meetings.

It is our job to ‘sell’ Stansted to these airlines, and we often must start by explaining where it is! This might seem strange when we are an airport with 26 million passengers, but having travelled in China you quickly start to realise how small the UK is in comparison. However, our prime location between London and Cambridge (which many know because of the university) means it isn’t difficult to explain the benefits of our location.

We are also working closely with regional businesses and people like Essex International – who have a long-standing relationship with Jiangsu Province for example – to build a coalition of support over the coming months to sell the case for a new route to China from the East… more on this in future blogs.

Location, location, location

Sadly, I can’t share any specific details of conversations that happened on the recent trip to China. However, we noticed the reputation of London Stansted is growing across the world, and the airlines we spoke to are very aware that Stansted offers an opportunity where other airports are full.

From a personal point of view, it was great to talk to one of the senior executives from an airline who shared his memories of his own visit to the East of England. It turns out his daughter went to the University of Cambridge. I asked him how he found the drive to another airport (which shall remain nameless) and his response was “traffic – very bad!”. I just smiled and pointed to how close Cambridge and London Stansted were on the map… let’s hope the message hit home!

This year, passengers using London Stansted Airport will be offered a greater choice of destinations than ever before as locations such as New York, Toronto, Boston, Washington and Dubai will be added to an already unparalleled list of European routes. Factor in the 150 world class connections provided by Emirates through Dubai and you’ll quickly see that Stansted is poised to play a new and more significant role meeting the region’s global connectivity needs.

Attracting new airlines takes time and hard work – the economics and demographics of an airport’s catchment are of course important but airlines also apply significant weight to how easy it will be for their passengers to travel on to where they want to go, the attractiveness of the commercial terms and facilities offered by airports, and the scope for growth once they’ve established an initial base. In an era when record numbers of business and leisure passengers are flying, running an airport is an increasingly competitive business.

When MAG acquired Stansted from BAA in 2013, it would be fair to say that the airport had lots of untapped potential. Since then we have invested over £150m in refurbishing the terminal; the customer experience has been transformed; we now welcome nearly 10 million more passengers every year; there are twice as many airlines to choose from; and we have developed a route network which is the envy of many major airports around the world.

Almost exactly five years later, and having brought a new ambition to the airport, we have a real momentum and we are predicting continued strong growth in passenger numbers.

Stansted now also has a proud track record of responsible growth; we see a greater proportion of passengers arriving at our doors on public transport than any other UK airport; we have had zero breaches in our air quality limits; divert 99% of our waste from landfill and donate large quantities of uneaten food to support our local food bank in Harlow. And what’s more, we believe that we can grow further over the next decade without increasing our environmental impact.

We’re committed to maximising the social and economic benefits of growth in the most sustainable and efficient way possible for local residents, passengers, businesses and airline partners. That means doing everything we can to minimise the impacts of our operation.

Our investment in the airport has not only been inside the terminal building – we are very proud of our Aerozone, which welcomes 5,000 school children every year, and later in 2018 an £11million on-site further education college will open on our site.

Indeed, we try to take every opportunity to engage with our local neighbours and have always seen this as not a ‘have to do’ but an intrinsic part of our DNA. I have not been any prouder of my team’s efforts in this regard than recently when a local MP told us just how much they loved the airport because of the depth of its involvement in the community.

A powerful example of how this relationship works in practice is contained within the detail of the planning application that we have submitted today to Uttlesford District Council. Stansted has grown in a phased and managed way over the last 25 years, and we believe that it is the right time to set out the framework for the next phase of the airport’s growth.

Stansted is currently limited by a planning condition to handling 35 million passengers a year, and we expect to reach this in the early 2020s. So, a big part of this application is about seeking to raise this restriction and enabling the airport to handle up to 43 million passengers a year and in doing so, providing all of our stakeholders with commitments as to how we will manage our growth over the next ten years.

But we have not gone about this in isolation - we have spent the past six months consulting widely with local stakeholders and their feedback has been instrumental in shaping our proposals to retain both the current approved limits on the number of flights we can handle each year and the size of the airport’s noise footprint.

When you look at the numbers this is actually pretty remarkable – adding another eight million passengers into the airport every year but committing to do this in a way which will see no further increase in flight movements or noise beyond the currently approved limits. This represents managed and responsible growth.

Added to that, we are committed to increasing the benefits that will flow from this growth and out into the region. Many people will know one or more of the 12,000 people who work at the airport, and we believe that when the airport does well, the region benefits economically. But we don’t see this as a sufficient justification for our existence – we want to ensure that the growth we deliver springs from sustainable foundations. And in this instance, the passenger increase over the next ten years will bring with it 5,000 on-airport jobs and thousands more in the wider region, a doubling of the economic value-add created and millions more tourists using Stansted as their arrival point into the UK.

Another key reason for obtaining the approval to increase our passenger numbers will be that it will significantly strengthen our hand in discussions with airlines and having this clarity of vision will ensure we can do the best route deals to use the spare capacity on our single runway. This will hopefully mean more of what we have been able to announce recently – exciting new airlines flying to exciting new destinations all over the world.

Everybody at the airport has been taken aback by the wave of excitement that people from across the region have shown ahead of the launch of the Emirates flights to Dubai and Primera’s services to New York, Boston, Toronto and Washington. These are destinations that we’ve been targeting for some time because we know they are at the top of peoples’ wish lists. And it’s great that Stansted has a long list of airlines at our door wanting to learn more about us and our region.

It also means we are able to better plan our investment into the airport – we will now be able to provide passengers with an even more enhanced experience, and hopefully one which they are accustomed to at other entertainments facilities around the world.

Today marks another significant chapter in our recent, exciting history, and I look forward to keeping you updated on our exciting plans for the future.

If you would like any further information or have any questions, please do get in touch through the www.ourstansted.com website.

Last year was arguably the most successful year under MAG ownership in terms of airline development, with the launches of several new carriers including Jet2.com, Air Mediterranean and bmi regional.

Most exciting for me was our success in securing deals with more carriers for 2018 onwards. Stansted already has one of the strongest European networks so it’s great to secure deals with Air Corsica and Widerøe to develop this further.

The journey to long-haul

Further afield, we have been focusing on developing our long-haul network.

We have seen low-cost transform the European aviation market in recent years, and the next big thing will be low-cost long-haul. With this on the horizon, and following the redevelopment of Satellite 1 to attract and accommodate new airlines, we’re delighted to have secured direct routes to New York, Boston and Toronto with Primera Air, and with WOW air serving Reykjavik and its many onward connections across the USA.

Announced before Christmas, the new service with Emirates will fly from London Stansted from next summer, which is a huge achievement. We have been working on securing this deal for a long time, with many conversations, negotiations and meetings but I am delighted that the team were able to close a deal. As well as direct access to Dubai, this opens up 154 onward connections and new countries, 86 of which will now become a viable choice from London Stansted. No longer will passengers have to drive past Stansted to access these routes from Heathrow and Gatwick!

These great successes are just the start, not the end, of our long-haul ambitions with more routes to the USA and new services to China and India key targets for us.

2018 will see almost 50 per cent more carriers flying from the airport compared to 2016. However, we can’t forget our existing carriers and will also see new routes served including Bodrum, Turkey and Naples, Italy by Jet2.com, as well as Bourgas, Bulgaria by TUI and Rimini, Italy by Ryanair.

Stansted Transformation Project

As our destination list grows, upgrades to the terminal to improve the passenger experience are imminent. Phase 1 of the Stansted Transformation Project will be completed before summer, including 2,000 new short stay car parking spaces in the blue carpark, 12 new check-in desks, and eight new aircraft stands, some of which will be delivered before summer.

The biggest improvement to the customer journey will be a reconfigured International Departure Lounge with extra seats being added above the main restaurant area, a new two-storey, 400-seater restaurant opening and the mezzanine in Wetherpoons doubling in size. In total, 1,500 new seats will be added to the 2,000 currently in the departure lounge.

Beyond Stansted

Of course, there is much to think about outside the airport itself as we look ahead. Discussions on Brexit and aviation are underway and the debate around a new runway in London is in full swing but I am confident, with available runway capacity, London Stansted has a critical role to play over the next decade helping to foster new trade links, grow global connectivity and increase tourism to the UK.

For us, the largest challenge will be accommodating this new growth prior to fully completing the Stansted Transformation Project. However, we are already working hard to prepare for Summer 2018, and I am sure we’ll have another very successful and exciting year ahead.

With around 26 million passengers using the airport each year – an increase of nearly 10 million passengers compared with five years ago - it was no surprise that future growth was at the top of the agenda and, importantly, how we plan for it.

Since then, I’ve spent much of my time listening to the views of all those with an interest in our future plans. I’ve been able to take a fresh look at our proposed planning application to grow beyond our 35 million passenger limit and use this as an opportunity to reflect on the feedback we received from across the local community at our events in July.

Our neighbours told us that they support growth and investment in the airport facilities and welcome a further increase in destinations and choice. They also told us that they were concerned about the proposal to increase in the number of flights that the airport is permitted to operate each year.

We’ve listened to those concerns and decided to adapt our proposals so growth can be met within the current flights limits.

That means we will now apply to Uttlesford District Council to raise the cap to 43mppa (million passengers a year) – a smaller increase in passenger numbers than originally proposed (44.5mppa). Most importantly this will be achieved without increasing the existing noise limits.

This is an example of community consultation in action – we talked about our plans, we listened and we have amended our proposals accordingly.

We have advised the Council of these changes as we believe these plans provide a better balance between ensuring our future growth and support for the regional economy and the impact on our community. This clarity will also ensure that airlines and business partners have the confidence to continue to invest and grow at Stansted.

We will be holding a series of feedback sessions in key areas in November 2017 to provide further information on our proposals before we submit a final planning application to amend the cap on passenger numbers, most likely in early 2018.

We hope this application will establish the way forward for the airport for the next 10 years. It will enable us to continue to work to make best use of our existing runway, provide more choice and new destinations, more jobs, help us further improve the airport’s facilities and passenger experience and, most importantly, contain our growth within our current environmental limits.

If you wish to sign up to further information on our plans go to www.ourstansted.com