East Midlands Airport is rethinking the layout of its aircraft stand spaces to increase capacity for both the cargo and passenger sides of its business as part of its strategic growth plans.

The move ties in with the airport’s recently-unveiled plans to develop parts of the airfield to facilitate forecasted growth in cargo operations at the airport in the coming years. Bosses at the airport are also working to drive an increase in passenger services, with the announcement last month of new airline SunExpress starting services to Turkey next summer an example of these efforts.

There are three areas known as ‘aprons’ at the airport, with the east and west aprons dedicated to cargo operations and the central apron the area that all passenger flights arrive and depart from. During the summer season the 23 stands for passenger aircraft are full and with growing numbers of cargo airlines also choosing East Midlands for their operations, teams at the airport were tasked with finding a way to grow capacity within the existing apron space.

This was a significant technical challenge that required complex redesign, procedural overhauls, cultural shifts and a key focus on safety. It involved staff from a number of teams including airfield operations, aviation safety, air traffic control, capital delivery and control room.

The result can be seen in new markings recently completed on the east and west aprons, which has doubled the airport’s capacity for wide-bodied cargo aircraft to seven. And the work will continue on the central apron to create four more stands for passenger aircraft. This will include a comprehensive review of current capacity levels, exploring ways to optimise assets and create additional space to support future passenger growth. Planned improvements include a full re-marking of the apron, installation of new centreline lighting, and expansion of parking areas for ground service equipment.

Head of Airfield Operations Lauren Turner said: “The operation of an airfield is quite rightly highly regulated to ensure safety, and so any changes to layouts is a huge challenge involving a lot of different specialist knowledge at the airport. At East Midlands we have the extra challenge of being two airports in one – a friendly, customer-focused passenger airport by day and the UK’s number one airport for cargo by night.

“Our teams rose magnificently to this challenge and have found solutions to enable more cargo and passenger aircraft to operate from East Midlands. Both parts of our business work hand in hand to ensure our long-term success so it’s crucial that we continue to invest in both areas. These changes will help us meet our medium-term plans to grow both sides of our business as we successfully attract more airlines to choose East Midlands as the best place for new operations.”