Friday, December 7, 2012

Dedicated To The 3rd Airport Of London

By Michael Langhorne


Behind Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, Stansted is the next busiest airport in the United Kingdom. As with every airport, Stansted's operations began with the opening of its first terminal building in 1969. The one we see today, however, did not start operating until 1988. When this terminal building was finally completed in 1991, Stansted Airport became an ultra modern airport complex.

The airport is home to Ryan Air, a leading UK budget carrier which goes to 107 destinations in Europe and elsewhere. According to statistics released in the year 2011, Stansted airport was ranked as the fourth busiest airport in the UK after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport. This particular airport is owned by BAA, the British Airports Authority. The authority also manages and owns five other major UK airports.

There are over 25,000 parking spaces at Stansted and 125 check-in counters. A total of 10,608-square meter space is given over to shops. The airport holds the distinction of being the first British airport to hold the ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 certifications back-to-back. It also has an enviable green record: a Carbon Trust Award for a carbon-neutral airport redevelopment effort; ability to recycle airport waste at 60 percent; and, zero landfill use by 2015.

There is no shortage of modern facilities at Stansted such as lost property area, left baggage area, information desk, currency exchange facilities and ATM machines, showers, postal facilities and many others. Some of the most cherished of these are parking facilities. These are conveniently provided to all passengers who wish to drive to the airport, park and travel. There are different parking services including valet parking, premium parking services as well as a couple of others.

From the beginning, Stansted was designed with ease of use in mind, with departures, check-in and arrivals housed in clearly designated and separate areas. The main terminal building is built in a striking glass design, and was originally designed to comfortably process up to 25 million passengers comfortably in a single year. The control tower was the highest in the UK when it was first built, and is still one of the country's tallest.

Stansted is London's third busiest airport, but as they say, if you need the job done, give it to a busy person. The multi-faceted airport has figured in many films, including The Dark Knight Rises. Although Black Swan was not filmed at Stansted Airport, some passengers in the passenger lounge can't help but associate the airport's swanlike structure to a ballerina in motion. Efficient yet graceful, the airport beats with the frenetic pace of modern travel, seeming to challenge a sleepy passenger to a sprightly pas de deux.




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