Airport City Manchester is an £800 million expansion of

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...

currently under construction. The plan will follow an airport city model with the aim of stimulating the

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

economy by creating on-site logistics, manufacturing, office and leisure facilities. Manchester Airport will become the first airport in the United Kingdom to build an airport city. Manchester Airport is the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom after

Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

and

Gatwick Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwick was the second-bu ...

, and is the international gateway for northern England. The site was announced as an

enterprise zone An urban enterprise zone is an area in which policies to encourage economic growth and development are implemented. Urban enterprise zone policies generally offer tax concessions, infrastructure incentives, and reduced regulations to attract invest ...

in March 2011. In October 2013, it was announced that Beijing Construction Engineering Group would invest £800 million into the project—becoming one of the largest single investments in Britain from China. It will be one of the largest property development schemes in Greater Manchester alongside

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by The Peel Group, Peel Media; its principal tenants are Mass media, ...

and

NOMA Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma District, ...

, as well as in the United Kingdom. China's

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important Supreme leader, political figure in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberatio ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

, alongside former

UK Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, visited the Airport City development in October 2015 as part of his state visit to the United Kingdom.

Proposal

Airport City Manchester will follow the airport city model, that has been implemented at other cities such as Barcelona and Frankfurt. Two main zones will house the new developments. The first will be adjacent to

Manchester Airport station Manchester Airport station is a railway, tram, bus and coach station at Manchester Airport, England which opened at the same time as the second air terminal in 1993. The station is south of Manchester Piccadilly, at the end of a short branch f ...

, and north of the

M56 motorway The M56 motorway serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Chester. With a length of , it connects North Wales ...

. The site here will mainly consist of hotel, office, and manufacturing facilities. The second core site will be situated nearby the existing cargo centre near junction 6 of the M56.

Scheme

Manchester Airport is the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom, and is overall the busiest outside the London region and has over double the number of passengers of its nearest non-London rival. It is predicted that Manchester Airport will double its 18 million passengers in 2011 to 36 million by 2030. Unlike London Heathrow and Gatwick Airport, vacant land exists around Manchester Airport for expansion. Both Heathrow and Gatwick have encountered opposition in their wish to expand, particularly over a third runway at Heathrow. In March 2011, the site was selected as an

, offering lower business rates to attract investment in the area. Former UK Chancellor

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

described the zone as one of the best developed and most advanced of any of the 24 enterprise zones which were announced in 2011. The site plan and design will be led by Manchester-based 5plus Architects. Construction will be undertaken by a joint venture of

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...

and Beijing Construction Engineering Group. It was scheduled to open in 2016. The development was renamed MIX Manchester in May 2024, with a stated refocus on laboratories and research facilities in addition to office space.

Transport

Enterprise Way, a new road within the site, started construction in January 2017 and was completed in February 2018.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Airport City Manchester website
Manchester Airport

Proposal

Scheme

Transport

See also

References

External links