“We believe expansion is the right thing for the UK,” he said. “We are in regular communication with colleagues at the Department for Transport. We are working hard with them to connect the whole of the UK to global growth, and they are helping us to do that.” The tone of his response was more lobbying than reassured: “Expansion is incredibly critical – the European hubs are outpacing Heathrow while we are constrained. If the government is serious about making global Britain a success, we need to expand Heathrow.”
The airport was due to launch a consultation on its proposals in the coming weeks before submitting a development consent order application later this year. Heathrow admitted that the CAA decision had slowed down the project and reduced
the amount it would spend over the next two years ahead of planning consent.
Avoiding pinch-points
Civil Engineering Contractors Association chief executive Alasdair Reisner says past work in the sector remains a benefit when bidding for aviation projects. “It is a specialist sector with regulatory requirements around it so it is not an area for everyone,” he says. “Where you are operating live airside, it is not to be taken lightly. It is important to respect the working environment and you would assume previous experience is an advantage.”
Reisner calls for sensible planning with the number of major projects in the pipeline: “If all the proposed aviation projects go ahead, along with HS2 and other schemes, there is a realistic capacity challenge – it would be an enormous stretch on the capability of the UK market to deliver. Sensible planning is important. We must look to manage resources across project programmes to make sure we don’t get pinch-points where nothing happens.”
Mancunian ambitions
Like with road and rail, aviation capital spending is not all about the capital. The Manchester Airport Transformation Programme aims to create a “world-class guest experience” to cement the hub’s self-styled status as the “global gateway for the North”. A fully reconfigured Terminal Two will open in 2022, more than double the size of its predecessor and featuring an 83sq metre digital screen. Pier Two will open at the same time with capability to handle the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
A spokesperson for the airport says the project is being driven by demand: “We had the busiest summer in our 81-year history last year with more than 100,000 travellers passing through every single day in August. A more modern and efficient airport will allow us not only to meet that demand, but to do so in a more sustainable way while delivering an improved guest experience.”
Carbon-reduction measures planned at Manchester include fixed ground power points on all new stands, which will mean aircraft do not have to leave their engines running when parked. This is part of a broad movement to change the perception of airports as arch carbon villains. In February, a host of aviation industry executives signed a pledge committing to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, alongside a 70 per cent growth in passengers. Although environmental campaigners poured scorn on the plan, claiming it would rely on carbon offsetting and the invention of new technology, construction industry figures backed airports and airlines to overcome sustainability obstacles.
“We are seeing the aviation sector waking up to the climate-change challenge,” says Galliford Try aviation director Sean Blackmore, who sees the sector as a strong one for the company over the coming years. “We are seeing lots of ambition from airports in terms of their plans, but we are not seeing those plans come to fruition just yet. Larger expansions need political support, which can take longer to come through.”
He calls for the government to make it clear that aviation growth is part of its strategy. “Some airports are at capacity,” Blackmore says. “We should be mindful that it has not just people, but goods that need to be transported. After Brexit, if we are trading outside Europe more, that could have an impact on what airports look like.”
Galliford Try has worked on a number of recent airport projects, including Manchester, East Midlands, Stansted and Gatwick. “As well as looking to improve flight capacity, airports are becoming destinations and many are improving their retail offering,” Blackmore says.
Workload in the sector can be sporadic, which presents problems for contractors. “There remains a challenge over key resources and immigration. The industry always finds it hard to attract people to areas that look less attractive on paper, such as manual work,” Blackmore adds. “There are also opportunities in modular, offsite construction using smarter design and more automation. The construction industry needs to embrace alternative ways of working.”
Specialist expansion
Careys Civil Engineering is working at airports including Birmingham International, Gatwick, Heathrow, Edinburgh and London City. Chief operating officer Bjourn Bigley said: “Last year was our biggest for aviation revenue, with major projects including 13 new aircraft stands at Edinburgh. It is an area of focus for us, a very interesting sector. We have strong long-term relationships and work alongside clients. “For us, a good project is working with a trusted client, which is where you go in with transparency and can come up with collective value engineering. We look for those opportunities: partnerships rather than competitive tendering.”
Bigley says working on airports is a specialist job. “The biggest challenge is working airside, delivering a project while planes are taxiing, taking off and landing as we work,” he says. “It requires cooperation with teams including security, engineering, operations and air traffic control. Exemplar project management is crucial.”
It’s a big year for aviation. With the raft of expansion plans at critical stages, almost 6,000 people have signed a pledge not to fly in 2020 amid increased fears for the environment, with the campaign targeting 100,000. The International Air Transport Association has warned that the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus could reduce global demand for air travel by almost 5 per cent this year.
Bigley expects construction workloads to remain high, however.“We have the largest aviation network in Europe and the industry contributes £22bn to the UK economy,” he says. “It is growing at a rapid rate to meet demand. Passenger numbers are growing.”