The offices would provide a new area for airport administration staff, as well as an improved security building and executive terminal for up to 45 passengers.
The £620,000 modular building project will be constructed by Spacebuilder Ltd, which has experience constructing within airports at Liverpool John Lennon, Exeter and Bournemouth. The new building is expected to be complete in the summer.
Once the new building is open, work will take place to demolish the old offices and prepare the land for a new data centre, marking the start of plans to develop Silicon Sands – a low carbon data centre campus, creating high tech jobs.
The current administration and security offices are both well over 20 years old and need modernising. The new building would allow a combined service offering an arrivals and departures area, as well as a security checkpoint to host new X-ray and scanning equipment recently purchased by the airport.
A planning application was submitted to Fylde Council in July and approved in September of last year.
Cllr Gillian Campbell, chair of the board at Blackpool Airport Operations, said:
“This new building would allow us to grow executive flights by offering more space as well as improved security, while a new building will also provide a modern and welcoming entrance that is more suitable as a first impression for departing or arriving visitors. “Now we have the agreements in place, we’re keen for the building to start early next year and be ready in time for summer. We’re expecting this work to be complete with minimal impacts on airport operations but will keep all our customers in the surrounding hangars updated throughout the build.”
Once built, the old office will be demolished to form the site of a first data centre building as part of the Silicon Sands development. A planning application for the data centre is expected to be submitted next year.
Cllr Mark Smith, Blackpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Built Environment and Economy at Blackpool Council said:
“We’re working hard to make sure that we can support an airport that is commercially successful and a leading transport hub, and one that drives the growth of our Enterprise Zone. “These offices would give the airport more scope to attract new business and customers. It also allows us to nurture the growth of the airport, while releasing the land for high end data centre companies to invest in Silicon Sands and create well paid jobs for local people.”
Funding to build the new airport offices and assemble the land is being provided by Blackpool Council, with support from a grant as part of the Lancashire Combined County Authority devolution deal announced earlier last month.
Blackpool Council reacquired Blackpool Airport from Balfour Beatty in September 2017 for £4.25m via its ownership of Blackpool Airport Operations Ltd and Blackpool Airport Property Ltd. The purchase saved the airport from risk of permanent closure and secured its long-term future as part of the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.
For more information about Blackpool Airport, visit www.blackpoolairport.com
