Steve Griffiths, Managing Director at East Midlands Airport looks back at 2025 as the airport celebrated its 60th year of commercial aviation.
Steve writes:
2025 was always going to be a significant year for East Midlands Airport, our 60th year operating as a commercial airport – but it has gone beyond celebrating past successes.
We have certainly enjoyed marking the occasion in a number of ways – from various events bringing civic leaders, business leaders and local communities together, to a Red Arrow flypast, photo exhibition, upgrades to the Airport Trail, plaque unveiling and children’s art competition, among many others.
It has been an opportunity to reflect on what makes the airport such a special place – and, of course, it’s the people. Those who work here now, and those who were here for the previous six decades, have all brought passion and a drive to improve the airport.
That drive to improve has really been a hallmark of our anniversary year. We have undertaken some truly significant improvements for our customers as part of our ongoing £120m investment programme, not least an expanded and transformed security hall, which provides a much brighter and more welcoming environment for checks to be carried out. Next-generation scanning equipment has been installed, which helps speed up the process by up to 125 people per hour. Carrying out these improvements and training security officers on the new scanners – in a newly constructed training academy – while keeping the airport running without impacting our customers, is a testament to the fantastic team at East Midlands.
And that is by no means the only change we’ve overseen. We introduced new barrierless, cashless arrangements in the rapid drop-off area to improve traffic flow; opened new and refurbished restaurants and stores, as well as an expanded and refurbished Escape Lounge; upgraded toilet facilities throughout the terminal; opened a new airside multi-faith room; and revamped our Meet & Greet office and Lost Property hub – the list is almost endless. Beyond this, our popular Assisted Travel service supported 100,000 customers in one year for the first time – and won a national award. All these things have undoubtedly helped customer satisfaction reach an all-time high, with 71% saying they would recommend East Midlands Airport to others – an amazing achievement.
One major event for us was the launch of our cargo growth strategy, which earmarks four sites near the runway, together the size of 80 football pitches, for development into new cargo facilities. This would help us facilitate the estimated 54% growth in cargo volumes we expect to handle over the coming two decades. Since announcing our plans, we have welcomed an incredible seven new cargo airlines to the airport.
This immediate jump in cargo activity has played a part in East Midlands becoming the UK’s fastest-growing air freight hub, with a 12% year-on-year increase in cargo tonnage. The total cargo handled so far this year is 275,883 tonnes, which is almost 30,000 tonnes more than last year. Just last month, we handled 36,595 tonnes of cargo – 16.6%, or 5,204 tonnes, more than last year. We have supported this immediate growth by reconfiguring our cargo aprons to increase the number of stands for wide-bodied aircraft.
Our cargo growth is also having a positive knock-on effect on businesses that support or rely on this part of our operation. For example, both FedEx and ground-handling firm Swissport have moved into larger on-site facilities to increase their capacity – with another new warehouse scheduled to open on site soon. A new facility for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of cargo crates has opened at a nearby business park, prompted by rising cargo volumes and sustained e-commerce expansion at the airport, according to the facility’s operators, Unilode.
This winter will see further improvements out on the airfield, including reconstructing one of the main taxiways, improving lighting and reconfiguring the main passenger apron to increase the number of aircraft that can park there. This ties in with efforts that are actively underway to expand our passenger route network, including a link to a European hub airport.
As if all this were not enough, away from the day-to-day running of the airport, our brilliant staff have taken part in thousands of hours of volunteer work in our neighbouring communities, and we have continued our year-round engagement with local people to listen to their concerns, support community groups and projects, and showcase all that is great about the airport, including the employment opportunities here.
As the year draws to a close, we still have our eyes on the horizon, looking for opportunities to improve the airport for decades to come.
