Approval to demolish the current 1937 arrivals hall building and create a combined departures and arrivals complex, as well as develop arrival bays for larger planes, have been given the go-ahead by Planning.
The work – which is expected to cost £42 million – is scheduled to begin in October, with a completion date pencilled in for 2021.
And Steve Tanner, capital projects director for Ports of Jersey, said Jersey will be getting a ‘fantastic facility’.
Mr Tanner commented: ‘It’s going to be a fantastic new facility, it’s the right thing for Jersey and I think it will be something everyone will be proud of and enjoy being in.’
The work will see the arrivals facility move to the ground floor of the existing departures terminal, where security and duty free is at present.
A new mezzanine floor will be created above the ground floor and will house the future security suite and a retail, food and lounge unit. Access to the 2,300 sq/metre mezzanine extension will be via lifts, stairs and escalators from the ground floor check-in area, which will stay in its current location.
‘There’s an operational imperative to make these changes and the existing arrivals facility has to go,’ Mr Tanner said.
‘And as we renovate the Airport we will take the opportunity to safeguard [future-proof] it.’
That work will include adapting arrival bays for aircraft to allow new larger A321 Neo aircraft to land in the Island. The aircraft can accommodate up to 20 more seats than the conventional A320s used by easyJet to serve Jersey, and even more seats than the A319s flown by British Airways.
‘The work will allow us to maximise the number of these aircraft that can be on the ground at any one time in Jersey,’ he added.
And Mr Tanner said there was plenty of scope within the airport project to improve the safety of the facility.
‘Aside from the 1937 building, the buildings we have are 20 years old. The work we will be doing will make the terminal an even safer place for people to be in.
‘Although this is a relatively new facility, technology has accelerated and I’m sure that other airports around Europe will be interested in some of the systems we will be putting in place – we’ll be putting the latest safety system in place in the Airport.’
Although the airport transformation is expected to take the best part of three years, Mr Tanner insists the impact on passengers during that time will be minimal.
‘You would expect there to be some impact in terms of how we move people around the facility in the short term, but we will look to carry out the key activity out of operational hours.
‘And the mezzanine floor itself will go up quickly – by the end of 2019 all departures should be operating from the mezzanine floor.’
Since the 2007 Glasgow terror attack, a 30-metre exclusion zone to public traffic must be implemented around any terminal building, and Mr Tanner added that once the new arrival and departures complex is created, attention would turn to bringing in such an exclusion zone.
