Investment opens the gate for more growth at East Midlands Airport

• East Midlands Airport has completed a £10.5m investment in two new airfield gatehouses, replacing older facilities and enhancing access to cargo aprons with modern security scanning and expanded capacity.
• The east apron gatehouse (400 sq m) serves UPS, FedEx, and Royal Mail, while the west apron gatehouse (200 sq m) supports DHL’s UK hub; both feature advanced 3D scanners, larger vehicle airlocks, and improved staff facilities.
• This upgrade is part of a broader £120m airport improvement programme, supporting cargo growth plans that include developing 50 hectares of new facilities and accommodating up to 18 wide-bodied aircraft to meet projected demand increases over the next 20 years.

East Midlands Airport has completed a £10.5m investment in key airfield facilities, which will play a vital role in enabling the ongoing growth of its cargo operation.

Two brand-new gatehouses have been built to replace existing ones, providing access onto the airfield away from the passenger terminal, and fitted out with the latest scanning equipment. It’s part of an ongoing £120m investment programme at the airport.

Gatehouses provide security checkpoints onto the airfield for airport staff and personnel from airport partners such as airlines, fuellers, engineers, and crews handling baggage and cargo. The two modern replacements are the main access points onto the cargo aprons, where business at what is already the busiest air cargo hub in the UK has been growing significantly.

The new gatehouse serving the east apron – home to UPS, FedEx, and Royal Mail, among others – also provides access for airport personnel to the central apron, where passenger aircraft stand, and is almost six times bigger than the previous facility, at 400 sq m. It has been fitted out with two security lanes for people on foot and space for four HGVs in the vehicle ‘airlock,’ where security checks are carried out. This doubles the existing capabilities for processing people and vehicles. This is to future-proof the investment, ready for the airport’s cargo development plans unveiled last year. The additional capacity also provides an option for private flights to be accessed away from the passenger terminal in modern facilities.

The new west apron gatehouse, which serves DHL’s main UK cargo hub, is almost three times the size of the one it replaces, at 200 sq m. Along with the east apron gatehouse, it has a large canopy above the vehicle ‘airlock,’ as well as modern staff restroom facilities and a brighter, more spacious environment – improving working conditions for security staff.

Both the new gatehouses are equipped with state-of-the-art scanners, which allow security officers to view and manoeuvre items within bags using 3D technology, improving the speed and accuracy of security checks. The gatehouse investment follows a redesign of the cargo aprons last year to provide stands for four more wide-bodied aircraft.

The airport’s long-term cargo growth plans envisage four plots near the runway, totalling 50 hectares, being developed into cargo facilities, complete with new apron space for up to 18 aircraft and taxiways. The developments aim to meet a projected 54 percent increase in cargo demand at the airport over the next two decades.

This latest investment is part of a £120m improvement programme underway at East Midlands Airport, which has also seen the complete transformation of the security hall in the passenger terminal, including next-generation scanners, among many other significant changes to improve the passenger experience.

East Midlands Airport’s Managing Director, Steve Griffiths, said: “This significant investment in our gatehouses is another sign of the growing success of our cargo operation. Along with other improvements we have undertaken to boost our cargo capabilities, it helps to pave the way for a further increase in cargo activity as our development plans come to fruition.

“We have introduced the latest scanning equipment and built extra capacity into the new facilities so they can cope with the expected extra demand in the coming years. This brings these facilities up to the standards of the newly refurbished passenger security hall for our staff and partners accessing the airfield.”