London Stansted Airport, which is part of Manchester Airports Group – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub – has announced a 12-month partnership with the UK Innovation Corridor (UKIC), becoming one of its main strategic partners.
The new partnership will help support the growth and development of the region, bringing together businesses, government, and other organisations to drive innovation, job creation and boost international connectivity.
The announcement comes as UKIC launches its first-ever Investment Prospectus, which highlights the region’s importance to the UK economy.
The Corridor, which has generated 25% of England’s new knowledge intensive jobs since 2016, is rapidly emerging as a powerhouse in sectors including Artificial Intelligence, life sciences, and digital technologies.
“We’re delighted to partner with UKIC to help build a stronger future for this region,” said Gareth Powell, Managing Director, London Stansted Airport. “London Stansted plays a vital role in connecting people and businesses, and this partnership will help drive both sustainable growth and innovation. The partnership can be a catalyst for route development connecting the airport and the region to key markets in the US, China, India and beyond – which will bring greater benefits and commercial opportunities to those who chose to live, work or grow their business in the corridor. Our investment in skills through Stansted Airport College, the UK’s only dedicated aviation further education facility, demonstrates our commitment to developing local talent. From our strategic location in the heart of the UKIC, we’re ideally positioned to connect the region’s innovative businesses to global markets. To support our growth and enhance the passenger experience at every point of the airport journey, we recently announced a £1.1 billion investment in facilities at the airport which will increase our terminal capacity by a third, enabling us to serve up to 43 million passengers annually over the next five years while creating 5,000 new jobs. And we will shortly begin consultation on our Sustainable Development Plan, which outlines how we expect passenger numbers to grow beyond this over the next two decades, and we’ll be working with Innovation Corridor partners to make the case for this sustainable growth in the coming months. We have very exciting plans for London Stansted and achieving these ambitions will require the kind of work and collaboration that’s at the very heart of what the Innovation Corridor is all about.”
