New Civil Engineer
Lee Kenny
18 Jun 2026
From Manchester’s decade-long transformation programme to Gatwick’s Northern Runway expansion and Heathrow’s megaproject ambitions, UK airports are redefining how major infrastructure can be delivered in live operational environments.
The redevelopment of an airport presents a huge challenge. The difficulty is not simply building new terminals or adding runway capacity; the real test is delivering infrastructure upgrades while operations continue around the clock.
At Manchester Airport, a 10-year transformation programme recently concluded after navigating Brexit, Covid-19, changes to aviation regulations and the collapse of several major airlines.
At Gatwick Airport, work is progressing on the planning and enabling stages of the £2.2bn Northern Runway programme, while maintaining some of the highest operational throughput in the country.
And at Heathrow Airport, future expansion ambitions are driving investment in digital systems, modern methods of construction and new operational technologies...
