Editing London Stansted Airport (section)

=== Under BAA ownership (1966–2013) ===
[[File:London Stansted Airport main entrance.jpg|thumb|The terminal building at night]]
[[File:London Stansted Airport main hall 1.jpg|thumb|The arrivals hall]]
Beginning in 1966, after Stansted was placed under [[British Airports Authority|BAA]] control, the airport was used by holiday charter operators wishing to escape the higher costs associated with operating from Heathrow and Gatwick.
[[File:London Stansted Airport Air View.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Stansted]]

Stansted had been held in reserve as a third London airport since the 1950s. However, after a public inquiry at Chelmsford in 1966–67, the government set up the Roskill Commission to review the need afresh. The Commission for the Third London Airport (the "[[Roskill Commission]]") of 1968–71 did not include Stansted as one of its four short-listed sites and recommended that [[Cublington]] in Buckinghamshire should be developed as London's third airport.<ref>Roskill (1971). Report, Commission on the Third London Airport. London: HMSO.</ref> However, the Conservative government under Ted Heath agreed with a minority recommendation that a site at Foulness in the Thames Estuary, later renamed Maplin, should be developed, but in 1974, the incoming Labour government under Harold Wilson cancelled the Maplin project because of the economic situation.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|title=Inside London's Airports Policy: Indecision, decision and counter-decision|last=Le Blond|first=Paul|publisher=ICE Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9780727763655|location=London}}</ref>

Stansted was then considered as an option for long-term development in the Advisory Committee on Airports Policy <!-- (ACAP) --> and the Study Group on South East Airports <!-- (SGSEA) --> and was selected from a short list of six by the Conservative government in December 1979. The proposal, for a new terminal associated with the existing runway and the safeguarding of land for a second runway, was considered at the Airports Inquiries of 1981–83. The ''Inspector's Report'' was published in 1984 and the decision, announced in a white paper in 1985, was to approve a plan to develop Stansted in two phases, involving both airfield and terminal improvements that would increase the airport's capacity to 15&nbsp;million passengers per year, but to reject the second runway.<ref name="auto"/>

==== Redevelopment into London's third airport ====
The redevelopment of Stansted into London's third airport began with outline [[Planning permission in the United Kingdom|planning permission]] granted in 1985, for a new terminal building to accommodate up to 15 million passengers annually.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Airports Policy (Hansard, 17 June 1985) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1985/jun/17/airports-policy-1 |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=api.parliament.uk}}</ref>

Initially, the project was planned in two phases. The first phase was designed to permit an annual capacity of 8 million passengers, while the second phase was intended to expand the terminal's capacity to 15 million passengers per annum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2010 |title=Making a material difference London Stansted Airport Waste Management Strategy 2010-2015 |url=https://mag-umbraco-media-live.s3.amazonaws.com/1096/stalwastestrategy_stn.pdf |website=London Stansted Airport}}</ref> It was initially believed that any future development beyond this capacity would require the construction of a second major terminal building.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Lucie |date=September 2023 |title=HERITAGE STATEMENT Stansted Airport Terminal Extension |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65097f3b22a783001343e86c/Stansted_Airport_Heritage_Statement_FINAL.pdf |website=gov.uk}}</ref>

==== Foster Associates terminal ====
[[Foster and Partners|Foster Associates]], founded by architect [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]], was commissioned to design the new terminal building, with structural engineering led by [[Peter Rice (structural engineer)|Peter Rice]] at principal engineers [[Ove Arup & Partners]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/architecture-genius-expressed-in-nuts-and-bolts-peter-rice-is-an-engineer-revered-by-the-worlds-top-1530478.html|title=Architecture: Genius expressed in nuts and bolts: Peter Rice is an|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-10-27|language=en-GB|archive-date=28 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028055244/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/architecture-genius-expressed-in-nuts-and-bolts-peter-rice-is-an-engineer-revered-by-the-worlds-top-1530478.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The plans were approved in 1985, and construction took place between 1988 and 1991<ref>Ritchie, p. 173</ref> by the [[John Laing Group|John Laing company]] at a cost of £100 million.<ref>''Above Us The Skies: The Story Of BAA''&nbsp;– 1991 (Michael Donne&nbsp;– BAA plc), p. 62-63</ref> The terminal building originally comprised a square structure of 11 bays by 11 bays, and opened to the public in 1991. It received the [[European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture|European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Award)]] in 1990. As part of the development, a railway branch was built to the airport for [[Stansted Airport railway station]], built at ground level within the terminal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blow |first1=Christopher |title=Transport Terminals and Modal Interchanges |date=2005 |publisher=Architectural Press |isbn=0-7506-5693-X |edition=1 |location=Oxford |page=70 |chapter=6: Taxonomy of rail, bus/coach and air transport interchanges}}</ref>

The building was recognised as a landmark work of high-tech architecture. Foster + Partners' design for Stansted Airport is widely regarded as a transformative influence on airport architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-25 |title=Stansted Airport "challenged the rules of terminal design" |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2019/11/25/stansted-airport-foster-partners-high-tech-architecture/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=Dezeen |language=en}}</ref> The building features open canopies that visually connect the landside and airside,<ref name=":02" /> and challenged conventional airport layouts by relocating essential services underground, instead creating an open and flexible main concourse that is naturally illuminated. The "floating" roof, supported by a [[space frame]] of inverted-pyramid roof trusses, creates the impression of a stylised swan in flight. The base of each truss structure is a "utility pillar", which provides indirect uplighting illumination and is the location for air-conditioning, water, telecommunications, and electrical outlets. The layout of the airport was originally designed to provide an unobstructed flow for passengers to arrive at the short-stay car park, move through the check-in hall, and go through security and on to the departure gates, all on the same level. These principles influenced the design of future projects around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=dwtransportwriting |date=2015-12-02 |title=The Upside Down Airport (London Stansted Airport, UK) |url=https://thebeautyoftransport.com/2015/12/02/the-upside-down-airport-london-stansted-airport-uk/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=The Beauty of Transport |language=en}}</ref>

In 1999, planning permission was granted for Phase 2 of the terminal expansion, which included extending the width to 15 bays, as well as the addition of the third satellite building.<ref name=":02" />

==== Further developments ====
A major expansion programme to the terminal took place between 2007 and 2009, extending the width by 2 bays, with nearly {{convert|5900|m2|abbr=on}} of floorspace,  to give space for additional [[baggage carousel]]s, a new immigration and passport control hall.

In November 2006, [[Uttlesford]] District Council rejected a BAA planning application to increase the permitted number of aircraft movements and to remove the limit on passenger numbers. BAA immediately appealed against the decision and a public inquiry opened, lasting from May until October 2007. Planning Inspector Alan Boyland made his recommendations in January 2008. {{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} Those recommendations were largely followed by the Secretary of State for Transport ([[Geoff Hoon]]) and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Hazel Blears), who jointly allowed the applicant's appeal in October 2008. A legal challenge by community campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion <!-- (SSE) --> was rejected by the High Court in March 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/13/stop-stansted-loses-legal-battle|title=Stop Stansted Expansion group loses legal battle|last=Percival|first=Jenny|date=2009-03-13|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-10-27|archive-date=8 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208124721/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/13/stop-stansted-loses-legal-battle|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Competition Commission ruled in March 2009 that BAA should sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports within two years.<ref>{{cite news |title=BAA could challenge airport sale |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7951377.stm |work=BBC News |date=19 March 2009 |access-date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=21 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321094442/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7951377.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> The ruling was quashed within a year following an appeal, but was subsequently upheld.<ref>{{cite news |title=BAA sell-off back on track after court ruling |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11531559 |work=BBC News |date=13 October 2010 |access-date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=1 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901233547/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11531559 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Competition Commission reconfirmed its ruling in July 2011 that the airport be sold,<ref>{{cite news|title=BAA loses final Competition Commission sell-off ruling|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14196639|access-date=19 July 2011|work=BBC News|date=19 July 2011|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719112712/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14196639|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]] turned down an appeal by BAA on 26 July 2012.<ref>{{cite news |title=BAA loses latest appeal against Stansted sale |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19001159 |work=BBC News |date=26 July 2012 |access-date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=27 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127211226/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19001159 |url-status=live}}</ref> In light of the result, BAA chose not to appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] and confirmed on 20 August 2012 that the airport would be sold.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stansted Airport to be sold by BAA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19318094 |work=BBC News |date=20 August 2012 |access-date=28 February 2013 |archive-date=5 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305092009/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19318094 |url-status=live}}</ref>