London Stansted has named Farrans as its construction partner for new skylink walkways, a key element of the airport’s transformation plan.

The links will provide direct pedestrian connections between the main terminal and the existing satellite buildings that accommodate departure and arrival gates.

Introducing the skylinks will allow the track transit people mover to be decommissioned, creating space for the terminal to be extended towards the airfield in later phases of the programme.

At the heart of the wider upgrade is a three-bay extension to the terminal, adding 16,500m2 of bright, open space with new shops, bars and restaurants, making Stansted the largest single-terminal airport in Europe.

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The walkways will include travelators and be suitable for assistance buggies, enabling passengers with reduced mobility to complete the full journey between the terminal and their gates.

Work is due to start later this summer, with major sections to be pre-assembled offsite in a vacant hangar on the north side of the airfield.

This construction approach will shorten delivery times, reduce working at height to improve safety and ease congestion in busy operational areas.

Once assembled, sections will be transported overnight across the airfield on self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) to minimise disruption to airport operations.

Glenn Gilmore, Regional Director at Farrans, said: "Passengers arriving to London Stansted will already be able to see that we are mobilising our site in preparation for main works to begin during this exciting period of transformation for the airport.

"Construction in aviation environments comes with many unique challenges including making sure that our clients’ business operations can continue 24/7 with minimal disruption every day. We are specialists in managing these tricky interfaces with our extensive experience on site at numerous other UK airports.

"We will be collaborating closely with our clients and their operations team as we deliver this important project to support passenger number growth at London Stansted."