London Stansted Airport: The race against time to resurface a runway

A squad of much than 200 engineers and technicians are halfway done a five-month task to resurface London Stansted Airport.

Work connected the 1.9 mile-long (3km) runway - equivalent to the size of 25 shot pitches - has to beryllium timed meticulously overnight portion less flights are scheduled.

How analyzable are the works and however bash the unit prolong 22 weeks of nighttime shifts?

The Essex terminal underwent its past afloat resurfacing successful 2006.

About 15 cardinal passengers passed done its gates that year, compared with the 28 cardinal expected this year.

It took 3 years to program for this resurfacing project.

Neil Thomson, the airdrome plus improvement director, said: "Handling up to 50 craft movements an hour, the runway is evidently a cardinal plus for the airdrome truthful it's captious it is maintained to the highest standard."

The engineering steadfast Lagan began the task connected 8 January and is aiming to implicit by 6 June.

Joe Rollerson is an electrician who joined the squad arsenic an aeronautical crushed lighting technician.

"It's an astonishing task - truly interesting," said the 24-year-old.

"It was by coincidence I recovered the occupation and I took an involvement consecutive away."

The squad are moving nighttime shifts, with a difference.

They are connected work from 00:00-06:00 and for the archetypal 11 weeks the runway was closed completely.

During the 2nd fractional of the project, with greater request for flights going into the Easter holidays, determination is simply a reduced works docket done the night, which ramps up from 05:00.

The squad works connected rotation.

"A task of this standard is precise analyzable and intelligibly presents america with a fig of operational challenges," said Mr Thomson.

"The full task has been meticulously planned and we purpose to implicit the enactment arsenic rapidly and safely arsenic possible."

Malachy Doyle, the task manager astatine Lagan, calculated they person 440 hours to get the occupation done.

"It's rather a unsocial feeling to person a level landing implicit the apical of you," said Mr Doyle.

"Literally each infinitesimal counts."

London Stansted Airport is preparing for its busiest Easter and summertime play since earlier the pandemic.

Up to 600 planes are expected to instrumentality disconnected each time this summer, flying to 190 destinations, with astir 60 planes based connected site.