Stansted airport – a bid for the big time

In wartime 1942 a runway was built by the US Air Force on the green fields of Essex, near a village called Stansted Mountfitchett. Stansted means ‘stony place’ in Anglo-Saxon, possibly not ideal for take-off and landing, but the runway went down anyway and the airfield begun its service to the allied war effort.

Used for heavy bombers, Stansted was also a maintenance and supply depot undertaking the overhaul and modification of Martin B-26 Marauder twin-engine bombers. On D-Day in 1944, bombers from Stansted were at the forefront of 600 aircraft patrolling over the beaches of occupied France.

In 1966, the British Airports Authority, which had just come into being, took over Stansted, and it soon became apparent that it was going to become a major player in British aviation. The terminal needed an extension …