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Stansted Airport has donated a further £50,000 to the Stansted Employment and Training Academy, operated by Urban Futures, boosting total donations from airport funds to £300,000.   

The latest funding is in addition to the £250,000* commitment made by Stansted Airport when the academy first opened its doors in 2008, will help build on the existing work of the Academy and is part of a long term commitment by the airport to support employment, training and apprenticeship opportunities. 

Chris Wiggan Head of Public Affairs, London Stansted Airport said:

“With unemployment rising above 2.5million and one in five young people now out of work, we’re delighted to do our bit to support the important work of the Stansted Employment and Training Academy with a further £50,000 funding.

“As the biggest single site employer in the region, we’re fully committed to helping people gain access to new skills and opportunities and the Academy provides a first class walk in facility for anyone seeking employment at the airport, wanting to improve their skills or get connected with apprenticeship opportunities. 

“The Academy is an integral part of the airport community and we hope this latest cash injection will help open the door to more opportunities, giving more people across the region access to the varied roles on offer here at Stansted.”    

The Stansted Employment and Training Academy delivers a range of services including:

-       Online listing of airport vacancies via its dedicated website www.stanstedairportacademy.com

-       walk-in facility for anyone seeking employment at Stansted

-       educational visits for primary, secondary and tertiary educational facilities

-       training support for airport employers and their staff

-       accredited pre-employment training for the unemployed

Anita Garrard, Manager of the Stansted Employment and Training Academy, said:

“Since opening our doors in 2008, and with the generous support of Stansted Airport Limited, we have supported thousands of individuals looking for new employment and helped deliver many training opportunities for people keen to improve skills and open new doors on their career path.

“Our partnership approach at Stansted, working closely with BAA, airport employers and public agencies, has proven to be very successful and we’ll continue to do all we can to promote the wide variety of career opportunities available at this major international airport.”  

For more information on services the Stansted Employment and Training Academy can provide look online at www.stanstedairportacademy.com, telephone 01279 661007 or visit the Academy in person at Stansted Airport (Open 09.00am – 16.00pm Monday to Friday).

Latest statistics from London Stansted Airport have revealed a record number of planes departed the airport flying on track during 2011. The record year also saw more aircraft reducing their noise impacts on approach to landing.

Figures published by Stansted's aircraft noise department show that in 2011, over 99 percent of all aircraft taking off from the airport kept to their flight path and 94 percent performed a Continuous Descent Approach during landing - beating the targets set. 

Head of Planning and Sustainability at Stansted Airport, Dr Andy Jefferson, said:

“It's fantastic to see such an excellent performance by our airlines here at Stansted. Our noise work is one of Stansted’s real success stories but we’ll continue to work hard to minimise the effects as far as we possibly can. 

“These extremely high levels of track keeping is a direct result of working closely with the aviation industry, our airline partners and with the members of our independent motoring body, the Noise and Track Keeping Working Group*. We are committed to seeking further improvements and exploring opportunities that will allow our modern fleet of quiet and fuel efficient aircraft to fully utilise their state of the art on-board navigation systems.”

The airport constantly monitors aircraft noise levels, flight paths and responds to public complaints.  It produces a monthly log of track keeping performance for each airline, and there is an extra incentive for airlines as they can be fined for deviating off track. The money funds local community causes.

The procedure known as a Continuous Descent Approach or CDA encourages airlines to descend gradually when coming into land, reducing noise, fuel burn and emissions.

Hundreds of charities and community groups benefited from £312,726 worth of donations from Stansted Airport’s three community funds last year.

These donations demonstrate how Stansted supports its local communities, providing funding to projects, groups and organisations in neighbouring areas.  A village green project, youth employment schemes, hospices and disability groups are just some of the 220 organisations that benefited in 2011. Highlights include:

The Hatfield Broad Oak Village Green – Hatfield Broad Oak - £50,000 towards a project to transform grazing land into sporting and recreational facilities in the centre of the village.

Keith Artus, District Councillor for Hatfield Broad Oak and the Hallingburys, said: “The Parish Council's belief in its plan to turn 12.5 acres of land in the heart of the village into a country park has been rewarded with this wonderful offer of support from the Stansted Community Fund.”

Birchanger Church of England Primary School - £1000 towards an upgrade to its computer suite.

Shirley Warbrick, Head teacher of Birchanger C of E Primary School, said: “School funding for computer hardware has been cut by 80% so we are particularly grateful for the donation of £1000 from the Stansted Community Fund.  Having access to a netbook when children need one will have a real impact on learning.”

Braintree Foyer’s Look Up To Yourself - Braintree - £1,500 towards an innovative basketball project designed to raise the aspirations of young homeless people in Essex.

Mark Watson, Braintree Foyer Manager, said: “We are extremely grateful to Stansted Airport for their donation which will allow us to deliver an exciting project with a proven track record of motivating and developing talent to benefit the young people of Braintree.”

The Young Concern Trust – Harlow - £1,500 towards a new support and development programme for primary school children across Harlow.

Robert Locke, Director of the Young Concern Trust in Harlow, said:  “All of us at Young Concern Trust really appreciate the support that the Stansted Community Fund has given us through this donation. It will enable us to provide resources to support our new work with primary school children in Harlow.”

Saffron Walden County High School – Saffron Walden - £3,000 towards an outdoor classroom that includes a pond, teaching area and wildlife garden.

Huw Leyshon, Saffron Walden County High School Trustee, said: “The fantastic financial contribution enabled us to develop an overgrown expanse into a functioning ‘outdoor classroom’ incorporating a pond, teaching area and insect attracting wildlife garden.”

Marcella M’Rabety, Stansted Airport's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, said:

"I'd like to offer my congratulations to all the local charities and community groups who have benefited from the hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of donations from Stansted Airport’s three community funds in 2011.

“We are all aware these are very difficult economic times, and that the aviation sector continues to be affected by the downturn, so we are delighted to be able to support so many organisations and continue our commitment to the local communities surrounding the airport.”

The airport has three funding streams where local people can apply for support, these are; the Stansted Community Fund, the Stansted Airport Passenger Community Fund and the Stansted Airport Community Trust. Most of Stansted's community activity and support is channelled through grants to help local schools; funding of youth development projects; supporting staff with fundraising and voluntary activities; supporting educational initiatives and local charitable events.

To check whether your group qualifies for a grant, please visit www.stanstedairport.com/community or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

London Stansted is the third most punctual airport for departing flights in the world according to the latest figures.

FlightStats, an online flight tracking and airport information service, found that over 88 percent of scheduled flights departed on time from London’s third busiest airport during November, outperforming all other European airports for punctuality. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport topped the global table, with US airport Minneapolis-St Paul in second.

Stansted Airport’s Managing Director, Nick Barton, said:

"This is excellent news for the airport and more importantly our passengers.  It’s thanks to the help and support of our airlines, handling agents and business partners that passengers flying from Stansted are most likely to take off on-time than any other European airport.

“Stansted is firmly established as a world leader at serving the low-cost airline sector that has transformed air travel. We have a route network that stretches to around 150 destinations with Stansted offering more direct scheduled European flights than any other airport in the world.”

The airport has won several notable international awards this year, including the Skytrax ‘world’s best low-cost airport’ award, the ‘Air Cargo Award of Excellence’ in April, and the UK’s best cleaned transport premises at the Golden Service Awards in November.