"Musical chairs" at Jersey Airport as departure lounge redevelopment takes shape - Jersey Evening Post
by James Jeune · Jersey Evening PostPosted inNews
“Musical chairs” at Jersey Airport as departure lounge redevelopment takes shape
by James Jeune 11 June 202611 June 2026
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PASSENGERS heading through Jersey Airport in recent months will have noticed a change of scenery as the major redevelopment of the departure lounge continues to take shape.
The £10m project, which is being funded through Ports of Jersey’s own revenue, is already in the third of four phases since work commenced last year.
It will bring about a transformation of the lounge, including the creation of a new mezzanine level with views of the runway, while also modernising infrastructure that has been in place since 1997.
Ports chief executive Matt Thomas noted that the States-owned entity – incorporated in 2014 – had “inherited” a lot of assets.
“You actually only really understand the state of it when you dig it up and you start to reflect and refresh,” Mr Thomas explained.
“It’s two birds with one stone, this project, of how do we create something that is amazing for customers and celebrates Jersey but [also] seamlessly provides resilience to a lot of critical infrastructure.”
The current phase – which includes a significant portion of the visible changes such as the mezzanine level, duty free area, Genuine Jersey store, family area and a lot of the art – is on track for completion by mid-October.
The final stage will introduce a new bar and restaurant called The Shoreline, expected to open in April or May next year.
Mr Thomas said: “In a perfect world, you would have done it all in one go, but we need to operate as an airport as well.”
As such, the project has seen passengers use a new temporary walkway to the departure lounge after clearing security, creating a slightly different route and some additional waiting areas while the work continues.
Reflecting on the “musical chairs” type-scenario, airport operations manager Will de la Haye said that Ports’ customer experience team had been gathering feedback from “as many passengers as possible”.
“We were expecting that to potentially drop, you know, walking around the building site – but actually we’ve seen a really positive response to those questions,” he continued.
“People are understanding of the situation, they’re really keen to see the Airport when it’s fully done.”
From aerial images by a local photographer, to wicker cows, a “Martello-tower-inspired” lift and dozens of ceramic skylarks – a nod to a bird species which is allowed around the airfield – the finished product is expected to achieve a noticeable Jersey theme.
The project has been designed with the help of a range of local stakeholders, including Brighter Futures, Connecting Communities, National Trust, Chamber of Commerce, Durrell, Jersey Architect Commission, Visit Jersey and ArtHouse Jersey.
“We wanted to bring Jersey to life as part of the lounge experience,” said Ports chief people and sustainability officer Hannah Gleave.
She continued: “I guess the first thing we were asking is ‘what is Jersey like? How do we identify? Is it puffins? Is it cows?’
“We did some workshops where we were presenting lots of iconic things from Jersey, and that group itself started determining, ‘oh, actually it’s granite, it’s definitely some cows, we love the idea of having some artwork that brings Jersey to life as well’.”
Ports announced in February that Ashbe had been appointed as the construction partner for the redevelopment.
Mr Thomas previously cited a desire for the “significant investment” to support the local economy through the involvement of a Jersey-based firm, alongside the use of a “high proportion” of local subcontractors and specialists.
Ashbe project manager William Johnston acknowledged that the redevelopment had not been without its challenges, with regard to “information on what is within the structure”.
“There were additional electrical services [and] some plumbing works that were not on any drawings, so we had more challenges to find out where these were coming from, isolating them to make them safe, to allow us to strip out or isolate them until such time they can get reused.”
However, Mr Johnston said that aside from the “initial challenges” the work had been “straightforward”.
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