News: Alicante airport terminal opens with support from Macalloy

The new terminal at Alicante Airport opened in Murcia, Spain earlier this month with its centerpiece roof supported by products manufactured by Macalloy in Rotherham.

The development is part of a €674m investment at the airport supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the terminal is six times bigger than the previous two terminals. Its six floors house the check-in lobby, shopping areas and catering, the boarding area, the baggage reclaim hall, the arrivals lobby, the VIP lounge, offices, and other terminal services.

The structure was designed by American architect Bruce Fairbanks and GOP Architects in Spain.

The roof is composed of several pyramids that are supported by heavy concrete columns and Macalloy 460 and 520 tendons support the 40 domes that form the canopy roof of the terminal. These massive domes stretch up 22 meters above the departure area floor at their highest point. They are also topped by skylights through which sunlight pours into the building, at the same time doubling as vents, with an automatic aperture system allowing them to evacuate smoke in the event of a fire.

It is one of Spain's top six airports and is an important hub for Ryanair. With this new infrastructure, the operating capacity of the airport goes from 3,611 to 5,825 passengers per hour and from 9m to 20m passengers a year.

Based in Dinnington, Macalloy won the prestigious Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2010 for international trade. Their threaded bar and cable systems can be found in engineering and construction projects across the globe.

Macalloy website

Images: AENA