Airport business park expansion set to create nearly 2,000 new jobs

Up to 1,900 jobs will be created at Bournemouth Airport’s business park if plans to extend the site are given the go-ahead.

The proposal could contribute £93m every year to the Dorset economy.

Rigby Real Estate, owner of the Aviation Business Park at the airport, has submitted three planning applications in a bid to deliver more than one million square feet of new commercial floor space over approximately 75 acres of land.

Mike Murray, Rigby Real Estate’s commercial real estate director, said: “We’re very excited by these plans, which are part of our strategy to create a world-class business park at Bournemouth Airport.

“The aim is to unlock high-quality employment land while providing a major boost for the local economy. Our objective is to appeal to leading national and international manufacturing, logistics and aerospace businesses with a range of high-quality, class-leading units.”

The applications, currently with the newly formed Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP), include proposals for employment units on a large area of land across the northern fringe of the airport, along with an estate road providing vehicle access.

There is also a plan to create a unit allowing the relocation of a long-standing manufacturing company to the site. This would see an expansion of the firm’s operation and release its former site for residential use.

The business park, which covers 200 acres, is already home to 200 businesses and is one of the largest employment sites in Dorset.

It has a reputation as a specialist aerospace and manufacturing hub.

Rigby Real Estate acquired the Aviation Business Park in 2017 when Rigby Group’s airport management division Regional & City Airports added Bournemouth to its extensive group of regional UK airports for an undisclosed sum.