MAJOR plans to expand and enhance the business park at Bournemouth Airport are set to be brought forward in the coming weeks and months.

A new premium lounge in the airport also looks set to launch this summer, with a bookings section set up on the airport’s website.

Owner Regional and City Airports, an arm of Rigby Group, plans to submit three separate planning applications to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in an attempt to develop the facilities at the site in Hurn.

The Daily Echo understands these projects include introducing a new internal link road between the east and west business parks to improve transport capabilities.

In response to a request for details on planned developments at the airport and business park, a statement from Rigby Group said: “As part of our strategy to create a world-class business park at Bournemouth Airport, we are submitting three planning applications with the aim of unlocking high-quality employment land and facilitating associated infrastructure.”

RCA purchased the airport and trading estate in December 2017 from Manchester Airport Group for an undisclosed sum.

The Rigby Group saw revenues rise by more than £200 million during the year in which it bought the airport.

Last year the arrival of Gama Aviation created hundreds of skilled jobs and took the total employment figure on the site to more than 2,000.

In August 2018, Sir Peter Rigby, founder, CEO and chairman of the Rigby Group, told the Echo the trading estate was “virtually full”.

“Under our ownership we have brought new business in,” said Sir Peter.

“We have got people like Gama [Aviation] coming in creating 300 jobs and we have major plans to further grow the trading estate as well as the airport.”

Bournemouth Airport’s managing firm hinted at the introduction of a premium lounge in 2018 when it carried out a Twitter poll asking passengers if they would be willing to pay £20 to use such a facility.

Discussing future plans at the airport last summer, Andrew Bell, RCA chief executive, said: “There are a number of things we are looking into at the moment, which we hope passengers will benefit from as we move into next year and the year after.

“They are in the early stages, but Bournemouth Airport is a tremendous facility today, a great terminal building, it’s really convenient and our job is to make the most of that facility.”