Coffee and cake at 170 feet
“Staff enjoy coming to the tower as it’s such an iconic part of the airport. On a good day there are views across large areas of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and it’s one of the best vantage points in the area. Staff who visit our coffee morning donate generously to a very worthy cause.”
Over 100 East Midlands Airport staff will attend a Macmillan coffee morning in the Air Traffic Control Tower on Friday 29th September.
This annual event, which is in its fourth year, has raised over £2000 for cancer charity, Macmillan. Staff, from all areas of the business, gather to enjoy a panoramic view of the airfield from 170 feet up while drinking coffee and eating cake.
Approximately 5 million passengers fly to Europe, Orlando in the US and Cancun in Mexico from East Midlands Airport every year while 300,000 tonnes of cargo is flown in and out of the airport annually. All of this activity is directed by staff in the instantly recognisable control tower which can be seen from miles around.
The Tower was constructed using 750 tonnes of concrete and stands at 52.3 metres high. It cost £3.5 million to build and has 248 steps.
From the tower air traffic controllers have a panoramic view of the 2,893 metre long runway, the sixth longest civilian runway in the UK.
Claire Woodman, Air Traffic Control Administrator, said: “Staff enjoy coming to the tower as it’s such an iconic part of the airport. On a good day there are views across large areas of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and it’s one of the best vantage points in the area. Staff who visit our coffee morning donate generously to a very worthy cause.”