Stansted Airport gets new Burger King and Caffe Nero drive-thru as new electric vehicle charging hub opens

Two new drive-thru chains and a huge electric vehicle (EV) charging hub have opened at Stansted Airport. Operated by Swarco, the hub includes ten bays that can provide up to 150 kW of power, enabling electric cars to be fully charged in 30 minutes. A new Burger King and Caffe Nero drive-thru restaurants have also opened at the site.

Located on Thremhall Avenue, the main road into and out of the airport, the facility includes a drive-thru Burger King and Caffe Nero. Stansted Airport said it will benefit a variety of customers that pass through the area including airport passengers, employees, businesses, and commuters.

Gareth Powell, the airport's managing director, said: "We are fully committed to the sustainable and responsible growth of London Stansted’s, which is why we're delighted to open our first EV charging hub at the airport. This new facility is ideally located so that passengers, commuters, staff, local residents, and businesses passing through can grab a bite to eat and a cup of coffee while recharging their vehicles.

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"We’ve already made great strides in reducing our emissions at the airport. We have sourced all our electricity from renewable sources since April 2013, and airport operations under our direct control have been independently recognised as carbon neutral since 2018.

“Our focus is to continue driving forward on our commitment to reach net zero carbon operations by 2038. In additional to our new EV charging hub, we will soon begin construction of our own on-site solar farm to meet the airport’s current and increasing electricity demands and have recently partnered with National Express in their trial of an electric coach operating passenger services between the airport and London.”

Craig Wiltshire, Business Development Manager at SSP, said: “We know how well-loved Burger King is and it’s one of our core franchise brands. We’re delighted to be expanding this relationship and hope this will be the first drive-thru of many. Working alongside London Stansted Airport I have no doubt this new offering will be hugely successful, not only with the many travelling passengers but with the wider community who live and work near the airport too.”

Caffè Nero has also opened its first ever 24-hour drive-thru store. Costing over £1.2m, the 1,200 square foot café has been built from scratch with a bespoke design, creating 16 new jobs. Simon Thomas, Head of Business Development at Caffe Nero Group, said: "We are very excited to open our very first drive-thru store.

"We are also extremely proud to be doing this in partnership with London Stansted Airport and are very grateful for all the support we have had throughout this project. This is a great tribute to the strength of our relationship with Stansted, and we look forward to both companies reaping the rewards from all the hard work that went into opening our beautiful new store."