Baggage will whizz around Stansted Airport at nearly 20kph, when the new £59million baggage delivery system is up and running.

The airport is marking the "first major milestone" in its hold baggage system project, which is part of overall transformation at Stansted.

Conveyor belts, lifts and chutes underneath the main terminal which transports up to 30,000 bags every day is currently being updated.

The work is designed to coincide with the improvements to the airport's check-in areas as part of the on-going transformation project, started two years ago, and the installation of new hi-tech 'Standard 3' baggage scanners which are required under new EU regulations.

The first phase of the project involved carefully constructing new chutes and track in and around the current layout of conveyer belts so the airport could remain fully operational and continue to process the luggage.

When the automated system is fully installed, in two years, special baggage carts will speed luggage around the network at 18kph. Each bag will take about six minutes to travel from check-in to being ready to load onto an aircraft.

John Farrow, change director for the Stansted transformation project, said: "We're absolutely delighted to reach the first major milestone in the hold baggage system project. While passengers simply hand their baggage in at check-in for their journey, below the terminal is a highly automated and complex system that seamlessly and safely ensures the right bag reaches the right flight.

"The whole landscape of the baggage hall will change as we remodel the layout with the new fast-track system which will span the full length of the terminal. The new system will future proof the airport for years to come giving us flexibility to allow us to accommodate new airlines and prepare us for the next phase of our terminal redevelopment work."

The new system has been designed and is being installed by airport baggage system specialists BEUMER Group.

Klaus Schäfer, managing director of BEUMER Group, said: "When the project is complete the autover system will transform the airport's baggage operation, improving performance and efficiency."