Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[DarloPlaneBoy]

What about EK2569 so no A380 Tommorrow

No danger of That man atop his van, he be enroute to Alaska to do a stream from Anchorage.

Happy Days I reckon our guys at Airport Action would butter him anyway and besides they have the locals on side and a great community who all did the 1 minute Silence and respected as they played the National Anthem. We have a laugh and Do random prizes for Guessing EK today's was a Food and drink Voucher for Spoons. Tomorrow If Extra EK is cancelled it might be Some Pasties or something lol

 

[rollo]

There's no need for any test flights. EK will have enough information/knowledge from several years of A380 ops at BHX.

Kevin

Exactly and the fact that the triple airbrdge is due for repair/reactivation in October may just be a little hint for the return of the big bird although availability of high capacity A380s may still be an issue.

 

[jfy1999]

I’ve recently had friends and family flying from other airports and it’s really highlighted to me how much BHX is struggling to compete in certain areas -

- a family member and a friend from Oxford are going to university in Vienna this month, eventually chose Wizz from Gatwick due to the price and the fact it was daily which allowed for flexibility, in addition they considered LPL which has direct low cost flights from as little as £10. BHX has only £100+ indirect to Vienna
- a friend had acquired easyJet miles and was looking for a weekend destination with warm weather, flew LTN-Jersey in the end. How many Brummies I wonder are using easyJet miles from other airports because BHX has such a small range of destinations with easyJet?
- several people I know have been or are planning to go to the USA, all from Heathrow, on none of these occasions has Aer Lingus from BHX been competitive enough on price - and sometimes indirect options to the US from Heathrow have also been much cheaper (eg. KLM from Amsterdam)

If easyJet hadn’t been flying from BHX to Belfast I probably wouldn’t have looked elsewhere as the price difference with Aer Lingus wasn’t that great, but on most of the other occasions mentioned above where there was an alternative from BHX, the price difference ran into three figures.

 

[IanFarquharson]

I am flying BHX -DUB-SEA next week and then LAX-DUB-BHX on Aer Lingus and very competative

 

[jfy1999]

I am flying BHX -DUB-SEA next week and then LAX-DUB-BHX on Aer Lingus and very competative

I did notice prices were quite competitive this winter last time I looked. Maybe the issue has been the time of year that they want to fly - for example July - August next year looks a little crazy to LAX (where a few friends have gone on different occasions).

 

[HPsauce]

Rather sad to hear Doncaster Sheffield Airport is to close (BBC news). Around 600 staff affected by this.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Great to see Signature open their new facility

SIGNATURE AVIATION OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW PRIVATE AVIATION TERMINAL - Altitudes

Signature Aviation, the world’s largest private aviation terminal operator, on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 officially opened its new private aviation terminal at Birmingham Airport with a grand opening ceremony.

www.altitudesmagazine.com

The entirely new site represents Birmingham’s newest and best-appointed Fixed Base Operator (FBO) facility, featuring a 222 sq. m. building replete with traveller lounge space, a refreshment area, and a passenger security screening checkpoint. The terminal also includes a dedicated pilots lounge and an electric vehicle charging station. Furthermore, Signature Birmingham will continue to offer the consistent, expert line service for which it is renowned for visiting aircraft, along with substantial parking capacity for general aviation aircraft.

 

[rollo]

Yes good news Signature are an important part of BHX's little airport within an airport over on the Elmdon side along with STS and the freight traffic

 

[Ray Finkle]

Their website has some photos, it looks very nice

Signature BHX | Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at Birmingham Airport

Signature BHX offers private and general aviation ground handling, including jet aircraft fueling, at Birmingham Airport.

signatureflight.com

 

[Ray Finkle]

Mr Barton said: "We are currently running at around 86 per cent of our pre-Covid capacity now at Birmingham Airport - that's after a slight increase over the summer. We are expecting to be back up to 100 per cent next year, and maybe even higher numbers than before the pandemic.

Taken from the Ryanair announcement interview added to which Mr Barton has just been on local news suggesting that they'll be spending '£100k per day over the next ten years'.

With work on the new security area already underway I hope that the departure lounge extension is planned to start sooner rather than later.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Mr Barton has just been on local news suggesting that they'll be spending '£100k per day over the next ten years'.

That's 100,000 x 365 x 10 = £365 million

Kevin

 

[Ray Finkle]

Yup, a significant amount.

The quote below from 2019 suggests that

' A significant element of the £500m investment over the next 14 years is the terminal transformation project, to deliver a world-class terminal facility for our customers that can cater for the growth in demand'

so I assume that the Master Plan (or a version of it at least) is back on the agenda?


For context the terminal extension was to cost £30 million.

Full article from which the above quote was taken HERE

 

[pianokeys]

Interesting link on the BHX website ‘Social Media Feed’ of a link to a twitter entry showing some work done over the last few nights maintenance work.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Interesting link on the BHX website ‘Social Media Feed’ of a link to a twitter entry showing some work done over the last few nights maintenance work.

Here's the link -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1590724291871461376

Kevin

 

[Brum X]

Beware spotters, there is a big black cat roaming the airports perimeter

They have mentioned it could be a black leopard

Driver spots 'panther-like' big cat near airport crossing dual carriageway

Stunned Birmingham motorist was near Solihull and Birmingham Airport when creature appeared

www.birminghammail.co.uk

 

[rollo]

Beware spotters, there is a big black cat roaming the airports perimeter

They have mentioned it could be a black leopard

Driver spots 'panther-like' big cat near airport crossing dual carriageway

Stunned Birmingham motorist was near Solihull and Birmingham Airport when creature appeared

www.birminghammail.co.uk

Don't be a silly billy it just a fat or pregnant pussy cat - it's not even April 1st just a in depth a well researched article in a Reach publication generally known as complete cobblers.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Good to see BHX attended the IATA slot conference in Melbourne last week.

 

[HPsauce]

Beware spotters, there is a big black cat roaming the airports perimeter

They have mentioned it could be a black leopard

Driver spots 'panther-like' big cat near airport crossing dual carriageway

Stunned Birmingham motorist was near Solihull and Birmingham Airport when creature appeared

www.birminghammail.co.uk

Nothing would surprise me, having seen a Black Leopard years ago, and know others that have seen them across the Midlands. They are far more numerous than many people realise. Pumas ( Mountain Lion/ Cougar) are also about, but a sandy brown colour.
The witness described a typical Black Leopard in good detail.

 

[Brum X]

Nothing would surprise me, having seen a Black Leopard years ago, and know others that have seen them across the Midlands. They are far more numerous than many people realise. Pumas ( Mountain Lion/ Cougar) are also about, but a sandy brown colour.
The witness described a typical Black Leopard in good detail.

And rollo called me a "Silly Billy"

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Just watching Airport Action on YouTube and noted how clean and rubber free the runway looks.

Kevin