Infrastructure, Construction & Developments

If the only way through was via one lift, then the entire airport should be closed as it is not fire compliant. Does it not have any stairs?

Ianbutty said:

If the only way through was via one lift, then the entire airport should be closed as it is not fire compliant. Does it not have any stairs?

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There are 4 high capacity lifts that can take up to 55 people up to departures, the rail link and offices etc. When there are queues they only use any one of the lifts at a time for departure passengers and they often put less that 10 departure passengers in at at time because of the restricted space upstairs due to the ongoing construction. At the same time a lane next to the passenger queue is available for people to access the lifts for the rail link and staff areas. There must be some stairs but I don't know where.
Only 57 more days until the new super fast security area opens and the queues will be banished to the history books or will they.

Ianbutty said:

If the only way through was via one lift, then the entire airport should be closed as it is not fire compliant. Does it not have any stairs?

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I think it was discussed previously on this thread that there appears to be stairwells on the plans either side of the lifts, but there is an assumption these are for fire exit only and aren't planned to be normally open.

Not sure what the exact situation is whilst the works are still ongoing, but I'm sure BHX is compliant with fire regulations as part of the project risk assessments.

We can only hope that once the works are complete the queuing and lift situation is resolved, because it clearly isn't working at the moment!

Given the current problems, i think i will arrive by train for my next departure and arrive on the first floor via the Shuttle.

However, if everybody did that, we might only be shifting the problem, not solving it.

Thanks MB1. I live in Essex so I have not been to the airport in quite a while and I was not sure of the situation. Opening the stairs would help. Silly wasteful bad publicity....again.

It would help having all of the security lanes fully manned at peak times and all staff fully trained.

Before the runway was extended to its present length, there were those who questioned the need. And subsequently some have still asked the same question.

Now, as we are seeing, there seems to be a big uptick in scheduled cargo traffic, and much of it in big airframes.

Does this now begin to justify the investment?

I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have been able to handle some of the 747s that have departed directly to Hong Kong.

The Korean air charter, departed directly back to Seoul, which is a bit closer and I’m not 100% sure if it could have done that off the old runway length. But I think it would have been unlikely.

jfy1999 said:

I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have been able to handle some of the 747s that have departed directly to Hong Kong.

The Korean air charter, departed directly back to Seoul, which is a bit closer and I’m not 100% sure if it could have done that off the old runway length. But I think it would have been unlikely.

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Firstly, I fully support BHX having a 10.000ft/3,000m runway. As for the B747-400F's departing, were they loaded? The flights from HKG to BHX have intermediate stops and are at a relatively low altitude (below FL300), which would indicate a heavy load.
Likewise, the Korean B777, brought staff (and possibly equipment) back to BHX, following the Suzuka F1 Grand Prix. It's like;y to have departed BHX lightly loaded. I recall the G8 Summit, where 2 Japan Government B747-400's departed BHX' (pre runway extension), direct back to Tokyo. Again, while having pax on board, these would likely have been lightly loaded.

Looking at the recent departures to Hong Kong etc. they have used around 2,000ish metres of runway on take off presumably empty so the extension is not relevant although very nice to have.Its also worth bearing in mind they mostly will be taking longer routing avoiding the likes of Russia,Iran,Ukraine and whatever else in that part of the world. Then again that's probably the reason we are getting these flights in the first place.

The Emirates SkyCargo B777 A6-EFI is down to depart to Brussels at 14:08.

if ur discussing an airport runway extension then I think it’s ridiculous.Respect your opinions though I do however think we are in term oil with council and local authorities

Hi there Just Love Planes, what do you mean by, we are in term oil council and local authorities.

andrew.clarkson said:

Hi there Just Love Planes, what do you mean by, we are in term oil council and local authorities.

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I think he means 'turmoil', not 'term oil', but I still don't understand what he is referring to. Maybe, he will give us a more detailed explanation.

Also, I don't see why discussing the runway extension is 'ridiculous'. We are not discussing a future runway extension (not needed), but the value of the current extension to the airport.

Sorry I’ve had a few to drink so I’m talking nonsense about oil .However there was a mention about extension to the runway for the 747 in the forum somewhere posted yesterday (Saturday )
If their is an extension for extra runway length and width then I think it would be disastrous.Bit like Where AA streams and the extension for the junction of M42.Also I disagree massively with the island by the airport being refurbished and retarmatted with white lines for lane understanding.Its taken nearly 6 to 7 months to repair the that island which is disgraceful and having 1 lane open is ridiculous

Just love planes said:

Sorry I’ve had a few to drink so I’m talking nonsense about oil .However there was a mention about extension to the runway for the 747 in the forum somewhere posted yesterday (Saturday )
If their is an extension for extra runway length and width then I think it would be disastrous.

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As I said, no-one is discussing a future runway extension (there is absolutely no need). We are discussing whether the current runway extension is now paying back it's construction costs, with the extra long haul cargo services that are operating.The runway is now 3,052m (10,013ft) long and I believe 46m (151ft) wide with hard shoulders. The hard shoulders prevent the outer engines of the likes of A380's and B747's from overhanging the grass. These dimensions are typical of most airports around the world that offer long haul flights (although there are some airports e.g. LHR which have longer runways).

Hi there all, I can understand justloveplanes frustration of why the island that supports the runway extension is being refurbished. Obviously the airport management feels the need for tidyness. But the reason why the island was built and the A45 was diverted, was because the original idea of building a tunnel under the A45 was scrapped was because of its costs were way to high to go ahead, as the airport management could only raise so much funding to pay for it. Because many, many years ago, there was a funding budget scheme set up for the type of infrastructure projects called the West Midlands Project I think, but similar to the current leveling up fund, where councils can put in their bids to cover these project costs, unfortunately this one that the airport were trying to get funding for was scrapped by the conservative government, because it was labelled as a tax payers quangos, and because all funding costs were scrapped due to austerity matters at that time. So this funding has to be found from other sources, which never happened, so the diversion of the A45 was the alternative option, which too longer than expected. Was supposed to been opened ready originally for the London 2012 Olympics, but because of the funding aspect was delayed until later.

Received a missive from TUI re upcoming flight
”At the moment, we’re recommending giving yourself three hours for flights to Europe and Africa,” Flight time is 0600, so at least we can check in the luggage the night before.

Just re-read the item and there is this gem from TUI
“You can enter the terminal using the main doors in zones B, C and D to reach our check-in desks which are on the ground floor. You’ll find these entrances by passing through the covered walkways that’re in place at the front of the terminal.

If you plan on arriving by monorail, it stops at the airport right where you need to check in with us.”

Hell of an incline for the monorail to get down to the ground floor

Just love planes said:

Sorry I’ve had a few to drink so I’m talking nonsense about oil .

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Not Neck Oil is it?

Jon Dempsey said:

Not Neck Oil is it?

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Vegan oil

Noticed a few times recently that they seem to be trialing part of the new departures security hall, I seen some passengers ironically queuing out one of the temporary doors from the hall. They must be trying one of the lanes I suppose for training etc. T minus 56 days