Route Development & Rumours

Apparently a United airlines route announcement tomorrow at 8am eastern time for S27 Not saying It’s bhx however there’s been rumours

Any news on the rumours last week?

Birmingham Aviation said:

Apparently a United airlines route announcement tomorrow at 8am eastern time for S27 Not saying It’s bhx however there’s been rumours

Any news on the rumours last week?

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No chance on United
The rumour last week should see a 4 weekly flight by a new airline / new destination but sure when it will start, maybe S27

IanFarquharson said:

No chance on United
The rumour last week should see a 4 weekly flight by a new airline / new destination but sure when it will start, maybe S27

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Well an Egyptian airline was rumoured.

Royal Jordanian is rumoured

Birmingham Aviation said:

Well an Egyptian airline was rumoured.

Royal Jordanian is rumoured

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Sure it could be any worldwide airline to any worldwide destination!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really think that any chances of any direct flights from bhx to USA has a very 0 chances occuring, whether it's to do with it's closeness to Manchester Airport or Heathrow Airport. Why pay a Chief Executive Officer, like Mr Nick Barton,£550,000, per year, for a bucket and spade operation is ridiculous. It's not as if any major airlines are banging or knocking on the airports front door, desperate to engage in any real serious business with the airport. Because that isn't the case and it's never going to happen, as I have said before, Birmingham Airports business model, simple doesn't work, by attracting the cliental that it's looking or wanting to attract. It's charging policy for attracting business airlines is clearly not fit for use, also it's majority shareholder, are the seven metropolitan councils, that are not allowed to help financially due to the airport as private company and public bodies are prohibited in any funding at all, whereas minority shareholders, limit funding only when required. Birmingham airport needs majority investment to keep it going. Otherwise it will fall behind it's competitors, where they will expand further, leaving Birmingham, chasing shadows like it has for years. Forward thinking is needed and not the reverse.

If you were right, you would not have WizzAir or Ryanair who will walk if they don’t get the right price. The number of legacy carriers at BHX also argues against your thesis.

andrew.clarkson said:

I really think that any chances of any direct flights from bhx to USA has a very 0 chances occuring, whether it's to do with it's closeness to Manchester Airport or Heathrow Airport. Why pay a Chief Executive Officer, like Mr Nick Barton,£550,000, per year, for a bucket and spade operation is ridiculous. It's not as if any major airlines are banging or knocking on the airports front door, desperate to engage in any real serious business with the airport. Because that isn't the case and it's never going to happen, as I have said before, Birmingham Airports business model, simple doesn't work, by attracting the cliental that it's looking or wanting to attract. It's charging policy for attracting business airlines is clearly not fit for use, also it's majority shareholder, are the seven metropolitan councils, that are not allowed to help financially due to the airport as private company and public bodies are prohibited in any funding at all, whereas minority shareholders, limit funding only when required. Birmingham airport needs majority investment to keep it going. Otherwise it will fall behind it's competitors, where they will expand further, leaving Birmingham, chasing shadows like it has for years. Forward thinking is needed and not the reverse.

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You appear to offer zero evidence for anything you say, and the facts that are happening on the ground dont match anything in "your" reality.

"It's not as if any major airlines are banging or knocking on the airports front door"- How do you know. Such conversations are highly sensitive and confidential. Having major bases with some of the largest airlines in the UK Market and hosting a range of full services carriers for an airport our size is testament to that.

"Birmingham Airports business model, simple doesn't work, by attracting the cliental that it's looking or wanting to attract." - Given the airport is experience record profitability and record passenger numbers, who evidence do you suggest that their business model isn't working?

"also it's majority shareholder, are the seven metropolitan councils, that are not allowed to help financially due to the airport as private company and public bodies are prohibited in any funding at all" - How do you explain Manchester Airport Group then who majority shareholders are also local authorities. or is Manchester also not fit for business? Where do you explain the £100m a year in investment going into the airport?

IanFarquharson said:

No chance on United

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I wouldnt go that far. Interestingly, I've noticed several billboards with adverts for United flights to New York in and around Birmingham city centre in the last few weeks - there is (sometimes) no smoke without fire.

Nibbles said:

I wouldnt go that far. Interestingly, I've noticed several billboards with adverts for United flights to New York in and around Birmingham city centre in the last few weeks - there is (sometimes) no smoke without fire.

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I've seen one on the electronic advertising boards in Touchwood as I did a proper double-take on it!!

RichL said:

I've seen one on the electronic advertising boards in Touchwood as I did a proper double-take on it!!

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There are regular billboards ads for United in Leeds as well.

Jerry said:

There are regular billboards ads for United in Leeds as well.

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Gotcha. Hmm, okay Another nothingburger then.

I think this has been covered numerous times but there is really no point in looking at the published fees on the airports website, each airline will have their own arrangement of which very few people will know the details. As said, if BHX was that expensive we wouldn't see the likes of easyet, Ryanair and Wizz.

In my opinion the greatest stumbling block to future growth is the size of the place. They may be able to add another stand on the 70's row and build some new ones adjacent to the fire station but the terminal buildings can be uncomfortably busy at peak times.

I really hope the master plane due later this year is more ambitious than the last effort.

Hi there Ray, the trouble with master plans, is in Birmingham airport case, they keep amending them, then the last one confused a lot of people. Also excuse my spelling comas and full stops, as only just had two cataracts completed recently, one in jan26 and the other in apr26. So for 53 years I have been short sighted and now I'm longsighted, so now I'm awaiting for a retet on 20/05/26, for reading glasses, very nervous now how my eyes have altered, also not drove my car since 15?01?26.

RichL said:

Gotcha. Hmm, okay Another nothingburger then.

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Perhaps. Perhaps not. Lets see what pops up in the reasonably near future...!

Ray Finkle said:

I think this has been covered numerous times but there is really no point in looking at the published fees on the airports website, each airline will have their own arrangement of which very few people will know the details. As said, if BHX was that expensive we wouldn't see the likes of easyet, Ryanair and Wizz.

In my opinion the greatest stumbling block to future growth is the size of the place. They may be able to add another stand on the 70's row and build some new ones adjacent to the fire station but the terminal buildings can be uncomfortably busy at peak times.

I really hope the master plane due later this year is more ambitious than the last effort.

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I disagree - the biggest inhibitor to big time growth at the airport is airfield capacity. More stands would help, but the airfield layout still constrains aircraft flow rates significantly. And there isnt a huge amount that can be done to help that. To put this another way, even if Birmingham could deliver a Gatwick size terminal (which it possibly could do with some ambition), they would hit up very quickly against the maximum flow they can get out of the runway unless they buy half of Marston Green.

Yes, the terminal can be a bit busy at peak times, but that is a customer experience thing not a passenger numbers thing.

Birmingham's best bet is to find ways to fill the inter-peak periods which are typically much much quieter. Non-bucket and spade routes might help with that. Easier said than done, mind.

andrew.clarkson said:

Hi there Ray, the trouble with master plans, is in Birmingham airport case, they keep amending them, then the last one confused a lot of people. Also excuse my spelling comas and full stops, as only just had two cataracts completed recently, one in jan26 and the other in apr26. So for 53 years I have been short sighted and now I'm longsighted, so now I'm awaiting for a retet on 20/05/26, for reading glasses, very nervous now how my eyes have altered, also not drove my car since 15?01?26.

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A masterplan should be a long term document. The last one was intended to be, and was designed to accommodate the continual growth that was real and predicted for the next 30 odd years, with the necessary incremental enhancements to support that. But then a certain pandemic happened and everything went to ****, and the finance to do anything dried up too.

Whilst we'd all love to see a super duper new airport, the kind you get in the middle east etc., that takes an absolute boat load of money and there isnt a great deal of point doing it (except perhaps as a tax dodge) if you dont have the flights to fill it. The only way we would do that is if we could convince the government to move away from a London centric airports policy. The airport could bet a bit on attracting some of the big names with favourable landing fees, but they still need to fill the planes. Birmingham is stuck between a rock and hard place, in that respect.

Which probably means this is really a regional issue - we need regional growth to stimulate tourism to stimulate airport expansion, repeat repeat repeat. Villa winning next week would give a boost, for example. So could this new blues ground, if it gets filled occasionally for mega concerts, NFL games and the like.