Birmingham: Airport Infrastructure, Construction & Developments

[Ray Finkle]

As Ryanair is now the only (?) tenant of the Eurohub, is there enough room in T2 to move Ryanair out of Eurohub to allow it to be demolished and rebuilt?

With the departure lounge extension being put on hold I think that question has been answered 🙁

 

[Brum X]

😢

Covid-19 sees Birmingham Airport ground £500m expansion

Mace, Atkins and Careys all working on project

www.building.co.uk

 

[Ray Finkle]

😢

Covid-19 sees Birmingham Airport ground £500m expansion

Mace, Atkins and Careys all working on project

www.building.co.uk

With so much uncertainty at the moment it makes sense.

I do hope that BHX use the time wisely and revisit what was proposed in the original master plan which was uninspiring at best.

Obviously this is totally dependant on where aviation goes from here which is one of the great unknowns at the moment.

 

[JENNYJET]

An excuse to downsize any plans that are not strictly necessary? It's trying to pretty up the place and not addressing airfield capabilities that are deficient such as ILS and taxiways that annoyed me and whilst capital spending is frozen, nothing will be done when the site is quiet. Sadly, it seems typical of the current management culture at BHX, talk big and do small.

 

[jon01]

The £500 million expansion programme for Birmingham Airport has been put on hold

 

[Angie88]

The £500 million expansion programme for Birmingham Airport has been put on hold

How quickly would Mace be able to restart the work & how much has already progressed? This seems so sad considering it was a capital investment for the future.

Hopefully it won’t be long to it restarts. I’m planning on a Lisbon flight in September with Jet2 & was hoping to see it all progressing nicely!

 

[Coathanger16]

Somebody on another forum (can't remember which) made a good point - will it just be a case of any projects not yet started from the master plan have been put on hold, and that anything currently ongoing (i.e. the terminal extension) will continue, maybe albeit after a short delay?

With a fairly significant amount of steel work up already, I can't imagine the airport will have it all torn down or just leave it as it is indefinitely.

 

[JENNYJET]

Depends upon the penalty clauses in the contract and whether the client will waive them under exceptional circumstances, such provision is usually made for natural disasters such as flooding or storms allowing for delay. An example can be the new West Midlands super hospital in Smethwick whereby the main contractor ceased trading and alternative solutions were found to finish the project. I see the terminal extensions following a similar pathway as an existing project provided the client does not enforce the strict terms of the original contract. It may lay in the hands of the controlling councils.

 

[jfy1999]

Solihull Council have given planning approval to the HS2 station and associated infrastructure. However, they thought there was a lot of room for improvement. (I wonder if feedback from F4A members had anything to do with it?)

Kiki4 on Skyscrapercity has summarised their comments below.

the committee was very critical on a few aspects: the fact that the APM (automated people mover) doesn’t deposit passengers into the station at the one end nor the airport at the other end; the distance that passengers will have to walk from the furthest car park to the station without cover from the elements, the distance between the station and the bus station. Not sure what HS2 propose to do about any of this - especially the APM point as their reps said that BHX does not want the APM to enter their building.

I wonder if that could be something as simple as a cost issue, which would be understandable now that BHX has a financial headache. I’m guessing that no HS2 money would go towards a terminal extension. But if that was the airport management’s attitude from the beginning, then i find it very hard to comprehend. As it stands, millions is being spent to downgrade part of the BHX passenger experience.

 

[JENNYJET]

Does not a people mover already exist within the airport? It has been a while but I remember MAGLEV and the link to International station so is it BHX management dragging their collective chins along the floor or HS2 Ltd protecting their project design teams?

 

[jfy1999]

Does not a people mover already exist within the airport? It has been a while but I remember MAGLEV and the link to International station so is it BHX management dragging their collective chins along the floor or HS2 Ltd protecting their project design teams?

The redevelopment of Birmingham International Station will see the existing people mover decommissioned.

 

[JENNYJET]

Thank you JFY1999, I would have expected it to become a Listed feature given it's history as the first MAGLEV and it's contribution towards people mover technology. I only hope a worthy replacement is a part of future plans.

 

[KJAY 786]

Birmingham International Airport - should invest in a new terminal building with terminal aircraft gates - it will show airlines how serious the Midlands are to expand and welcome the World New Airlines.

The airport needs expandsion to suceed and meet high passenger needs and demands. hope they will expand.

Birmingham Common Wealth Games are coming we must Welcome the World/Birmingham UK

Take care every one stay safe....

 

[nbdm]

Solihull Council have given planning approval to the HS2 station and associated infrastructure. However, they thought there was a lot of room for improvement. (I wonder if feedback from F4A members had anything to do with it?)

Kiki4 on Skyscrapercity has summarised their comments below.

the committee was very critical on a few aspects: the fact that the APM (automated people mover) doesn’t deposit passengers into the station at the one end nor the airport at the other end; the distance that passengers will have to walk from the furthest car park to the station without cover from the elements, the distance between the station and the bus station. Not sure what HS2 propose to do about any of this - especially the APM point as their reps said that BHX does not want the APM to enter their building.

I wonder if that could be something as simple as a cost issue, which would be understandable now that BHX has a financial headache. I’m guessing that no HS2 money would go towards a terminal extension. But if that was the airport management’s attitude from the beginning, then i find it very hard to comprehend. As it stands, millions is being spent to downgrade part of the BHX passenger experience.

As I understand it the plan didn't change because of the recent financial troubles, the APM will end just short of being in the terminal building, effectively where the (now closed) trident road is. And at the HS2 end it will leave people with a covered (but not enclosed) walkway into the Interchange station, I can't recall the exact reason they used in their documents for not integrating it within the main HS2 station but I believe it was predominantly cost - similarly for how the APM will be single track (including the viaduct over the M42) with passing loops in the intermediate stations, which is quite a short sighted decision in my opinion.

 

[route66]

As I understand it the plan didn't change because of the recent financial troubles, the APM will end just short of being in the terminal building, effectively where the (now closed) trident road is. And at the HS2 end it will leave people with a covered (but not enclosed) walkway into the Interchange station, I can't recall the exact reason they used in their documents for not integrating it within the main HS2 station but I believe it was predominantly cost - similarly for how the APM will be single track (including the viaduct over the M42) with passing loops in the intermediate stations, which is quite a short sighted decision in my opinion.

As someone said on another forum , if this was Heathrow or Gatwick these cost cutting issues wouldn't happen. Solihull have given in rather too easily.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I wonder if that could be something as simple as a cost issue, which would be understandable now that BHX has a financial headache.

I read somewhere that it may have been due to the costs of ongoing maintenance, no idea if there is any truth in that.

I suppose the one thing it could give is flexibility in the future if/when T2 is ever replaced?

No excuses at the other end though as to why it stops short of the HS2 station.

 

[nbdm]

As someone said on another forum , if this was Heathrow or Gatwick these cost cutting issues wouldn't happen. Solihull have given in rather too easily.

I agree it is a shame, but at the same time I doubt Solihull had much say, it was probably more of a rubber stamp job.
I think the local authorities only have input on things such as the visual aspects rather than the positioning & route of HS2 infrastructure including the APM as that would have been approved via the Phase 1 Act passed in 2017 which also provided the CPO powers to acquire land within the confined of that law.

 

[BHXsupporter]

I can imagine that the airport authority may be in a quandary about how best to link into the airport (see Frankfurt) when their plans even for a modest terminal expansion have been shelved by virus effects but for the HS2 end not to be fully integrated and enclosed within the new station complex is ridicuous and mindbogglingly backward looking.

 

[nwoody2001]

I can imagine that the airport authority may be in a quandary about how best to link into the airport (see Frankfurt) when their plans even for a modest terminal expansion have been shelved by virus effects but for the HS2 end not to be fully integrated and enclosed within the new station complex is ridicuous and mindbogglingly backward looking.

Why so? HS2 we only interested in putting their station 1 one place... to the south of T2, the older terminal that would most likely be redeveloped and the only area the airport could be expanded. Why would you pay for something to happen to a terminal you know you'd likely to want to redevelop in the medium term?!

 

[pianokeys]

Noticed whilst walking along the railway line this afternoon that workmen were on the extension. May only have been H&S work to ensure everything was sound and secure, but looked like some scaffolding may have been going up ?