Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[JENNYJET]

Maybe it is a consular matter, Manchester and London have the relevant personnel whilst Birmingham is a small outpost, but has good transport links.

 

[Llandudno]

Manchester has had several of its regular flights due to the market being bigger (sorry if that enrages anyone, just saying it as it is).

Qatar have been very busy in particular due to operating not only the 4 weekly DOH-MAN-DOH flights, but also getting the U.K. government charters from Pakistan so have had flights from LHE and ISB. The destinations were requested by the U.K. govt and not down to any MAN bidding. Truth be told, due to the staffing levels and public perception, MAN were actually not keen to have so many flights from Pakistan, sometimes 4 per day but was a government requirement.
Qatar have also been running a 4 weekly passenger configured B77W for cargo only, hence the QR8*** numbered flights. It’s a shame BHX didn’t get any of the flights but can only assume it was easier for Qatar to run these cargo extras to stations that were currently online?

A lot of the long haul is centred on cargo and repatriation, and assume it’s down to government and local population requests rather than commercial bidding.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there all, I think that when all this current situation is finally over, Birmingham Airport management and Co need to seriously look at its self and see why its not achieving the expansion levels that it should be, this all partially goes back to when this current airport was being built and when management did not seize the opportunity like Manchester Airport did, and now its miles ahead of Birmingham Airport. For one thing is is sure, that if someone came along, bought all the seven councils out, then real proper investment would happen and not just pocket money that's been pumped in now, Birmingham Airport needs real investment.

 

[JENNYJET]

Bravo Mr. Clarkson, time it was said. Release the airport from political control and allow the market to decide, private investors do not like losing money or dormant assets. BHX is growing cobwebs and I suspect rodents will colonize the place before too long. I am sad to be like this but blaming Covid is ignoring the inevitable!

 

[IanFarquharson]

This is a complete re-boot for all airlines / airports.

I am confident BHX will come out this ok, if not stronger.

Mr Barton knows what he is doing and where to take the airport.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there all, as I have said in my last post, the airports in the UK that properly organise themselves after this crisis is over will come out stronger, ready for business and the future, unfortunately the way Birmingham Airport and its management has been operating all these years has caused it this problem, which means now, that it is too late now to fix the problem, this should have been done years ago when the airport had its chance, but blew it, all Birmingham Airport will do now and in the future is just catch up, unless the airport can be released from local government control, it will never be able to attract the kind of market that Heathrow, Gatwick and now Manchester are taking for granted, Birmingham Airport will just pick up what is left.. Andyc

 

[IanFarquharson]

Hi there all, as I have said in my last post, the airports in the UK that properly organise themselves after this crisis is over will come out stronger, ready for business and the future, unfortunately the way Birmingham Airport and its management has been operating all these years has caused it this problem, which means now, that it is too late now to fix the problem, this should have been done years ago when the airport had its chance, but blew it, all Birmingham Airport will do now and in the future is just catch up, unless the airport can be released from local government control, it will never be able to attract the kind of market that Heathrow, Gatwick and now Manchester are taking for granted, Birmingham Airport will just pick up what is left.. Andyc

Andrew
A bit harsh in my opinion but I would agree and I heard Paul Kehoe say at a meeting I was at that Birmingham had a choice in the 60-70's to either build a new airport or build a library - and they chose the library !
So we lost traffic especially to Manchester and London and have recovered.
I feel Paul Kehoe did a great job to get the runway extension, new international pier and new control tower, without him these probably would not have been built.
Working in route development is a thankless task and I salute Tom's team for travelling the world to speak to airlines and there has been a lot of success.
As I said earlier the current situation is a complete re-boot for aviation and with Nick Barton now in charge BHX will recover and I believe will gain back some market share.

 

[JENNYJET]

Mr. Kehoe communicated even if it was not good but rarely does Mr. Barton or have I missed something? If not careful Birmingham will join Coventry as airfields of limited use or repurposed for housing and a great asset shall be forever lost.

I believe I have said previously, get a firebrand in as CEO such as o'leary, walsh or someone like Sir Alan (Lord) Sugar or Sir Alex Ferguson or someone with some energy about them like Andy Street to take some managerial control rather than enjoying the boardroom and a healthy package of remuneration.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Jennyjet, I agree with you totally, Mr Nick Barton hasn't really said anything at all this year about anything, so I could be nearly a year before we might here from him, who knows.. Andyc

 

[IanFarquharson]

As I keep saying BHX will come out of this stronger - see below

Now is the time to cement relationships
Tom Screen, aviation director at Birmingham Airport (BHX), explains how the UK airport reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and outlines his hopes for the future.

By Tom Screen, aviation director at Birmingham Airport (BHX)

Our network has decreased drastically, with just a few flights per week to Amsterdam and Dublin and some inbound flights from Pakistan that are bringing in repatriated customers. However, we maintained cargo services through the likes of FedEx and Carousel and have remained open for aircraft maintenance.


We also took the decision to stay open until midnight and not reduce our hours too much so that there’s no disruption to our partners and to support the region. With Birmingham’s NHS Nightingale Hospital on our doorstep, it is important that key medical supplies can get through.


Our larger carriers, Jet2.com and TUI, expect to be operating again by mid-June. We’re hopeful that the capacity reductions this summer will be less than we originally thought.


EasyJet were planning to start services to Edinburgh and Glasgow before the pandemic and, with Flybe going out of business, they have taken the decision to increase frequencies on both as well as Belfast. EasyJet has been a long-term target for us—as the Midlands is a bit of a gap in their network—so we’re hopeful they see Birmingham as a region they want to invest in.


On our long-haul services, I think the return of traffic will very much depend on when borders open up. Different countries are likely to reopen at different rates. We plan to cement the relationships we have with existing operators to make sure their routes are flying as profitably as possible, while keeping a close eye at opportunities in key long-haul markets, such as New York.


The pandemic hasn’t changed our relationships with airlines, and our message is that we want to work with carriers as proactively as possible. If we can help with things like extending payment terms, then we will. We’re ready to support our partners and will review everything on a case-by-case basis.


It will be interesting to see how the pandemic impacts air travel long term with changes in customer behaviours in the short term. On the other hand, there could be a lot of pent up demand and a real desire to see people face-to-face.


Photo credit: Birmingham Airport

 

[HPsauce]

A light at the end of a very long tunnel !. Good to see this article and it restores hope for the future of BHX. It will take time so we have to be glad of what we retain and hopefully new routes will come along as confidence grows again in air travel.

 

[Ray Finkle]

EasyJet has been a long-term target for us—as the Midlands is a bit of a gap in their network—so we’re hopeful they see Birmingham as a region they want to invest in.


Been waiting a long, long time for words like this.

I'm sure there is still a long way to go but we all know that securing an easyjet base would be massive.

It's such a shame that Naples came along when it did, typical BHX luck eh

 

[Brum X]

EasyJet has been a long-term target for us—as the Midlands is a bit of a gap in their network—so we’re hopeful they see Birmingham as a region they want to invest in.


Been waiting a long, long time for words like this.

I'm sure there is still a long way to go but we all know that securing an easyjet base would be massive.

It's such a shame that Naples came along when it did, typical BHX luck eh

Such a shame that it took the demise of Flybe for them to finally admit that they want/need Easyjet ?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Six years ago today the runway extension opened, can anyone remember (without Googling) what was the first aircraft to depart using the new section of RWY33?

 

[JENNYJET]

A330 China Southern to Beijing me thinks!

 

[Ray Finkle]

A330 China Southern to Beijing me thinks!

Good guess but not quite.

China Southern marked the 'official' opening but this was a couple of months later in July.

 

[Nethercote2019]

Qatar 787

 

[Ray Finkle]

It was a narrow body departing at around 06:30.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Extra clue.

It was a leased aircraft operating on behalf of a based airline.

 

[JENNYJET]

So was China the official launch for the media mob? I remember the coverage about the opening of the extended bit of runway...