Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[JENNYJET]

Ooops, just re read you post so please ignore above Sir Raymond!

 

[thunderchild]

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?

Was it a SmartLynx A320 operating for TCX? To a Greek Island?

 

[Karl C]

....was it going to Palma by any chance?

 

[Ray Finkle]

....was it going to Palma by any chance?

Sure was

 

[Karl C]

Ok...I have a vague recollection which airline it was, but I'll let someone else have a punt on it

 

[Ray Finkle]

It was a Privilege Style 757 operating on behalf of Monarch.

Great photo blog from Gordon below.

Birmingham Airport's extended 3,003 metre runway operational from 0600 on Tuesday 27 May 2014

Birmingham Airport's 400 metre runway extension went into operation at 0600 on Tuesday 27 May 2014 with Privilege Style Boeing 757-256 EC-...

bhxflightguide.blogspot.com

 

[Ray Finkle]

The first wide body departure was an Emirates 77W.

Emirates Boeing 777 A6-EGT is the first wide bodied aircraft to depart on BHX's extended runway after it was declared operational on Tuesday 27 May 2014

Emirates Boeing 777-31HER A6-EGT operating their lunchtime flight "EK 040" to Dubai was the first wide bodied aircraft to depart on Birmin...

bhxflightguide.blogspot.com

 

[andrew.clarkson]

So I heard on BBC Midlands today that the seven metropolitan District Councils that hold the majority stake in Birmingham Airport, have announced, that they won't give any additional funding to the Airport during this pandemic, which now puts the airport under real pressure, where as Manchester Airport is fully supported by Manchester City Council, which could cause job losses at the airport, this will now push up unemployment even further and causing a lot of serious issues when trying to find investment from outside to invest with in the West Midlands area.

 

[JENNYJET]

I have always felt the management of the airport has been under ambitious and the current structure i.e. co ownership of political entities with differing priorities is totally wrong. If MAG were to make a bid or another airport grouping perhaps the council's may gleefully grab the cash and the airport may finally meet it's potential, though it will need a CEO with some vigour and passion.

 

[Ray Finkle]

though it will need a CEO with some vigour and passion

We had one, he had a vision of a new terminal integrated with HS2 and eventually a new runway to go with it. Sadly the CEO resigned and the powers that be decided on a £500 million paint job (they may well be totally unrelated events). Love him or hate him you could not accuse Paul Kehoe of lacking in ambition.

 

[JENNYJET]

Did Mr. Kehoe have the necessary freedom or was he constrained by the ownership leading to perhaps his resignation? I personally liked him not least because he kept his own aircraft and knows aviation for what it is, a joyful enterprise.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Did Mr. Kehoe have the necessary freedom or was he constrained by the ownership leading to perhaps his resignation?

I think the answer to that question may only ever be known by the two parties involved.

A few years ago in interview with Mr Kehoe he said that he was due to meet with the board to discuss the future master plan and he hoped that they would be bold and ambitious. Since then Mr Kehoe resigned and the master plan released was little more than a spruce up with all trace of ambition seemingly left behind. Whether the two were related I guess we may never know for sure.

There is no doubt that Paul Kehoe made a huge impact at BHX, new pier, more stands, new ATC Tower, new hangar, regular A380 services and of course the runway extension. It kind of seems the when he and Mr Pearson both left the handbrake was applied and reverse gear selected.

Slow start for Mr Barton (up until this current situation) but if he manages to pull off the one thing that Paul Kehoe didn't, an easyjet base, I think he may earn his place in the history books

 

[Coathanger16]

Just a few statistics to think about...

Between 2010 and 2017 (the high before Monarch & Thomas Cook went bust), BHX grew by 51%. That was higher than Gatwick (45%), Bristol (43%), Stansted (39%) & Heathrow (18%).

Manchester and Edinburgh both grew more than BHX but only marginally (56% at MAN/EDI vs 51% at BHX).

Out of the "big" airports, the only one that grew by substantially more than BHX was Luton with 81% growth, so lets compare Luton to Birmingham:

Runway length:
LTN: 2161m
BHX: 3052m

Approximate terminal area (measured from Google Maps):
LTN: ~50,000sqm
BHX: ~50,000sqm

Stands:
LTN: 38
BHX: 58

It would seem airport infrastructure did little to help Luton handle so many more passengers.

Considering Luton currently handles 18mppa (the same number BHX was predicted to handle by 2033, and where the masterplan "planned" to), one could argue BHX is already set up to handle that many passengers, and hence no new infrastructure is needed for the next 15 years. Instead the owners chose to invest in improving the passenger experience - expanded departure lounge, overhauled baggage system, etc

When presenting the ambitious and "business as usual" masterplans to the airport owners, you have to remember the airport is a business that has to return a profit to stay in business.

Whilst a big, swanky, new terminal (and possible new runway) over by HS2 sounds great to us aviation enthusiasts, the owners would have pursued whichever plan gave the best return on investment with the least risk.

Consider which passengers would use HS2 to travel to BHX:
London (Euston & Old Oak Common): For most of London, one of LHR, LGW, STN, LTN & LCY are quicker to get to than BHX even with HS2. With greater choice of destinations and frequencies, not many (if any) of London is going to choose BHX over any London airport.

Manchester: trains would stop at Manchester Airport before continuing to BHX, so no extra passengers.

Leeds and Sheffield: with Northern Crossrail (NPR), MAN will likely be closer than BHX, or LBA/DSA "would do".

East Midlands: with the East Midlands being a parkway station, journey times from Nottingham/Derby/Leicester to BHX won't be much quicker with HS2 than now.

Considering how few extra passengers HS2 will bring in to BHX, the cost of essentially building a new airport at the HS2 Interchange station couldn't be justified.

If you surmise Paul Kehoe resigned because the owners of BHX didn't go for the ambitious masterplan, consider what would have happened if the owners had gone for an ambitious masterplan:

P. Kehoe resigned in 2016, so 4 years later (now) plans would likely have been finalised and construction now underway. Appreciate the owners didn't know about Coronavirus in 2016, but if the airport was part way through a big expansion plan now, I wouldn't bet on them coming out the other side in a good shape, if at all.

Thinking as an aviation enthusiast, yes BHX hasn't been ambitious.

Thinking as a business, perhaps BHX has been risk averse in the past, but given the current situation that's probably a good thing!

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Ray Finkle]

Between 2010 and 2017

Stansted grew by approx 7.3 million passengers and are building a new arrivals terminal along with redeveloping one of the satellites to suit more long haul services.

Manchester grew by approx 10 million passengers and have expansion underway that will see T2 alone handle 35mppa.

Luton grew by approx 7 million passengers and have announced plans to expand to 32 million ppa, more than double their 2017 total.

Birmingham grew by approx 4.4 million passengers and announced plans to expand an already overcrowded departure lounge, a currently unfit for purpose arrivals area and upgrade a baggage system that cannot cope, allowing another 5 mppa over the next 15 years.

The current BHX set up really struggled throughout the summer of 2017 when we saw the highest pax total on record, there were some horrendous scenes. By the time that we see 18 mppa we'll be in the same situation yet again, don't forget the plans are for just one new baggage belt and no new stands or parallel taxiway until circa 2033, at which point more growth will be needed, but where? The master plan proposed expansion to the south but also said just how expensive that would be, it's also very limited. I fully appreciate that cost is key but HS2 was a once in a generation opportunity and I really hope that in the future we don't look back in despair at what could have been, like some of us do today.

Luton reached their current levels with limited infrastructure and is considered one of the worst passengers experiences in the country (I have first hand experience and agree) but they now have plans to grow. I just hope that BHX doesn't end up in the same situation wishing they'd taken advantage of HS2 as there is nowhere viable left to build.

 

[Coathanger16]

Consider over the past few years we've lost Monarch, Thomas Cook, BMI, Flybe (all went bust) & American, United, Air Transat, Icelandair...this list goes on, and now Covid hits, I'm starting to think 18mppa by 2033 may even be too ambitious.

Yes we've gained Jet2, but once you take into the amount of capacity we've lost, the gain is marginal.

The only way I can think of BHX having any significant growth in passenger numbers going forwards is if either Ryanair significantly expands their base to be one of the largest in the UK, or easyJet open a new base. Given the current situation in aviation, either scenario is unlikely in the next 5 years.

If significant expansion was needed at some point in the future, expanding the terminal over the car parks to the SE would allow for the current site to pretty much double in size. The area of land between the runway, A45, railway and Marston Green is approximately the same size as the Terminal 5 site at Heathrow - that terminal and satellites have the capacity for 35-40mppa, certainly enough for BHX!

 

[CL44]

I honestly cannot see BHX expanding in this way. With the current situation belts will be tightened with regards to luxury purchases (and at the moment a Holiday is one of those purchases). Yes the situation will (hopefully) get better, but I don't think your timeframe of 5 years is too far off the mark. While expanding the Airport would be fantastic and would support a large number of jobs, consider this. How many Airlines will still be around and working at the same level as they were in February? I don't want to sound like a prophet of doom but I can see potential for 10-15% of Airlines (manor ones included) not surviving. Any one (individual or multinational corporation) who has money in the bank is going to hold onto it for the forseeable future just in case they need it. Expansion yes but in the very long term, not yet.

 

[Coathanger16]

With the current situation belts will be tightened with regards to luxury purchases (and at the moment a Holiday is one of those purchases).

I've had mixed feelings about this idea. Whereas on the one hand I agree people will be more money conscious, on the other hand I don't think it will be similar to a "normal" recession.

I wonder how many people that had holidays booked for this summer have simply delayed them until next summer (2021)? Not sure when people would be paying for Summer 2022 holidays, but those people now have between 12-24 months to earn the money to pay for that holiday.

Also consider how many people are either still working and so being paid, or on the Job Retention Scheme and being paid at least 80% of their salary. I'd bet that's at least half the working population still being paid more or less their full salaries, and having been under lockdown for 2+ months, having very little besides food to spend money on.

The biggest determining factor will be whether or not people have jobs to go back to, and if not, how long it is before they work again.

 

[CL44]

I've had mixed feelings about this idea. Whereas on the one hand I agree people will be more money conscious, on the other hand I don't think it will be similar to a "normal" recession.

I wonder how many people that had holidays booked for this summer have simply delayed them until next summer (2021)? Not sure when people would be paying for Summer 2022 holidays, but those people now have between 12-24 months to earn the money to pay for that holiday.

Also consider how many people are either still working and so being paid, or on the Job Retention Scheme and being paid at least 80% of their salary. I'd bet that's at least half the working population still being paid more or less their full salaries, and having been under lockdown for 2+ months, having very little besides food to spend money on.

The biggest determining factor will be whether or not people have jobs to go back to, and if not, how long it is before they work again.

Your last line hits the nail on the head. While the furlough scheme is good 80% is too high a figure to be paid by the government (bearing in mind that we will have to pay for all the largesse supplied by HMG. 50% would have been a more realistic figure (witn the chance to have a second job eg stacking shelves or picking fruit). However we do appear to be totally off topic now as we should be discussing Cargo operations at BHX.

 

[HPsauce]

Can any of you good people 'in the know' give a reason why the RAF training flights etc seem to have ended for now?. Nothing seen for a couple of weeks or more!.

 

[Coathanger16]

Can any of you good people 'in the know' give a reason why the RAF training flights etc seem to have ended for now?. Nothing seen for a couple of weeks or more!.

They only came into BHX because the airport was so quiet and it was something different for them. The flights still happen if you check flightradar24, they're just going to different places.

You can only fly the same approach into BHX so many times before it starts getting boring