Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[TheLocalYokel]

[offtopic]

These kind of classifications could still apply to airports today. Most airports would still be in the same category as in the list above except for Bristol, Exeter, Liverpool, Southampton which would now be classified as category B Regional airports.

I don't know about Exeter.

It has a limited network and it's annual throughput is currently only 700,000.[/offtopic]

 

[Ray Finkle]

BHX has been shortlisted in the World Routes Awards 2012 :s_cool

European region (over 4m)
Amsterdam
Athens
Birmingham
Brussels
Budapest
Hamburg
Munich
Rome

http://www.routesonline.com/awards/26/w ... ards-2012/

 

[Ray Finkle]

Apparently BHX have been very cosy with bmi regional and Chicago Airport at the routes conference, hopefully there will be some positive news to come out of it in the future.

Birmingham Airport expands horizons

Oct 02, 2012

Birmingham Airport, located in the centre of the UK, will today launch its new runway extension brand at the World Routes 2012 conference in Abu Dhabi, to promote and inform key stakeholders on the development, which will be open in early 2014.

The extended runway of 3003 metres will allow aircraft to fly direct to the Far East, the Americas and South Africa from the Midlands Airport, which serves a catchment of ten million people.

It is a significant milestone, not just for the Airport but for the region and the country as a whole and has the potential to change the game for long haul travel in the UK, cutting thousands of miles in unnecessary surface journeys and helping to alleviate the capacity crisis in the south east.

Paul, Kehoe, the Airport’s CEO, said: “Unlike other UK airports, Birmingham is in a unique position to grow in size straight away. As the debate rolls on over the shape of Britain's future aviation strategy, we could literally double the number of passengers through the airport tomorrow. In a few years time, following the completion of our runway extension, we could handle over 36 million passengers a year.

“Birmingham Airport is in the centre of the UK, with around 10 million people in our catchment area. We are the best connected airport by rail, and have excellent connectivity by road. Already just an hour from central London by rail, soon HS2 will place the airport under 40 minutes away from capital. Birmingham can be the alternative to the congested London Airports and the runway extension will provide global connectivity for the thriving Midlands region,” he added.

The creative for the runway extension brand reflects this, going beyond the extra tarmac that will allow heavier planes carrying more fuel to fly further. It focuses on the ever-expanding horizons that the Airport will offer to airlines, business and leisure travellers alike, who will soon have no need to journey outside the region before their trip can begin.

With its ‘Say hello to even more world’ proposition, the campaign is in keeping with the Airport’s existing identity, while introducing bursts of colour which mirror the exotic destinations that will soon be within reach from Birmingham. It will be executed across a range of media including on and offline advertising, direct marketing, a dedicated micro site, brochure and video.

Birmingham Airport has invested £260 million over the past 10 years, with a further £100 million committed to future development plans, including the runway extension and its associated infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the airport is flying high after figures released this week reveal passenger growth increased by over 9 per cent year-on-year in August. The growth in passenger numbers for the month was higher than at any other UK airport during the same period with one million people passing through the Airport.

The record-breaking month saw an incredible 1,031,259 passengers fly in and out of the Airport, making it the 4thbusiest month in the company’s history. It is also the 9th time the airport has pushed through the one million passenger mark.

“August has been a fantastic month for us in terms of passenger numbers. It is particularly pleasing to learn we were best performing airport in the UK last month, clearly demonstrating there is strong demand to fly from Birmingham," Paul Kehoe explained.

“We have seen encouraging signs particularly from our leisure passengers, who have decided to take advantage of the extra capacity and new routes now served by Monarch, including Barcelona and Nice. Traditional summer sun destinations including Palma, Alicante and Malaga also proved to be tremendously popular last month,” he added.

The airport is now turning its attention to the winter season ahead, making sure it can continue the great results it has achieved this summer. “With new routes planned to commence in the coming months, including the launch of easyJet’s daily service to Belfast International, SAS launching their new route to Stockholm and Ryanair now serving Milan and Krakow, this is great news for our business community and those seeking city breaks,” added Paul Kehoe.

http://www.eturbonews.com/31487/birming ... s-horizons

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Birmingham airport workers face sack threat

WORKERS at Birmingham Airport deprived of a wage rise for more than three years have been threatened with job cuts if they take industrial action, it has been claimed.

Union leaders said airport management had sent a letter to staff threatening to withdraw a pay offer of two and a half per cent – plus a one-off payment of £150 – and impose reductions in the workforce.

But the tactic was condemned by angry unions who delayed holding a ballot for action after mediators ACAS were called in.

Workers had already voted by 76.5 per cent to reject the pay offer – the first since February 2009 – and unions had announced a ballot for action.

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top- ... z28fpUv3fJ[/textarea]

 

[Ray Finkle]

A nice award for BHX to win.

Birmingham Awarded Airport of the Year


12 October 2012

Birmingham Airport has been awarded ‘Airport of the Year’ at the UK National Transport Awards, in recognition for excellence and its ongoing major improvement programme.

At an awards ceremony in London, the Airport’s CEO, Paul Kehoe, proudly received the accolade from The Rt Hon Simon Burns MP, Minister of State for Transport, in front of a 600 strong audience of transport leaders and Politicians, including the new Secretary of State for Transport, The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, who gave the keynote speech.

Birmingham beat off stiff competition in its category from Manchester, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen Airports, all battling to win this significant industry title.

The 2012 National Transport Awards were supported by the Department for Transport (DfT) and judged by members of the DfT, Passenger Focus, Atkins Highways & Transportation and Transport Times – the creator of the awards programme.

Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham Airport said, “It’s fantastic to be recognised by the UK’s transport industry as Airport of the Year, particularly in such a strong category. The last few years have been incredibly challenging for all airports and we know from passengers that the investments we’ve made have been right – now we’ve had recognition from our industry peers that we’ve moved in the right direction too.

“The next twelve months will be vitally important for the aviation industry as Government sets out the shape of future airport capacity. Birmingham Airport has ready solutions available right now. We have the capacity, connectivity, and business plan to resolve the industry’s short-term supply-side constraints so being given this accolade certainly gives us the recognition that we can play an important role in this new landscape.”

Birmingham Airport has invested £260m over the last few years and is making a further £100m commitment to extend its existing runway, which will allow aircraft to fly direct to the West Coast of the States, China and South Africa. The Airport currently handles nine million passengers per year, and has the infrastructure to handle double this today. When the extended runway is complete in 2014, Birmingham Airport would have the capability to handle beyond thirty six million.

Quote from Professor David Begg, Chair of the awards judging panel and Publisher of Transport Times, said, “Under challenging economic circumstances Birmingham Airport has shown confidence and commitment throughout the last 12 months and has taken innovative approaches to its development. Clearly, Birmingham Airport has an important role to play in future UK airport strategy and it is making the right investments now to take on this position.”

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... ticle.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

SAS Stockholm started today using an MD82, which I think is here for the week then it changes to the 736/7/8 mix.

Flybe Amsterdam started yesterday with the first flight being the 175. Apparently 65 seats were sold at one point, I think the 175 holds 88ish? The second flight of the day was a Dash8.

Easyjet went 2x daily on the Belfast service today. Geneva and Grenoble start on 15th Dec with Geneva being an A320 on Saturdays.

Lufthansa Berlin remains daily, although Saturday stops for 8 weeks in the new year. Hamburg is down to six weekly for the winter. Frankfurt is down for 3x 735 and 1x 733 although one of the flights stops for six weeks in the new year. Next summer FRA is showing as 3x A320 and 1x 737, this summer the fourth flight varied so could be anything from a 737 to an A321.

Monarch sees reductions although Sharm will increase as will Funchal and Munich and Grenoble starts in Dec.

Thomas Cook drop from three based to one (there were two last winter).

Thomson look to have 3x 757's with a 763 there part of the week.

Ryanair start their four new routes soon, Barcelona and Bergamo first followed by Palma then a return of Krakow. Kaunas and Gdansk have now stopped. Three aircraft arrived yesterday to be parked up for the winter, I've heard there could be up to ten more :shok: Less space available for any diverts but I guess it's guaranteed income.

Air France sees the evening service upgraded to the A319/320 so a slight increase.

United is down to six weekly, Turkish is daily which is an increase on last winter.

PIA are still 3x weekly but this should return back to four.

Swiss lunchtime flight is now gone (although it pops up sporadically) with the morning service operated by Helvetic and the evening by OLT Express. Not good :s_no

Air Transat is showing as a weekly A310 next summer which is down on this years A333 but still early days and things will be changed again I'm sure.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Not had a proper read of this yet just a skim through.

Wider growth,
Wider connectivity

Birmingham Airport’s response to the Department for Transport’s Draft Aviation Policy Framework.

http://www.westbournecoms.com/wp-conten ... ission.pdf

 

[Ray Finkle]

This is an interesting image taken from the above document showing the runway extension. Whether it is just indicative or actual plans I don't know but the old Eurohub/T2 has two small piers protruding from the rear. This means the loss of one large or two small stands, 8L/R or 8C but the picture shows 12 stands on that terminal, all appear to be 737 size. Currently there is around 15 or so but I think 3 or 4 of those are only Q400 size or not much bigger.

Further round there is a new structure extending the shorter pier round to a right angle running parallel with the railway which looks to create 8 extra stands (I can't tell if there are air bridges).

There is also no satellite pier on that image, the 70's and 80's stands stay remote.

Interesting stuff.

 

[Aviador]

I see what you mean about stands 8L/8R and 8C. Having a pier will reduce bus requirements or the need for walk-on stands. It does look like it will be at the expense of one wide bodied stand. How many stands are available for wide bodied aircraft at the moment do you know?

 

[Ray Finkle]

8C is the only widebodied stand for that terminal, remote stand 25 goes up to 767 size or simliar. The new pier can take 7 widebodies with 42C and 54C being the only two A380 compatible. There's also 5 remote stands available for widebodies.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham Airport’s trade website launches

28 October 2012

Birmingham Airport has launched its dedicated website to the travel trade under www.airportgurus.co.uk.

Following from its ‘Enlightenment to the travel trade’ theme, the website is now live and includes various resources and tools for agents to use and help sell holidays from the airport.

These include a news and events section with the latest information; contact details for the trade team; an interactive map of the destinations available from the airport and the ability to book airport tours. Competition details and links to its Facebook page are also on the website.

“We have been sponsoring events and really getting our name out there as Birmingham Airport has never had a trade team before,” Mandy Haque, sales and travel trade relationship manager at Birmingham Airport told Travel Daily. “Our theme of relaxation has been really popular with travel agents and we want them to know we are here to support them.”



From the BHX Consultative Committee site.

 

[Ray Finkle]

No.1 Traveller ready for Birmingham take off


No.1 Traveller is opening its latest lounge at Birmingham Airport today (31 October 2012).

The site – the company's first outside of London – adds to the current No.1 lounges at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and is its sixth UK opening.

The lounge has created 20 jobs in Birmingham and claims to bring a new level of pre-flight experience to the travelling public in the Midlands.

It is located beyond security and will be the largest public lounge in the airport, offering passengers a range of facilities, including a selection of seating across two levels, a fully-tended bar serving complementary wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks, and a bistro.

It also features a double-height ceiling, large windows with runway views and a mezzanine level.

"Birmingham is booming as an airport and is clearly a viable alternative to London, offering over 140 major worldwide destinations," said Phil Cameron, founder and chief executive of No.1 Traveller.

"Our arrival at Birmingham is incredibly exciting for us as it marks the next step in No.1 Traveller's expansion. We're delighted to bring our world-class lounge experience to the airport."

Birmingham Airport chief executive Paul Kehoe added: "We're really excited to be working with No.1 Traveller and delighted with the lounge – the finished product really is fantastic. We're very pleased to see new jobs created at Birmingham and the lounge is a significant addition to our terminal facilities."

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/mid ... gham-take/

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Birmingham Airport staff in Christmas strike ballot

The airport said plans were in place to keep the site open and minimise any disruption

Some staff at Birmingham Airport staff are being balloted over taking industrial action over Christmas.

The Unite union said its members had rejected a 2.5% pay offer which had followed a pay freeze since 2009.

It is understood up to 250 members, mainly security staff, are being balloted over taking action in the week up to Christmas and on 25 December.

Full Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi ... m-20214109[/textarea]

 

[Ray Finkle]

No surprise really

BA and Virgin say Birmingham Airport will never be international hub

Two of Britain’s leading airlines have launched an astonishing attack on Birmingham Airport, saying it will never be a national hub.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways hit out at Birmingham’s call for government intervention to encourage airlines to make better use of airports in the north and Midlands.

And they claimed that regional airports such as Birmingham could not provide an alternative to expanding capacity in the South East.

The airlines said:

• Heathrow and Gatwick are full because people want to fly from them. Birmingham isn’t because people don’t.

• The Government should not intervene to force airlines and passengers to use airports they “do not want to fly from”.

• Foreign governments are only interested in Heathrow in talks about opening new air routes and capacity.

• Birmingham Airport could “never” be an alternative destination for London and the South East.

Ministers are grappling with the question of whether to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport and have set up an inquiry chaired by economist Sir Howard Davies, which is due to publish its initial findings next year.

Birmingham Airport has launched a campaign to convince ministers that it can provide an alternative to expanding Heathrow without the need for a new runway.

It says it could double passenger numbers from nine million today to 18 million without requiring any new infrastructure, and by extending its existing runway it will be able to serve 27 million people.

But it insists it needs formal Government recognition as one of the UK’s national airports to give it the credibility needed to attract more business from airlines in other parts of the world.

Birmingham also wants Ministers to introduce a regional air passenger duty so that passengers pay higher taxes to fly from Heathrow, to encourage airlines to offer services from regional airports.

But its arguments came under fire in submissions from BA and Virgin to the Commons Transport Select Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the Government’s aviation strategy.

Virgin rejected calls for regional passenger taxes, stating: “Airlines respond to passenger demand and operate services accordingly. Heathrow is operating at full capacity and Gatwick is full at peak times because passengers want to fly from those airports.

“Stansted, Birmingham and other airports with excess capacity can attract more passengers and airlines by reducing their charges, improving their passenger experience and marketing their services.

"We do not believe the Government should intervene in a well-functioning market by somehow forcing airlines and passengers to fly from airports they do not want to fly from or by distorting the aviation taxation system.

“We need more capacity at airports people want to use. Avoiding this difficult issue by trying to force more people to fly from airports they don’t want to use is not a realistic or long-term solution.”

Foreign governments wanted their airlines to have access to Heathrow – not other airports, Virgin said.

“When we attend bilateral talks between the UK government and other countries, UK officials always promote the other London airports and regional airports, but the response is usually the same: foreign governments are generally only interested in Heathrow.

“When foreign governments are unable to access or increase their own airlines’ access to Heathrow, they are understandably reluctant to open up or increase UK carriers’ access to their airports.”

By failing to increase capacity at Heathrow for foreign operators, the Government was making it harder for British airlines to expand operations overseas, Virgin said.

And it added: “We believe the UK needs one internationally competitive hub airport located where people where to fly to and from.

"We supported the proposal for a third runway at Heathrow because it delivered significant extra capacity at an affordable cost, in a convenient location for passengers, within a relatively short timeframe.”

British Airways also warned that it was up to regional airports to win new business on their own – and attacked calls for the Government to intervene to help them.

It said: “There is no evidence that existing government policy is leading to the under-utilisation of regional airports. Any action to increase the utilisation of regional airports would require intervention in the market which would distort competition.

“British Airways believes that any efforts to support the development of regional airports must not extend to distortive and unfair fiscal incentives, such as variable Air Passenger Duty or the subversion of the economic regulation system to deliver government airport policy outcomes.”

And it added: “While regional airports fulfil an important role in the UK aviation economy, British Airways does not believe that regional airports can ever be an alternative to provision of effective hub airport capacity serving London and the South East.

“Anecdotal evidence from international air service agreement negotiations in recent years suggest that many foreign airlines have no interest in accessing regional airports as an alternative to access to Heathrow.”

Birmingham Airport did however enjoy the support of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, which has sent its own submission to the inquiry.

The chamber said: “A regional rate of air passenger duty or equivalent taxation should be introduced whereby the Government would have some mechanism to encourage airlines to operate outside of the South East.”

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west ... um=twitter

 

[Ray Finkle]

• Heathrow and Gatwick are full because people want to fly from them. Birmingham isn’t because people don’t.

People outside the South East want to fly from LHR and LGW or people do so because they have no other choice?

 

[CL44]

Well said Ray. LHR & LGW are the main points into (and out of) the UK that MOST Airlines think about first of all. Now I am not saying the BHX is the be all and end all for Regional Airports (but we do hold our own). BA do not want to think outside of LHR (and to a lesser degree LGW) because that is how their agenda works for them. When BA operated out of BHX they did not seem to care too much about developing the routes ex BHX (1 x long haul which was shared at one stage with Scotland if memory serves me right) and the rest of the routes were aimed towards the business man. Well the worm has turned (a long time ago) and BA have not changed their strategy along with the rest of the world. Airlines like Monarch / Thomson (insert any other bucket & spade Airline as appropriate) and other carriers (Emirates spring to mind) have proved that BHX can and do have the uplift towards both Holiday makers / business / Friends and Family traffic to make it work. If BA want to become LHR Airways that is up to them. To be fair if BA do not want to come back to BHX that is their choice. Now VS is a different matter. Now VS have their routes assigned to Scotland and Manchester into LHR there is no real reason for them to come to BHX (unless it is a diversion). This then leaves more capacity for BHX to market properly to other Airlines who do want to come into BHX. I would much rather deal with Airlines who WANT to come into BHX than those who are forced to come here. Bring on the Airlines who recognise the capability of BHX to fulfill (if not exceed) their expectations and who knows BHX is very likely to become a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Ray Finkle]

11 December 2012

Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport gave oral evidence to MPs at the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into aviation on Monday 10th December 2012.

Appearing alongside other airports outside of the South East, Kehoe argued that international connectivity is vital for regions across the UK if we are to grow the national economy.

He argued that, whatever the long-term solution, a number of barriers currently exist that are preventing airports from maximising the capacity that they have in the short-term. These include:-

• The reluctance of airlines to operate long-haul direct services from UK airports, other than Heathrow.
• Complex inter-governmental agreements which specify which foreign airlines can fly where.
• Air Passenger Duty.
• Undercharging at Heathrow because of price caps.
• The need to improve surface access to airports.

After giving evidence, Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, said:

“The only thing that this country should be worrying about is how we are going to grow our economy – and we won’t do that by relying on one corner of the country to act as a crutch to prop up the economies outside of the South East.

“To boost growth, local businesses across the UK need international connectivity so that they can trade, and this will only be achieved it we make the most of the existing capacity we have at our airports.

“There are a number of barriers that stand in the way of making the most of our existing airport infrastructure, but where there is a will there is a way.

“I hope that the industry can continue to work together with Government to help remove these barriers, and start to build a progressive aviation sector that is at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery.”

Birmingham Airport’s submission to the Government's Draft Aviation Framework outlines some suggested policy-levers that the Government could adopt to help make best use of existing capacity. The report can be downloaded here.

Notes:

1. Birmingham Airport's written submission to the Transport Select Committee's inquiry into aviation can be read online here.
2. Today's Transport Select Committee inquiry sessions, including Paul Kehoe's, can be watched online here.
3. Birmingham Airport's report, Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket: a challenge to aviation orthodoxy, argues that in order for the whole of Britain to capture the economic benefits of changes in global travel, the Government must fully utilise existing airport infrastructure and pursue a balanced aviation strategy.
4. To find out more about Birmingham Airport's campaign, please visit: http://www.balancedaviationdebate.com or follow @balanceaviation.

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... ee-pk.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

A short interview with Paul Kehoe.

Birmingham Airport wants a route to its US twin – Chicago; as well as Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore.

anna.aero: Aren’t you scared that your runway extension is going to be a white elephant?

Kehoe: The fundamental point is that not only are we doing it for long-haul traffic, we are also doing it for medium-haul. The 757 has been the workhorse of this airport; the current fleet of A321s is seen as one of the 757 replacements and we can’t afford to lose those – it’s a major part of our business and the runway extension will support that. We have to keep up with the capability of the new generation of medium-haul aircraft; without the runway extension, we would severely limit our capability.

anna.aero: Do you ever think you will be able to stop families driving to Heathrow for an economy fare to the US on a direct flight (rather than via a hub in Europe or US)?

Kehoe: People always prefer direct flights. Of course, British Airways and Virgin came out in the press recently and said Birmingham will never be an international airport of any note. But I expected them to say that and I’m almost delighted they said it, because it shows they’re taking us seriously. But the future cannot be British Airways and Virgin for all of the UK, if they’re just going to concentrate on Heathrow. Once the Chinese and Indians start travelling, I’m convinced that liberalisation will come along and someone else will set up competing traffic opportunities. The more direct services we get, the more families will come back. As people value their time more, we’re seeing more business passengers come to Birmingham. And what passengers are telling us, and what Lufthansa has told us, is that people prefer Birmingham to Heathrow because of the convenience. The UK is not just the South East – the UK is 40 million people outside the South East.

anna.aero: Is the airport concerned that once again it has put all its eggs in one basket with Monarch – just as it did with MyTravelite, duo and bmibaby in the past – all of which have gone bust and resulted in the airport losing hundreds of thousands of passengers overnight.



Kehoe: We’ve been very good in the past at backing the wrong airline – we never engaged with Ryanair and easyJet when we should have done. Along comes Monarch and it says it thinks it can replace bmibaby. Monarch represents about 1.2 million passengers, as do Ryanair and Flybe; Emirates and Lufthansa both have half a million. If anything went wrong with any of our airlines it would be painful, but we’re not beholden to one airline in particular. It would take two or three airlines to go under to cause us to have real problems; but if that were the case, every other airport in the country would be exposed, not just us.



anna.aero: When can the local Indian community expect a direct flight to Amritsar?



Kehoe: When Air India gets out of its financial mess. We signed an agreement with the Chairman of Air India to start operations and he got fired, so we’ve had to go back to square one and start again. But it’s like being a dentist in a treacle factory – it’s bloody, it’s painful and you can’t move around, you’re just stuck to the floor!

anna.aero: What are your most desired new routes?



Kehoe: One of the games we can’t play at the moment is ultra long-haul, but the runway extension gives us the opportunity of adding about 2,000 nautical miles. From Birmingham, that takes you just about everywhere you need to go – Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore. We’d also ideally like a Chicago service: firstly, there is significant trade and Chicago has phenomenal connections; secondly, the two cities are twinned and are roughly the same size, with a metro area of around 2.73 million.

http://www.anna.aero/2012/12/12/30-seco ... m-airport/


We signed an agreement with the Chairman of Air India to start operations and he got fired, so we’ve had to go back to square one and start again.

I guess this sentence reflects just what a real mess Indian aviation is in at the moment when the deal is between the airport and the man rather than the airport and the airline

 

[Aviador]

Good point. It seems like madness, Air India don't operate into BHX with such a large population in Birmingham originating from India.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Swiss timetable for the winter is now showing an OLT Express (who are taking over Contactair) F100 for the evening service with Helvetic operating the morning service and the lunchtime flight canx.

OLT Express have lost the Swiss contract so the service will revert back to the Swiss RJ.