Birmingham: General Airport Discussion & Updates

[Jon Dempsey]

That is one very blue Radisson Blu hotel. When is Resorts World due to open?

It was due to open in May, but I think late July is the latest.

 

[Ray Finkle]

There should be excellent views from many floors SW and NE to the airport - quite a place to stay for a spotter, pre-holiday! Hopefully sound insulation will be good so that the road traffic doesn't spoil the stay. I wouldn't fancy the walk though unless they provide a raised walkway across the main road outside.

I've always thought a restaurant/bar/coffee shop on the top floor of a hotel would do very well if there are views over the airfield.

Then again I suppose you could end up with the spotters making one coffee last all day as they spread their kit out all over the floor 🙂

 

[juliet-fox-9]

Are there plans for anything like that? Looks like the hotel will be a nice tall one so it would be a good idea.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Now we know where the new hotel is going to be located I wonder what was meant by the snippet below from the Consultative Committee meeting. Could this have been the original location and it was changed or is there yet another one in the pipeline?

that a single stop for the
people mover should be provided above International Station and the route should
be diverted to avoid a site adjacent to Diamond House that is proposed for a hotel
development

 

[nwoody2001]

there is nothing to say that bhx can only accommodate one more hotel.... maybe there is potentially more to come!?

 

[juliet-fox-9]

What brands have we not got that could be the users of this potential new hotel? Have we got a Premier Inn or a Hilton?

 

[Ray Finkle]

There is a Hilton Metropole at the NEC which has shuttle buses to BHX. There is also a Premier Inn not far from BHX on Bickenhill Lane, it's on the roundabout before the Holiday Inn Express.

Of the most popular hotel chains the main one I can think of without a presence directly on the Airport/NEC site is Marriott. They do however have the Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club in Meriden which is only a 10 or so minute drive from BHX.

 

[juliet-fox-9]

All the talk about BHX in the news at the moment seems to be about crosswinds. They've got hold of "Flugsnug"s videos from YouTube. Unfortunately they are behind by about a year.
The BHX undulating runway is very unusual though and is something I haven't seen at any other airport. There are lots of go-arounds in the videos. Speaking of which, A319-115LR F-GRXJ made a go-around yesterday and flew very low near my house, I'm not sure why.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The BHX undulating runway is very unusual though and is something I haven't seen at any other airport.

The BRS runway undulates markedly and is only two thirds the length of BHX's, not to mention its 600 feet elevation.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The optics on the cameras make the undulations look a lot worse than they are. When viewed looking along the runway it appears to be like a roller coaster but when you think that they are spread out over the full length then they are hardly noticeable.

 

[Brum X]

Me Likey :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[Ray Finkle]

It would be so nice to see Beijing listed on a permanent basis.

There's a big gap between 10:00 and 10:30, ideal for a few return Wizz flights 😉

 

[Brum X]

It would be so nice to see Beijing listed on a permanent basis.

There's a big gap between 10:00 and 10:30, ideal for a few return Wizz flights 😉

And by listening to that recent inverview with Mr K, that is the plan.


However he was talking about the benefit of not having based aircraft from Wizz, so will that be there priority for Norweigan as well. Will it be better for BHX to not have either based at BHX ??????

This doesnt mean we will not have big expansion from either of them ?????

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think it will be slightly different for Wizz and Norwegian.

Wizz would have no more than one flight per day from whichever bases they decide to fly to BHX from. It makes sense to depart those bases either early morning or around midday and arrive at BHX either mid morning or mid afternoon when things are nice and quiet. Wizz have become Luton's biggest carrier yet until a couple of weeks ago there were no aircraft based there. I think there will be two based over the summer.

Ideally Norwegian would have a mixture. Some away based units arriving at off peak times, as they do now, along with some based aircraft which, if operating 2-3 sectors per day, could open up a range of new destinations. Obviously any potential based aircraft would be using the peak departure times along with those we already have but if there are plans for a new pier then it shouldn't be an issue.

We'll see what, if anything, happens.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

I think adding services at peak time would very quickly become a logistics problem Ray.
Firstly, check-in/bag-drop is full
Secondly, the queue for security is like sheep waiting to be dipped, unless you use the rapid lanes
Next, duty-free is your only way to the departure lounge
Next, the bars / restaurants are rammed. If you don't want to eat, a lot of the seating area has now been chewed up by retail, unless you are travelling from the old T2.

The team at Birmingham will need to address these issues before adding additional departure gates, IMO, unless they want to see the shameful queues we have all seen at Manchester for the past couple of years.

Manchester is now sorting itself out, Birmingham needs to be more pro-active.

BTW, I'm certain that PK and team are fully aware of the issues.

 

[Brum X]

"sheep waiting to be dipped, "



I love it, that quote just made me laugh out load.




However it is no laughing matter when you are in the middle of it and needs to be sorted.

 

[Hassaan]

I'm liking the development at BHX recently - I hope we get more of the same in the near future.

 

[Ray Finkle]

😆

Some good points there and it will be interesting what time scale is given to improve things when the new master plan is finally released.

 

[Aviador]

Poll added on behalf of jfy1999

 

[thunderchild]

I've passed through BHX a couple of times in the past few weeks - good to see the new airlines doing well. No Norwegian flights at the time I was there but the que at the Icelandair gate seemed comparable to a Thomson 757 that was also boarding. There also seemed to be a very healthy outpouring of passengers from the Vueling arrival. The only letdown was seeing the tech AA this morning but I guess these things happen. The EK gate was also very busy.