Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[User001]

That will be the one JFY, thanks.

Just surprised that flycar themselves are attending as an airline in their own right.

 

[Brum X]

Just been invited to an airline event at BHX, and will have many Airlimes represented that currently serve BHX.

One of them is called 'flycar'. Never heard of them before, but according to their (basic) website, apparently offer a Lapland route via Hahn airport?

Anyone heard who these guys are?

Will there be any airlines attending who do not currently serve BHX ?

 

[User001]

There were none on the list that I could see, like I say, FlyCar was the only one that stood out to make me think 'hmm'

 

[Ray Finkle]

Councillor Paul Denham, I salute you Sir

Mr Geraghty, maybe a serious rethink is needed?

Madam JJ, as a Worcestershire resident your opinion would be interesting.

Mayor of Worcester calls on council leader to lobby for Birmingham Airport expansion

Councillor Denham said: "I don't believe expanding Heathrow will do anything to increase business activity into Worcestershire at all.

"I can't believe Simon Geraghty wasn't put up to do that by someone in the transport department in London, because I don't think it will make any difference here.

"What he should be doing is arguing for an expansion of Birmingham Airport - that's the obvious thing to do and that actually would seriously help Worcestershire.

"The Government is considering Gatwick as an alternative to Heathrow, the two of them are about an hour apart.

"But due to HS2 if you had a link from Birmingham straight to Heathrow you wouldn't need to expand Heathrow at all, you could do it here and it'd have far more benefits to this county."

 

[JENNYJET]

Dear oh Deary me, local nobody's getting involved in national infrastructure decisions.

Whitehall will have no idea who these Worcestershire Bumpkins are and their qualifications to intervene in national policy decisions. Unlike most of us here, most innocent and poorly informed folks think BHX is a place to get a plane to the Mediterranean hot spots or Florida. I have mentioned previously that most people in the the free thinking populace are directed to London or Manchester by Travel agents, possibly due to incentive commission payments.They are unaware of the Birmingham links to New York, Dubai, Delhi, they trawl along to Heathrow and are likely to seek the additional runway without understanding why.

Nearly everyone considers Gatwick as a punishment. My last employment as a vehicle courier required me to deliver and/or collect from Gatwick. That was a 15 hour shift if the wonderful M25/M23 was misbehaving. Trips to Heathrow were a little easier as I had a comprehensive knowledge of London and relevant diversionary access.

I would ask Messr's Denham and Geraghty how often they travel to the London Airports and later realised that they could have used Birmingham without the hassle and the funded luxuries provided via Council Taxes?

The bit about linking HS2 to LHR makes no sense, if any link is necessary, it would be an airlink but that idea was recently shot down in flames on this domain, the Chinook link remember?

Heathrow is busting at the seams, land availability is suspect, the local geography presents challenges, not least the A4/M25 road network, local community housing relocation and significant water features, and there is the matter of Her Majesty and her private property and residency at Windsor Castle.

The increase of flights would affect all residents in Windsor and Slough and opposition would be boisterous at the very least.

Former Transport Secretary of State, Sir Patrick McLoughlan is a noted fan of Birmingham Airport, a Midlander himself, Amanda Milling MP for Cannock Chase, SajivJavid MP for Bromsgove, Karen Lumley MP for Redditch County, they all sing for BHX.

One may wish to lobby ( write ) these people, address to Name, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. I suggest a barrage of submissions to your MP, local Councillors are not intellectually equipped to consider matters of National importance but your MP is obliged to respond to constituent matters and further such matters in Parliament and after all, they work or you, the citizen and voter.

Finally, my pet irritation, BHX is in need of land before any expansion could begin unless building extra facilities on top of existing structures, the redevelopment of Elmdon for short haul or..sit tight folks, restore 06/24 for STOL capable aircraft freeing up slots on 15/33. The current space used by low-cost can be moved to Elmdon, be it parking or terminal space.

By the way, " I can't believe Simon Geraghty wasn't put up to..." now then, he was not obligated to perform such actions.

I hope my input has been helpful this day.

 

[Jerry]

Dear oh Deary me, local nobody's getting involved in national infrastructure decisions.

Whitehall will have no idea who these Worcestershire Bumpkins are and their qualifications to intervene in national policy decisions. Unlike most of us here, most innocent and poorly informed folks think BHX is a place to get a plane to the Mediterranean hot spots or Florida. I have mentioned previously that most people in the the free thinking populace are directed to London or Manchester by Travel agents, possibly due to incentive commission payments.They are unaware of the Birmingham links to New York, Dubai, Delhi, they trawl along to Heathrow and are likely to seek the additional runway without understanding why.

Nearly everyone considers Gatwick as a punishment. My last employment as a vehicle courier required me to deliver and/or collect from Gatwick. That was a 15 hour shift if the wonderful M25/M23 was misbehaving. Trips to Heathrow were a little easier as I had a comprehensive knowledge of London and relevant diversionary access.

I would ask Messr's Denham and Geraghty how often they travel to the London Airports and later realised that they could have used Birmingham without the hassle and the funded luxuries provided via Council Taxes?

The bit about linking HS2 to LHR makes no sense, if any link is necessary, it would be an airlink but that idea was recently shot down in flames on this domain, the Chinook link remember?

Heathrow is busting at the seams, land availability is suspect, the local geography presents challenges, not least the A4/M25 road network, local community housing relocation and significant water features, and there is the matter of Her Majesty and her private property and residency at Windsor Castle.

The increase of flights would affect all residents in Windsor and Slough and opposition would be boisterous at the very least.

Former Transport Secretary of State, Sir Patrick McLoughlan is a noted fan of Birmingham Airport, a Midlander himself, Amanda Milling MP for Cannock Chase, SajivJavid MP for Bromsgove, Karen Lumley MP for Redditch County, they all sing for BHX.

One may wish to lobby ( write ) these people, address to Name, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. I suggest a barrage of submissions to your MP, local Councillors are not intellectually equipped to consider matters of National importance but your MP is obliged to respond to constituent matters and further such matters in Parliament and after all, they work or you, the citizen and voter.

Finally, my pet irritation, BHX is in need of land before any expansion could begin unless building extra facilities on top of existing structures, the redevelopment of Elmdon for short haul or..sit tight folks, restore 06/24 for STOL capable aircraft freeing up slots on 15/33. The current space used by low-cost can be moved to Elmdon, be it parking or terminal space.

By the way, " I can't believe Simon Geraghty wasn't put up to..." now then, he was not obligated to perform such actions.

I hope my input has been helpful this day.

From the diagrams i've seen the plan is to build the runway over the M25 parallel with the M4 but just to the south of it. That will require major roadworks and will create havoc in the whole area Better to increase flights from regional airports into LCY and long haul flights into regional airports.

 

[JENNYJET]

From the diagrams i've seen the plan is to build the runway over the M25 parallel with the M4 but just to the south of it. That will require major roadworks and will create havoc in the whole area Better to increase flights from regional airports into LCY and long haul flights into regional airports.

That would be possible if LCY could handle the increase in traffic within it's current and recently agreed future capabilities.

I would wish for RAF Northolt be opened up to regional subject to Core Military obligations with a dedicated road link to LHR. Northolt runway can handle B737 DC9 and Typhoons, a capability that can assist LHR as an alternative regional terminal.

 

[CL44]

I had a chat with a gentleman yesterday and the subject of cargo came up. He said that back in the 80's Fed Ex had been interested in developing the Elmdon site into a hub, apparently the bosses at the time turned them down believing that it was too ambitious for what they believed to be nothing more than a small regional airport.

I don't know if there is any substance to that but if there is any truth then it shows how we suffered a serious lack of ambition for so long.

Sorry for the delay but I have been on a digital detox for a fortnight. Don't forget that the Dnata building was originally a FedEx sorting hub until they closed it down in the early 90's when menzies took it over.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Stating the obvious but if RWY3 is to go ahead at LHR regional airports will see dramatically slower growth. The table halfway down the page makes interesting viewing with the West Midlands to be hit the hardest with a -55 percentage change.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-runway-higher-air-fares-airports-commission

 

[JENNYJET]

Sir Raymond,

The obvious course of action to prevent the alleged 55% shortfall is to pre-empt the expansion of Heathrow and radically remodel and expand BHX in order to protect and improve upon the BHX experience.

Convince the travelling public that Birmingham is better, Routes serve all markets, facilities are as good if not better, the surface transport offering is superior to and from London and possible offerings of parking concessions, competitive hotel rates and rail concessions from London, the possibilities exist only if BHX is given the chance to be the Second City with an airport worthy of the title.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I see that Birmingham is hosting a delegation from the Government of Gujarat.

Last year we had a group from the Gujarat CCI who were lobbying for direct flights from Ahmedabad to Birmingham. Lets hope that it's on the agenda again.

 

[jfy1999]

I see that Birmingham is hosting a delegation from the Government of Gujarat.

Last year we had a group from the Gujarat CCI who were lobbying for direct flights from Ahmedabad to Birmingham. Lets hope that it's on the agenda again.

One for Jet or Air India I reckon...AI already fly to LHR from Ahmedabad and with Mumbai also rumoured to be a target, we could potentially end up with four destinations for Air India ex BHX (including Amritsar) if the parties concerned are successful in their lobbying!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Air India fly (or used to until recently?) LHR-BOM-AMD, such a route could be great for BHX even at 4/5x weekly.

 

[nwoody2001]

I'd settle with just 2 direct India destinations lol

 

[Butty]

I think building on our India connections should taken priority over China. Whilst China is a powerhouse, India with its historic links has an economy 1/3 larger than ours and it is still developing. With a huge Indian population on its door step and a strong local Indian business community, BHX should be ahead of the game and focus on India in a big way before others cotton on.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Encouraging words from Mr Javid, hopefully he'll turn out to be a real asset to our region throughout this government.

There are many reasons for optimism. Jet2 are moving into Birmingham Airport, Jaguar Landrover are expanding in Coventry, and Tarmac are setting up in Wolverhampton. Creating the ‘Midlands Engine’ could add up to £34 billion to the regional economy, the equivalent of £3,000 per person.

Together we will build more homes, help more businesses grow, help councils deliver better public services. You can count on my support, and that of my whole department, as Birmingham and the West Midlands looks confidently towards the future.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/sajid-javid-well-back-west-11725193

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham Airports updated Sky Zone opened this week and going by the pictures it looks fantastic.

In line with the opening they also have a new Sky Zone Online website for the kids offering an interactive way of finding out about the goings on at the airport via various Youtube clips. I think it's brilliant and my little ones found it interesting

http://skyzoneonline.co.uk/index.html

If you don't have young kids then don't click the link as it will be boring as hell.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham comes in last but one in the list of average delays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37036838

Turkmenistan hold top spot of the most delayed airline followed by PIA. Consequently Birmingham has two entries in the top four most delayed flights.

Manchester New York (John F Kennedy) Pakistan International Airlines 88 minutes
Heathrow Ashgabat, Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Airlines 75 minutes
Birmingham Islamabad Pakistan International Airlines 73 minutes
Birmingham Ashgabat, Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Airlines 68 minutes

 

[Brum X]

There appears to be a trend and its PIA and Turkemistan Airlines the main offenders. They need to take action because in 2016 people can now vote with there feet at BHX and quite easily choose another airline.

 

[JENNYJET]

I am a little peeved with the reporting and disection of these numbers and abdicate no surprise with the usual negative slant of the BBC.

Did the report offer reasons as to delays?

Did the report offer reasons for differentials between BHX and MAN for the PIA services given that BHX is not a facilitator for the United States.

As for Turkmenistan, did they consider the performance from BHX or was it simply lazy journalism as LHR was the focus, typical London centric reporting perhaps?

My personal concern? Get to the airport and check in on time, leave safely, arrive safely and enjoy the visit without being obliterated enroute by a lunatic.

Delays have many reasons, but when safety enters the framework, no delay is unacceptable, I can live with a cancelled flight and going back home, because I remain safe and life moves on to another adventure.

If having checked in for a flight, I simply do not care about delays, safety matters more then timetables and meeting bookings elsewhere. Getting to destination is all important, everything else, in NY mind, is trivia.

I apologize to Brim X, this has been a Jenny Rant.