Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[Butty]

Thanks for the report Aceshogh. It is written by someone who is acting as a consultancy to the investors behind Gatwick. What I call a pinch of salt report. No doubting the conclusions, but not worth the paper it is written on. A true risk assessment for the expansion of LHR would run into a couple of hundred pages and be full of hard facts.

Will the government ever take the decision? It seems impossible to get things done in this country.

 

[User001]

Seems to be growing rumours that the handling agent 'aviator' are pulling out of LGW/BHX.

I don't know who they handle at BHX but could be a headache for airlines to get things re structured at short notice.

Seems a few of the handling agents must be suffering at the moment, as MAN is loosing 'WFS' in October, meaning Jet2 are going to self handle and Swissport gain Turkish and Brussels Airlines.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Seems to be growing rumours that the handling agent 'aviator' are pulling out of LGW/BHX

Not a case of pulling out of BHX / LGW if the rumours are true ?
Gone bust ?

 

[Brum X]

Seems to be growing rumours that the handling agent 'aviator' are pulling out of LGW/BHX.

I don't know who they handle at BHX but could be a headache for airlines to get things re structured at short notice.

Seems a few of the handling agents must be suffering at the moment, as MAN is loosing 'WFS' in October, meaning Jet2 are going to self handle and Swissport gain Turkish and Brussels Airlines.

Aviator does appear to be the worst handling agent at BHX from what i hear, swissport on the other hand is the best.

 

[User001]

Not a case of pulling out of BHX / LGW if the rumours are true ?
Gone bust ?

They still seem to be trying to hold on to their MAN operation, but, bankruptcy may be inevitable.

The whole handling agent undercutting each other was always going to lead to this, so, it won't be the last ones we see go.

 

[Glenn Eldridge]

At Aviator we currently handle Thomas Cook, Monarch, Brussels Airlines, United, American, easyJet, Air Transat, Turkmenistan, AlbaStar (until October 31st) Air India, Maleth Aero and Icelandair....at the moment we are going through some very difficult times and a statement released by the company today signifies a very bumpy road ahead

 

[Ray Finkle]

Interesting Tweet from Mr Kehoe.

I don't want to put it in the Monarch thread as it may be about something totally different.

Just landed back from Chengdu - 2 days early. Of course no Twitter in China just #weChat but much news from UK which precipitated my return

 

[Paulsstrange]

Interesting Ray ....

 

[Ray Finkle]

I believe that this is a press release so I'll post it in it's entirety. If not I will gladly edit it.

Birmingham and Gatwick teaming up again

ONLY GATWICK CAN DELIVER BALANCED GROWTH FOR BRITAIN SAYS BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT CEO

In a joint editorial for The Times, Birmingham Airport's CEO Paul Kehoe and Gatwick's CEO Stewart Wingate set out why, after Brexit, it is so important for Gatwick expansion to get the green light to deliver balanced regional growth for Britain in comparison to Heathrow which would deter airlines from expanding services at Birmingham, Belfast, Edinburgh and elsewhere.

The debate over much needed airport capacity has gone on for too long. The idea of expansion at Heathrow has been in a holding pattern for decades and can never come in to land. Even if it is chosen, it will not be delivered.

So today Gatwick is joined by Birmingham in asking Theresa May to be bold and make a decision on airport expansion in the next few weeks that will support balanced growth for Britain as a whole for the long term. We do so because the report of the Airports Commission is already drastically out of date. Its original remit was largely focused on expansion in the southeast. Much has changed since then.

After Brexit, it is even more important that the outcome best reflects the long-term economic interests of the home nations and regions in particular. And we are writing jointly to the Prime Minister to say that this will best be achieved by authorising expansion at Gatwick now while setting in train long-term planning procedures for this to be followed by expansion at Birmingham International.

We belive that this programme would benefit the nation as a whole. It would chart a course for regional airport expansion rather than simply recreating a monopoly in London that would blunt regional growth. A third runway at Heathrow would deter airlines from expanding services at Birmingham, Belfast, Edinburgh and elsewhere.

British business is crying out for certainty and Heathrow cannot provide that. Last week an all-party parliamentary group on Heathrow set out 16 serious risks that could stop or delay expansion. They include legal challenges over breaches to EU and UK laws on air quality and excessive noise that could prevent consent for the runway.

The Airports Commission report was fair in coneding that Gatwick will deliver the same number of routes and the same economic benefit for the nation as Heathrow. We contend that it will do so at a much lower environmental and financial cost and with much less risk.

HS2 will be a game changer for the West Midlands. It will in time help make Birmingham the UK's most accessible airport. It is therefore the most appropriate place for future expansion outside the souteast. That means taking a decision now that does not close down that option in the medium term.

Birmingham and Gatwick have common objectives, but our proposal is designed to help the country. We are asking Mrs May to adopt this game-changing solution and go for nationwide growth.

http://www.gatwickobviously.com/new...ed-growth-britain-says-birmingham-airport-ceo

 

[Ray Finkle]

A follow up Tweet from Paul Kehoe

came back becos of news of airline issues. Currently unfounded. TeamBHX doing g8 job in Chengdu. 2018 could be interesting

 

[Jerry]

ONLY GATWICK CAN DELIVER BALANCED GROWTH FOR BRITAIN SAYS BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT CEO

For the price of Heathrow's 3rd runway they could build one at Gatwick and then give grants to regional airports to develop their transport links, extra money for route development funds to attract new airlines and they'd still have change left over!

 

[Paulsstrange]

A follow up Tweet from Paul Kehoe

came back becos of news of airline issues. Currently unfounded. TeamBHX doing g8 job in Chengdu. 2018 could be interesting

2017 or 2018 ?? Interesting either way...

 

[Jon Dempsey]

At Aviator we currently handle Thomas Cook, Monarch, Brussels Airlines, United, American, easyJet, Air Transat, Turkmenistan, AlbaStar (until October 31st) Air India, Maleth Aero and Icelandair....at the moment we are going through some very difficult times and a statement released by the company today signifies a very bumpy road ahead

Hope it works out for you, Glenn.

 

[JF57]

Seems to be growing rumours that the handling agent 'aviator' are pulling out of LGW/BHX.

I don't know who they handle at BHX but could be a headache for airlines to get things re structured at short notice.

Seems a few of the handling agents must be suffering at the moment, as MAN is loosing 'WFS' in October, meaning Jet2 are going to self handle and Swissport gain Turkish and Brussels Airlines.

They handle Monarch at BHX and are rubbish.

 

[JENNYJET]

My traveling days ended in 2002 when illness took my mobility but when I was flying to and from ASIA, , I learnt to be flexible and have consideration to local culture and regard to infrastructure and the development status of Sri Lanka, Penang, Maldives etc. and chose to stretch my legs and simply chill out until my baggage appeared, and it always did so, intact. I had just traveled 12+ hours and maybe 10'000 miles, something my grandparents could never dream of.

I do not care how long it takes for airport workers to unload a very large aircraft of up to 1000 bags and/cases, often heavy, onto buggies into the terminal and the conveyer.

As for Aviator, I cannot comment as I rarely know, as a passenger, the identifying service provider and I guess they may employ folks on relatively low wages for the work they do.

I respect all airport workers because without them, no aircraft can start engines let alone start boarding the passengers.

With the above said, without hostile intent, welcome to our group JF57, I hope we can be robust but also friendly in our exchanges.

 

[Coathanger16]

I do not care how long it takes for airport workers to unload a very large aircraft of up to 1000 bags and/cases, often heavy, onto buggies into the terminal and the conveyer.

Whilst I appreciate unloading a large aircraft such as an A380 does take time, from personal experience I have found BHX to be extremely slow.

Last time I flew into BHX (summer 2015), I flew in on a Flybe ERJ 175 from Bordeaux and from brakes on to collecting our bags took about 90 mins - that was including arriving on a remote stand and being bused back to the terminal.

Last time I flew into LHR (summer 2016), I flew in on a British Airways B747 from Boston, pulled onto a satellite B gate, and from brakes on to collecting bags was around 30 mins - and that was in the morning "heavies" arrivals into LHR.

I don't mind waiting for bags per se, its just frustrating when things are slow, often without being told why, and you know things are regularly done better elsewhere.

 

[Coathanger16]

ONLY GATWICK CAN DELIVER BALANCED GROWTH FOR BRITAIN SAYS BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT CEO

I don't mind BHX being against LHR expansion, I'd be surprised if they weren't, but I am sick of their constant b**ls**t about how only Gatwick can deliver balanced growth. How on earth is expanding Gatwick going to help the regions? At least LHR connects passengers onto a wide range of global destinations. Gatwick can hardly make that claim. By all means push for investment and expansion at Birmingham, I would love to see BHX grow to the size of MAN and beyond, but don't kid yourself that expanding Gatwick will do anything for Birmingham - the city or the airport.

 

[JENNYJET]

'Coathanger', you undertook a journey from Bordeaux to Birmingham. Consider....it took x hours from arrival at departure point to end transport point then baggage claim and assumably Customs/Immigration etc....that is fine, it is the modern way.

Consider the same journey as if another Icelandic Volcano erupted and closed European airspace.

One might travel by road to a sea port, trundle sedately to our Southern shores to then travel at a leisurely pace to your destination, with luggage.

Is the flight option better with the relative annoyances or the surface option with you in charge of baggage handling? How would you value the time savings if either option emerged in your favour?

 

[Coathanger16]

I would of course choose the expedited option of flying and "put up" with the annoyance of baggage handling rather than the slower one whilst keeping my baggage with me.

You seem to have missed my point though. If it took hours to collect baggage after every flight at every airport I wouldn't mind - it would be the norm. My point was that whenever travelling through Birmingham, baggage nearly always seems to take longer than when arriving into other airports - not just UK ones I'd add.

I'm not complaining about baggage handlers - most of the time they do an excellent job that I at least wouldn't want to do. My problem is that at Birmingham there never seems to be enough of them, or the system isn't working.

Indeed, now that Emirates is flying the A380 into Birmingham, members of my family have said they'd avoid arriving into Birmingham at the same time as the A380 for fear it would take even longer than what they claim is the already substantial time it takes for baggage to arrive at the carousel.

If Birmingham wants to attract more passengers and grow its network it needs to sort this out. Flying long haul I'd currently much rather travel from Heathrow or even Manchester than use Birmingham - and I live only 15 minutes from BHX.

 

[JENNYJET]

I understand your take upon baggage handling and the recently announced investment into BHX and specifically Baggage handling may enhance future experiences.

I have constantly called for infrastructure before route expansion at BHX because there is no point getting new services and larger aircraft if the airport cannot manage the consequences.

I hope that I have not irritated you but I recall when travel was relative to the time endured before the current standard of everything upon demand that is relevant to the Digital Age...I guess I am simply getting older more quickly than expected given my disabilities etc...