Passenger numbers up at Birmingham airport

[December 15th 2008]

Birmingham International Airport had its busiest ever November, handling more than 620,000 passengers.

After the sharp decrease in passengers reported by BAA for most of its seven UK airports in November, these latest passenger figures from Birmingham airport show that not all is doom and gloom in the industry. They also support the view that regional airports are growing at the expense of some of the main London airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick.

Passenger numbers at Birmingham airport were up 1.6% in November compared to the same month the previous year. During the month the airport handled 527,727 passengers on scheduled flights and 92,556 passengers on charter flights.

"To be celebrating a record November is great news, particularly given the current economic conditions. The airport continues to perform above the national average, with figures once again looking likely to be considerably down across the majority of other UK airports,” comments Birmingham Airport chief executive officer, Paul Kehoe.

“However, the outlook for the coming months looks challenging for the entire industry and we cannot expect Birmingham to be immune to the economic slowdown," Kehoe sounds a word of warning.

The biggest increase in passenger numbers in November was achieved on short haul flights to the EU, up by 8.3%. Passengers on non-EU routes were up by 3.9%, and to the Irish Republic by 2.1%.

Scheduled flights seeing the most growth in November were Shannon (up 62.2%), Inverness (+57.6%), Alicante (+54.9%), Prague (+52.3%), Tenerife (+48.7%), Malaga (+47.9%), Bratislava (+20.7%), Dusseldorf (+17.7%), and Dubai (+12.6%).

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is expected to decide today whether Birmingham airport can build a 400 metre extension to its runway.

“It is important we obtain this decision to improve global connectivity, enhance economic growth and support the development of new jobs for local people. Being able to fly from Birmingham could take millions of cars off the roads by clawing back Midlands based traffic from other UK airports,” says Kehoe.

Turkish Airlines is also launching new flights to Istanbul from Birmingham today. Flights to the Turkish capital will operate five times a week.

Written by: Nick Purdom

Birmingham Airparks is just minutes from the airport and miles cheaper than the on site alternatives. Book your Christmas holiday parking at Birmingham Airparks from £28.03 for 8 days parking.