Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport (IATA: BHX, ICAO: EGBB), formerly Birmingham International Airport[4] is an international airport located 5.5 nautical miles (10.2 km; 6.3 mi) east southeast of Birmingham city centre, at Bickenhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands, England. The airport is a base for Flybe, Monarch,Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways.

The airport offers both domestic flights within the UK, and international flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North America and theCaribbean. Passenger throughput in 2014 was about 9.7 million, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport.[3] However, the airport is the sixth in terms of international passengers.

Birmingham has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P451) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 Location
 * 2 History
 * 2.1 1920 to 1939
 * 2.2 World War II
 * 2.3 1946 – 1979
 * 2.4 1980 – 1989
 * 2.5 1990 – 1999
 * 2.6 2000 – 2010
 * 2.7 2010 – present
 * 2.7.1 Runway Extension
 * 3 Airlines and destinations
 * 3.1 Passenger
 * 3.2 Cargo
 * 4 Traffic and Statistics
 * 4.1 Passenger numbers
 * 4.2 Route statistics
 * 5 Accidents and incidents
 * 5.1 Security incidents
 * 6 Ground transportation
 * 6.1 Public transport
 * 6.1.1 Train
 * 6.1.2 Proposed High Speed Two
 * 6.1.3 Bus and coach
 * 6.2 Taxi
 * 6.3 Car
 * 6.4 Bicycle
 * 7 See also
 * 8 References
 * 9 External links

Location[edit]
Birmingham Airport is 5.5 NM (10.2 km; 6.3 mi) east-south-east of Birmingham city centre, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. It is bordered by the National Exhibition Centre to the east, Marston Green to the north, Sheldon to the west, and the village of Bickenhill to the south.

It is primarily served by the A45 main road, and is near Junction 6 of the M42 motorway. It is connected by the elevated AirRail Link with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line.

The airport's location south-east of the city, plus the only operational runway being north-west – south-east (15/33), means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham. The relatively short north-east – south-west runway (06/24) is not operational, and has been incorporated into the taxiway for aircraft departing the end of runway 33, or gaining access to runway 15.

History[edit]
Where Birmingham Airport is now, as it was around 1921. (See[5] for a modern map of Birmingam Airport and around.)

1920 to 1939[edit]

 * 1928: Birmingham City Council decided that the city required a municipal airport.
 * 1933: Plans were submitted, identifying Elmdon as the site for the airport, delayed by the Great Depression.
 * 8 July 1939: Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark opened Elmdon Airport.[6] The airport was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. Initial services flew to Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Ryde, Shoreham, Manchester and Southampton.

World War II[edit]

 * World War II: The airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was used by the RAF and the Royal Navy as RAF Elmdon, an Elementary Flying School and a base for the Fleet Air Arm. During this time, the original grass strip was replaced by two hard runways: 06/24 at 2,469 feet (753 m) and 15/33 at 4,170 feet (1,271 m).[7] Avro Lancaster and Stirling bombers manufactured at the Austin Aero Company's shadow factory at Cofton Hackett could not take off from the short runways at Longbridge. Instead they were transported by road, minus the wings that would be attached at Elmdon. They were test flown from the aerodrome, and once declared airworthy they were flown to their operational units.
 * 8 July 1946: The aerodrome returned to civilian use, though still under government control.[citation needed]

1946 – 1979[edit]
During the post-war years, public events, such as air fairs and air races were held on the site. 2 April 1966 First jet flight to Palma - BAC111
 * 1 January 1960: The City of Birmingham took over responsibility again.
 * 1 April 1960: The City of Birmingham assumed full responsibility.[8]
 * 1961: An additional terminal building to handle international traffic was opened, called The International Building.
 * 1967: The main runway was extended to 7,400 feet (1.4 miles) to allow jet operations, including introducing VC-10 services to New York.
 * 1970: The Birmingham Corporation Act 1970 gave the corporation the power to attest constables for the airport, creating the Birmingham Airport Police.
 * 1974: Ownership of the airport passed to the newly formed West Midlands County Council.[7]

1980 – 1989[edit]
The Maglev rapid transport system, which operated from 1984 to 1995, was the first commercial maglev system in the world
 * 4 April 1984: The current airport was first used. A new terminal was opened on the east side of the runway adjacent to the Birmingham International railway station and theNational Exhibition Centre, able to handle three million passengers a year.
 * 30 May 1984: Elizabeth II opened it.[9]
 * It included a Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system, running between the airport and Birmingham International railway station on a 600-metre (1,969 ft) track.[10]
 * The original Art Deco 1939 terminal and control tower are still visible and are in use as aviation related offices, near hangars to the west of the runway.
 * 1985: Take Off, a sculpture by the Polish artist Walenty Pytel, was set up, on a roundabout on the approach road. It is 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall. The unpolished steel sculpture was designed to commemorate 40 years of peace in Europe.[11]
 * 1986: Ownership of the Airport transferred to the newly formed West Midlands Joint Airport Committee, comprising the seven West Midlands district councils.[citation needed]Shortly after this, the Airports Act 1986 was introduced, requiring municipal airports with turnover greater than £1m to become Public Airport Companies.
 * 1 April 1987: Ownership of the airport was transferred to Birmingham International Airport plc, although still owned by the seven West Midlands district councils.

1990 – 1999[edit]

 * 26 July 1991: A second terminal, "Eurohub", opened (with Concorde in attendance), more than doubling the airport's capacity. This second terminal was designed for the use of British Airways and its partners as part of a "hub and spoke" system whereby aircraft would arrive in waves from domestic and European destinations and allowed easy transfers so that a passenger from, say Edinburgh, could connect to a range of European destinations. In 1980, British Airways started operating a service to New York-JFK,and Toronto-Pearson.[citation needed]
 * 1993: The Government limited public sector borrowing. This meant that the airport could only expand by using private sector finance. 51% of the local council shares were sold to restructure the airport into a private sector company, enabling a £260 million restructuring programme to begin in 1997.[citation needed]
 * 1995: The Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system[10] was closed due to high cost and problems sourcing parts.

2000 – 2010[edit]
The AirRail Link joins the railway station to the airport, operated by a track and pulley system

Part of the Terminal 2 apron, the runway is seen beyond. Emirates brings the A380 to Birmingham to celebrate 70 years of the airport and the opening of the new international pier.
 * 3 March 2000: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the £40 million redevelopment of the airport.[citation needed] The redevelopment introduced a new customs and immigration hall, twelve new shops, a new baggage reclaim area, a new arrivals concourse, a new pier with three air bridges, and sixteen new check-in desks in Terminal 1. They also linked Terminal One with Terminal Two (previously "Eurohub") for the first time with the newly built Millennium Link. Following on from this, £18 million was spent on replacing the Maglev by the AirRail Link people mover, which was the first in the world to be used at an airport.[citation needed] The public transport interchange was built to extend Birmingham International railway station for airport users. This has since been named Birmingham International Interchange.
 * 2000: Emirates launched a new service to Dubai, eventually going twice daily in 2005. The service will operate thrice daily from August 2015.[citation needed]
 * 20 October 2003: Concorde made her final visit to Birmingham Airport on as part of her farewell tour.
 * June 2006: A new turnoff from the main runway was completed and saw an improvement in traffic rates on southerly operations, where the only available option for landing traffic had been to travel to the end of the runway to exit.
 * July 2007: Birmingham was voted the best airport in Europe in the 5 million to 10 million passengers per year category.[12]
 * November 2007: The airport published a master plan for its development up to 2030, called "Towards 2030: Planning a Sustainable Future for Air Transport in the Midlands".[13] This sets out details of changes to the terminals, airfield layout and off-site infrastructure. As with all large scale plans, the proposals are controversial, with opposition from environmentalists and local residents. In particular the requirement for a second parallel runway based on projected demand was disputed by opponents. Although initial plans for a second runway were scrapped, this is now firmly back on the airport's agenda ahead of the report into Britain's aviation strategy being published. Plans for a 2nd runway on the other side of the M42 and a new terminal building and business park have been published, and they could help to create around 250,000 jobs. It has been estimated that if these plans went ahead, the airport could handle around 70,000,000 passengers annually, and around 500,000 aircraft movements.
 * January 2008: The shorter runway (06/24) was decommissioned. It had been used less often due to its short length, noise impact, and its inconvenient position crossing the main runway making it uneconomic to continue operation. The closure also allowed for apron expansion on both sides of the main runway. However it remains open as a taxiway and a helicopter airstrip.[14]
 * January 2008: Plans for the extension of the airport runway and the construction of the new air traffic control tower were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
 * June 2008: Work began on building the new three-storey International Pier. It was officially opened on 9 September 2009. As part of the airport's 70th anniversary, the airport welcomed the Airbus A380 as the first user of the pier. The special service was the first commercial A380 flight in the UK to take place outside London Heathrow Airport.
 * The new pier is a three-storey construction, 240 metres long and 24 metres wide. Departing passengers will be accommodated on the top level, with arriving passengers on the middle level and office accommodation for airline and handling agents on the ground floor.
 * The new facility provides air-bridged aircraft parking for seven wide-bodied aircraft and enough space to serve 13 smaller aircraft at any given time and is capable of accommodating 'next generation' environmentally-efficient wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' as well as the larger aircraft types such as the Boeing 777 which currently serves the airport daily. The new pier also hosts a new lounge for business class Emirates passengers.[15]
 * March 2009: The runway extension plans were approved.[16]

2010 – present[edit]

 * September 2010: An announcement was made that following the merging of Terminals 1 & 2 in 2011, the airport would drop the International from its official name to become Birmingham Airport.[17] A Midlands based marketing agency was recruited to "create a new corporate identity that reflects [Birmingham Airport's] current position in the market place, as well as its future potential". Figures from Birmingham Airport show that 8 million people live within a one hour's drive of the airport, but less than 40% of them use it. It is hoped that the rebrand will make the airport "more visible to the market".[18]
 * November 2010: The new name started to be used.[19] The new logo, interlocking circles in shades of blue, and slogan, "Hello World", were designed to reflect the airport's new positioning as a global travel hub.[20]
 * January 2011: The airport merged its two terminals into a single Terminal Building. This involved building two new floors added to the airport's terminals (& Millennium Link). The 3rd floor was built in the Millennium Link (also in the two terminals) accommodating the new Centralised Security Search area and a Lower Ground Floor, accommodating the new Arrivals and Meeting & Greeting (Meet & Greet) area. There are also plans to extend both terminals, adding another Departures and Arrivals.
 * 23 February 2011: It was reported that Birmingham Airport had announced the HS2 extension could be a solution to runway capacity problems in London, citing that will be quicker to get to London from Birmingham than from London Stansted once completed and claimed that the airport had capacity for nine million more passengers.[21]
 * March 2011: Construction of the runway extension and a new air traffic control tower began. The extension to the southern end of the runway originally required the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section, but to cut immediate costs, it will be diverted to the south of the runway until 2020, when it will be moved into a tunnel.[22]
 * July 2011: Building a new control tower for the airport began, to replace the old tower which has stood at the airport since it was opened in 1939.
 * March 2012: The new control tower was completed.
 * 23 April 2012: An Olympic ceremony was held at the airport. The Olympic rings were unveiled on the tower and could be seen from the A45 road and the main terminal building. This was to commemorate the build-up to the London 2012 Olympic games. These rings were removed once the Olympic Games officially closed, just before 2012 Summer Paralympics began.
 * Summer 2012: By now the new control tower's equipment was installed. Testing and training began.
 * Late 2012: Work began on the runway extension (whose original target was in time for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.)
 * Summer 2013: The new control tower was fully operational.
 * August 2013: The old carriageway of the A45 road was closed and the new carriage way was opened.[23][24]
 * May 2014: The runway was completed.[25]
 * 22 July 2014: The runway extension was officially opened.

Runway Extension[edit]
Plans for the extension of the airport runway, and the construction of the new air traffic control tower, were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in January 2008, and approved in March 2009.[16] The construction of the runway extension, and the new air traffic control tower, began in March 2011.

The extension to the southern end of the runway originally required the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section, but to cut immediate costs, it was diverted to the south of the runway until 2020, when it will be moved into a tunnel.[26] In August 2013, the old carriageway of the A45 road was closed, and the new carriage way was opened.[23][24]

Originally, the target for completion was in time for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. However, work began in late 2012, and the runway was completed in early May 2014.[25] The runway extension began to be used by aircraft in May 2014, and was officially opened on 22 July 2014, when China Southern Airlines operated its first charter flight between Birmingham and Beijing. This was the first aircraft that had to make use of the new runway length.

The extension caused controversy as more than 2,000 local residents complained about the increased noise levels due to the new flight path around the airport that was required after the runway was extended.[25]

The extension increased the runway length from the previous 2,605 m (8,547 ft) to 3,052 m (10,013 ft).[citation needed] There is a loop taxiway from which planes will taxi to the runway and then takeoff. The airport owners believe there is likely to be sufficient demand for long-range direct services operated by aircraft whose operations were constrained by the previous runway length. The previous runway length was short for an airport with Birmingham's passenger throughput and range of destinations. The old length limited aircraft to destinations on the east coast or in the midwest of North America, in the Gulf and Middle East, or on the South Asian subcontinent.[citation needed]

Taxiways will be further improved to allow for terminal expansion, and to improve runway occupancy rates. A new turn off was completed in June 2006, and saw an improvement in traffic rates on southerly operations, where the only available option for landing traffic had been to travel to the end of the runway to exit.

Passenger numbers[edit]
Birmingham handled a record 9.6 million passengers in 2008, and 9.1 million passengers used the airport in 2013, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport.[3] In 2014 the airport handled 9,707,449 passengers, an increase of 6.5% compared with 2013.[39]

Route statistics[edit]
Thomson Airways Boeing 757taking off from Birmingham Airport

A Turkmenistan Airlines Boeing 757preparing for departure

Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-300 taxiing at Birmingham Airport

Monarch Airlines Airbus A321taxiing at Birmingham Airport

Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 taxiing at Birmingham Airport

CityJet Avro RJ85 taxiing at Birmingham Airport

Accidents and incidents[edit]

 * 19 January 1973 – A Vickers VC8 passenger jet G-AZLR inbound from Leeds Bradford Airport suffered a severe port undercarriage failure upon landing.[41]


 * 4 January 2002 – A Bombardier-CL604 business jet crashed on take-off from runway 15 at Birmingham.[42] The aircraft with registration N90AG was on lease by AGCO corporation and was carrying two company executives, two pilots and an observer. After arriving from Palm Beach International Airport the previous evening, the aircraft was parked overnight at Birmingham where ice formed on the wings due to the cold weather conditions. The following morning the pilots did not request de-icing of the aircraft before their flight to Bangor Airport in Maine. The ice on the wings caused one wing to dip on take off, the aircraft inverted, crashed into grass beside the runway and caught fire. There were no survivors. Sleeping pills taken by both pilots the night before the crash are thought to have been a factor in reducing the pilots' judgment.
 * 23 February 2006 – Mahan Air Airbus A310 operating a flight from Tehran, Iran, was involved in a serious incident while on approach to Birmingham International Airport. The aircraft descended to the published minimum descent altitude of 740 ft despite still being 11 nm from the runway threshold. At a point 6 nm from the runway the aircraft had descended to an altitude of 660 ft, which was 164 ft above ground level. Having noticed the descent profile, Birmingham Air traffic control issued an immediate climb instruction to the aircraft, however, the crew had already commenced a missed approach, having received a GPWSalert. The aircraft was radar vectored for a second approach during which the flight crew again initiated an early descent. On this occasion, the radar controller instructed the crew to maintain their altitude and the crew successfully completed the approach to a safe landing. The accident investigation determined that the primary cause was use of the incorrect DME for the approach, combined with a substantial breakdown in Crew Resource Management. Three safety recommendations were made.[43]
 * 15 June 2006 – A TNT Airways cargo 737-300 made an emergency landing at Birmingham with damaged landing gear.[44] The aircraft, registration OO-TND, had been flying from Liege in Belgium to Stansted. Due to poor visibility at Stansted the flight diverted to East Midlands Airport. As the weather at East Midlands was also poor, the aircraft performed a full autopilot approach. During this approach the autopilot momentarily disengaged causing it to deviate from the course. The aircraft hit the grass to the side of the runway, which caused the right main gear to detach. The crew initiated a go-around, declared an emergency and diverted to Birmingham. After it landed on Birmingham's main runway, the airport was closed for a number of hours. The pilots were unharmed.[45] However, the company ascribed the incident to human error and both pilots were dismissed.[46] The official report into the accident highlighted a number of factors contributing to the accident – poor weather forecast information; a message passed from Air Traffic Control to the aircraft at an "inappropriate" time; the pilot accidentally disconnecting the autopilot when attempting to respond to the message; the pilot losing "situational awareness" and failing to abort the landing.[47] Follow this link for a more detailed report and Official reports from the AAIB.[48]
 * 19 November 2010 – A Cessna Citation aircraft, registration G-VUEM, crashed at Birmingham Airport during final approach in thick fog. Reports from West Midlands Police were that there were two casualties, one critical. The aircraft was bringing a human liver from Belfast airport, for a transplant operation which was subsequently completed successfully.[49] The airport reopened at around mid-day the following day.

Security incidents[edit]

 * 6 June 2007 – The Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme exposed serious security flaws at Birmingham Airport over six months. Fifteen members of staff working for the security contractor "ICTS UK Ltd" were suspended and subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct.[50] Members of security were filmed asleep on duty, reading magazines whilst operating x-ray scanners, leaving aircraft unguarded, and ignoring bags sent for extra security checks, as well as being understaffed. The security lapse was deemed so serious, that Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the US Congress Homeland Security Committee, commented on it in the United States Congress and advised that all flights to and from Birmingham Airport should cease.[51] ICTS dismissed the members of staff shown in the programme for their actions, but still claimed that the footage had been "contrived to exaggerate and sensationalise" the issues.[52]
 * 8 June 2009 – The West Midlands Police helicopter (G-WMAO) was destroyed by arsonists,[53] and subsequently written off.[54] A year later, a new Eurocopter EC135 similar to G-WMAO was handed over to West Midlands Police at the Farnborough Airshow. Thousands of pounds have now been spent upgrading security surrounding the new police helicopter.[55]
 * 14 February 2010 – A faulty Archway Metal Detector (AMD) was switched off in Terminal 2 and not switched back on again, allowing hundreds of passengers to pass through unchecked. The "serious failure" was not spotted until police officers wearing metal equipment passed through and the AMDs did not sound. Birmingham Airport commented that a full and thorough investigation was under way.[56]
 * 17 July 2014 – A member of the public got onto the airfield through a restricted area of the terminal by crawling through the opening of a baggage carousel and getting onto the airport's tarmac apron, and then got aboard a Lufthansa Embraer-195 plane.[57]

Train[edit]
Birmingham Airport is served by Birmingham International station. The station is on the West Coast Main Line between Birmingham and London. London Midland, Virgin Trains, Arriva Trains Wales andCrossCountry. Access between the railway station and the airport terminal is provided by the free AirRail Link.[58] Birmingham International railway station/Birmingham Interchange

Proposed High Speed Two[edit]
The proposed 'Birmingham Interchange'

As part of the proposed High Speed Two rail link, a new railway station called Birmingham Interchange would be built to serve both the airport and the National Exhibition Centre. The station would be built on the far side of the M42 motorway and connect to the airport using a "rapid transit people mover". If the project is given the go ahead, High Speed Two is currently planned for completion by 2026.[59]

Bus and coach[edit]
National Express West Midlands operates the main bus routes calling at Birmingham Airport, those being the 900 to Birmingham city centre and Coventry, and the 966 toErdington and Solihull. Additionally service 97A to Birmingham via Chelmsley Wood now runs to the airport 24hrs a day.[60] Other smaller operators also call at the airport. Bus stops are situated outside Terminal One.[61] Most buses are operated by National Express West Midlands, who do not give change when selling tickets, so foreign travellers will need to ensure they have British coins when taking a local bus.[62]

National Express Coaches operate various long distance coaches calling at Birmingham Airport on the way to or from Birmingham Coach Station, such as the 777 and the 422.

Taxi[edit]
Black cabs are available at the taxi-rank outside the arrivals area of the terminals.

Car[edit]
Birmingham Airport is accessible from the north and south via Junction Six of the M42 motorway. From Birmingham city centre, the A45 runs directly to the airport. There are no pick-up or drop-off areas available outside the terminal.

Bicycle[edit]
The only cycle route available heads south over the A45 travelling towards Solihull. Birmingham Airport have however published "recommended routes" for cyclists.[63] Free short term cycle parking is available close to Terminal One. For longer stays, bicycles must be stored in Left Luggage for a charge.