Passenger growth returns to Airport

Birmingham Airport recorded record passenger figures in October, but is still feeling the drag from the collapse of Monarch a year ago.

1.14m passengers used the airport last month, a 6% increase on a year earlier as it achieved its best October ever.

The improvement ended a run of 11 months of falling passenger numbers which began with the failure of Monarch in October 2017. It was Birmingham Airport’s third-largest carrier, responsible for 1.5m passengers a year.

Jet2.com, Ryanair, Thomas Cook and TUI have all added additional routes to their network or additional frequencies which has helped plug the gap, but the Airport welcomed 620,000 fewer passengers in the first 10 months of 2018.

It is a timely uplift in its fortunes, arriving as the Airport has launched a £500m investment masterplan that seeks to add 5m passengers a year.

Artists impression of an expanded check-in area at Birmingham Airport

The 15-year strategy has five pillars – to invest £500m, to increase its economic impact by one-third to £2.1bn, to reach 18m passengers through expanding its route network, facilitate worldwide connectivity, and to work with communities and stakeholders.

“Recording our best October in the Airport’s 79-year history signifies an exciting period for us,” said Simon Richards, acting managing director at Birmingham Airport.

“We have recently released our draft Master Plan which explains how the Airport plans to grow passenger numbers and deliver improved facilities for our airlines and passengers over the next 15 years, and these figures show that we are moving in the right direction.

“We have already made significant investments across the terminal and the surrounding areas of the Airport including an improved security search area, a new on-site hotel and more car parking.”