Birmingham Airport invests £100m in long-term growth plan

BIRMINGHAM Airport is to invest £100m on improvements to its facilities and infrastructure as it looks to keep pace with increasing passenger volumes.

The new investment is the largest since the £65m extension of the airport’s runway four years ago.

Since then passenger volumes have increased considerably. However, the airport is keen that this trend continues – especially as it looks to boost its case to be a London overspill, aided by the £50bn development of HS2 and its new Birmingham Interchange station.

Additional facilities and better infrastructure will help to support the airport’s case for growth and the latest investment will see money spent on hold-baggage screening, self-service check-in, surface access, additional car parking and air traffic control.

The most significant programme is already under way and this will see the replacement of the hold baggage screening system with the latest advanced baggage x-ray sortation operation, which will more than double the hourly baggage processing capacity.

Other major improvements include developing a new drop off car park, which will be free for 30 minutes and connected with a covered walkway to the terminal entrance. Existing car parks will also be upgraded and a brand new surface car park is planned.

An ambitious programme to double the number of self-service bag drop kiosks will be installed as well as digital check-in branding to improve operational efficiency and aid passengers.

The ATC Surface Movement Radar will be upgraded to enable critical safety enhancements and operational capacity.

Paul Kehoe, CEO, Birmingham Airport, said: “We have seen enormous growth at Birmingham Airport over the last few years and we are currently welcoming 11m passengers a year through our terminal.

“We’re therefore making this investment to enhance operational efficiency and improve the passenger journey in time for the summer 2017 season, when we’ll welcome 15 new routes with Jet2 and anticipate in excess of 12m passengers over the next year.

“Looking more long-term, Birmingham Airport is in a unique position as in 10 years’ time it will become the UK’s only HS2 connected airport, growing the catchment into London with high-speed trains and serving Birmingham from the capital in c30 minutes.”

He said the work would help the hub maximise the benefits offered by HS2, both for the airport and the wider region.

“This will allow us to scope out how we can create a truly integrated transport network that can take the pressure off the overheated London system and transform our facility from a 25m potential passenger site to 60m plus in the future,” he added.

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