Record year for Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport has recorded the busiest 12 months in its 78-year history seeing almost 13 million passengers pass through its terminal in 2017.

In total, 12,983,436 passengers travelled through the airport over the course of the calendar year – over 1.3 million more than in 2016, representing a healthy increase of 11.5% year on year.

The busiest month fell in August when almost 1.5 million passengers were recorded in a single month, giving a significant 16.2% increase when compared to the same month the year before.

Over the course of the year, there were seven months in which over a million passengers were recorded and the growth trend extends more than 30 consecutive months.

David Winstanley, Chief Operating Officer at Birmingham Airport, said: “During 2017, we saw the launch of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays and the return of British Airways and bmi regional.

“The year was indeed one of celebration but also commiseration as we sadly saw the demise of a long-established airline, Monarch. This airline carried an average of 5,000 passengers per day from Birmingham but we have seen some existing carriers and new carriers pick up almost all of this capacity already to reduce the impact on our passengers.”

This year will see new transatlantic routes to Boston, New York and Toronto with Primera Air, while new services to Goa and Phuket with TUI (formerly Thomson) and Marsa Alam with Thomas Cook are also being introduced.

Last year also saw the arrival in Birmingham of the second Airbus A380 to be operated by Emirates on its Dubai route.

For the year ahead, the airport said it remained committed to improving its customer experience and a multi-million pound development project is currently underway, targeted for completion in time for the busy summer season.

The work includes a redevelopment of the security processing area, new flooring, lighting and shopping facilities. A covered walkway to the terminal is also under construction for those who choose to walk to the terminal from the free drop off car park.

A new 178 guestroom Hilton Garden Inn hotel is also being built and will open in mid-summer.

The airport said additional staff were being recruited in key customer facing areas, including terminal operations, customer relations and security officers.

However, there is no mention of additional baggage handlers.

Much of the customer criticism of the airport last year revolved around the long delays experienced by passengers on some flights waiting for their luggage to arrive once their plane had landed.

The airport is also developing its retail and catering offer, with the recent opening of The Factory restaurant and the arrival of Kurt Geiger to its airside shopping facilities.

Later this spring, a new Bottega prosecco bar will open as well as wrapchic – an Indian inspired burrito and sandwich outlet.
December’s passenger figures saw over 788,000 passengers travel through the terminal.

Significant growth was recorded on some schedule routes including Salzburg (+275.9%), Turin (+139%), Hamburg (+82.6%), Krakow (+81.5%) and Prague (+81.1%). Charter routes which saw significant growth included Hurghada (+199.8%), Fuerteventura (+89.4%), Tenerife (+55%) and Gran Canaria (+38.8%).

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