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| owner =
| owner =
| operator = Birmingham International Airport Ltd
| operator = Birmingham International Airport Ltd
| city-served = [[Birmingham]], [[England]]
| city-served = [[Solihull]], [[England]]
| location = [[Metropolitan Borough of Solihull|Solihull]]
| location = [[Metropolitan Borough of Solihull|Solihull]]
| elevation-f = 328
| elevation-f = 328

Revision as of 22:32, 9 July 2008

Birmingham International Airport
File:Birmingham International Airport logo.jpg
Part of Terminal 2, the runway is seen beyond.
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorBirmingham International Airport Ltd
ServesSolihull, England
LocationSolihull
Elevation AMSL328 ft / 100 m
Coordinates52°27′14″N 001°44′53″W / 52.45389°N 1.74806°W / 52.45389; -1.74806
Websitewww.bhx.co.uk
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 2,605 8,546 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft Movements119,490
Passengers9,147,384
Statistics from the UK CAA[1]
For the Birmingham, Alabama, United States airport, see Birmingham International Airport (U.S.).

Birmingham International Airport (IATA: BHX, ICAO: EGBB) is an international airport located 5.5 nautical miles (10.2 km) east southeast of Birmingham city centre, in the borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. In 2007 it was the sixth busiest airport in the UK after London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester and London Luton.

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

The airport is close to the M42 motorway and A45 main road. It is connected by an overhead transit system with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line.

The airport handled 9,226,340 passengers in 2007, up 0.9% from 9,147,384 in 2006, and an 18% increase over the six years since 2001.[1] It offers flights within the UK, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North America.

History

The airport was opened at Elmdon on 8 July, 1939, and was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. During World War II, the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was used by the RAF for military purposes. 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)[2]. It returned to civilian use in July 1946, though still under government control.

During the post-war years, public events, such as air fairs and air races were held on the site. The City of Birmingham took over responsibility again on January 1, 1960 and assumed full responsibility on April 1, 1960.[3] The main runway was extended in the late 1960s to allow large jet operations. Ownership of the airport passed to the newly-formed West Midlands County Council in 1974.

Part of the apron, the runway is seen beyond.

In 1984, a new terminal was opened, able to handle three million passengers a year. A second terminal, "Eurohub", supposedly the first terminal in the world to combine domestic and international passengers, opened on 26 July, 1991 (with Concorde in attendance), more than doubling the airport's capacity. The original Art Deco 1939 terminal and control tower are still visible, near hangars to the west of the runway.

In 1983, the airport was privatised, although the local authorities still own a 49% share. On 1 April 1987, the ownership of the Airport transferred to Birmingham International Airport plc, a public limited company owned by the seven West Midlands district councils.

In 1995 the Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system, which had been running between the airport and Birmingham International railway station on a 600-metre (1,969 ft) track since 1984,[4] was closed due to high cost and problems sourcing parts. A cable driven system replaced the Maglev line and it reopened in 2003.

Concorde made a final visit on 20 October, 2003 as part of her farewell tour.

Take Off, a sculpture by the Polish artist Walenty Pytel, stands in a roundabout on the approach road. It was erected in 1985 and is 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall. The unpolished steel sculpture was designed to commemorate 40 years of peace in Europe.[5]

Take Off - sculpture by Walenty Pytel

The food court comprises a seating area, a self-service bar, a coffee bar and an American/Italian restaurant. The airport also has other food establishments, including a Burger King and a Frankie & Benny's and several cafe bars. Airside, a new Yates wine bar has recently opened. It also has an airside and terminal-side shopping area, including shops such as World News, Ladbrokes bookmakers and Boots The Chemist.

In June 2007, the airport made headlines when British TV series Tonight with Trevor McDonald revealed the findings of an investigation into airport security. They found that contractors from the company ICTS fell asleep on duty, ignored baggage x-rays and worked under the influence of illegal drugs.[6]

In July 2007, Birmingham was voted the best airport in Europe in the 5 million to 10 million passengers per year category.[7]

The shorter runway (06/24) was decommissioned in January 2008. It had been used with less frequency due to its length, noise impact, and its inconvenient position crossing the main runway making it uneconomic to continue operation. The closure also allows for apron expansion on both sides of the remaining runway.[8]

Future

Aerial view of Birmingham International Airport (2008)

The airport has published a master plan for its development up to 2030. 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 is disputed by opponents.

The first major element is an extension to the runway, targeted for completion in time for the 2012 London Olympics. The extension will increase the runway length to 3,000 metres (9,843 ft), as well as including a starter strip to provide a maximum takeoff run of 3,150 metres (10,335 ft). The airport owners believe there is likely to be sufficient demand for long-range direct services operated by aircraft whose operation would be constrained by the current runway. At 2,605 metres (8,547 ft), this is short for an airport with Birmingham's passenger throughput and range of destinations, and limits 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. The construction of this extension to the southern end of the runway will require the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section. Plans for the extension of the airport runway and the construction of a new air traffic control tower were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council on 7 January 2008.

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

The Air-Rail Link joins the railway station to the airport, operated by a track and pulley system

The development of Terminal 1 will see improvements made to the International Pier and a new satellite pier to the north of the terminals. The masterplan also details the need for a third terminal, which will coincide with the opening of the second parallel runway. The planned extension to the main runway will also require a new control tower to be constructed.

It was announced on 26 September, 2007 that plans for a second runway had been scrapped but plans to build another terminal and increase capacity will go ahead with works expected to finish in 2012. It is estimated that 11 million passengers a year will use the airport by 2010 and 15 million by 2013.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled

Terminal 1

Terminal 2

  • Air France
  • Flybe (Aberdeen, Belfast-City, Bergerac [seasonal], Berne [seasonal], Brest, Chambery [seasonal], Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow-International, Guernsey, Hamburg, Hannover, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, La Rochelle [seasonal], Milan-Malpensa, Newquay, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Stuttgart, Split, Toulouse)
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
  • Ryanair (Alicante [begins 28 October], Biarritz, Billund, Bologna-Forlì, Bratislava, Bydgoszcz, Derry [begins 26 October], Dinard, Dublin, Frankfurt-Hahn [begins 27 October], Fuerteventura [begins 26 October], Gdánsk, Girona, Katowice [begins 27 October], Kaunas [begins 20 October], Kraków [begins 26 October], Málaga [begins 26 October], Marseille, Murcia [begins 30 October], Olbia, Oslo-Torp, Palma de Mallorca [begins 28 October], Perpignan, Pisa, Poitiers, Porto, Prague [begins 26 October], Reus, Rzeszów, Shannon, Stockholm-Skavsta, Trapani, Trieste)

Charter Services

(All From Terminal 1)

  • Air Transat (Toronto-Pearson)
  • BH Air (Bourgas, Varna, Plovdiv)
  • Eurocypria Airlines (Larnaca, Paphos)
  • First Choice Airways (Agadir, Arrecife, Bourgas, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kefalonia, Kos, Mahon, Monastir, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Reus, Salzburg, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos)
  • Onur Air (Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir)
  • Thomas Cook Airlines (Alicante, Antalya, Arrecife, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Girona, Herakion, Hurghada, Ibiza, Izmir, Kefalonia, Kos, Larnaca, Las Palmas, Mahon, Málaga, Malta, Monastir, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Reus, Rhodes, Skiathos, Tenerife-South, Zakynthos)
  • Thomsonfly (Agadir, Alicante, Antalya, Arrecife, Aruba, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Bourgas, Bridgetown, Cancun, Casa De Campo, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Geneva, Girona, Goa [winter only] Grenoble, Heraklion, Ibiza, Innsbruck, Izmir, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Larnaca, La Romana [begins 21 December], Las Palmas, Luxor, Lyon, Mahon, Málaga, Malta, Monastir, Montego Bay, Murcia, Naples, Orlando-Sanford, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Puerto Plata, Pula, Punta Cana, Reus, Sal, Santo Domingo, Salzburg, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sofia, Taba, Tenerife-South, Thessalonika, Turin, Varna, Venice, Verona, Zakynthos)
  • XL Airways (Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Hurghada, Kalamata, Kavala, Larnaca, Paphos, Salzburg, Santorini, Sharm el-Sheikh, Skiathos, Volos)
  • Viking Airlines (Heraklion) (summer only)

Cargo airlines

  • FedEx (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)

Incidents and accidents

  • On the morning of 4 January, 2002, a Bombardier-CL604 business jet crashed on take-off from runway 15 at Birmingham.[9] 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 West Palm Beach 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 besides 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.
  • On 23 February, 2006, a 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 GPWS alert. 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.[10]
  • On 15 June, 2006, a TNT Airways cargo 737-300 made an emergency landing at Birmingham with damaged landing gear.[11] 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.[12] However, the company ascribed the incident to human error and both pilots were dismissed.[13] 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.[14]

Statistics

Number of Passengers [1] Number of Movements [15]
1997 6,025,485 79,880
1998 6,709,086 88,332
1999 7,013,913 98,749
2000 7,596,893 108,972
2001 7,808,562 111,008
2002 8,027,730 112,284
2003 9,079,172 116,040
2004 8,862,388 109,202
2005 9,381,425 112,963
2006 9,147,384 108,658
2007 9,226,340 104,481
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority [1]

In 2007, the 10 busiest scheduled destinations at the airport were Dublin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dubai, Paris, Glasgow, Frankfurt, Malaga and Alicante. The 10 busiest charter destinations were Palma, Tenerife, Arrecife, Paphos, Dalaman, Las Palmas, Heraklion, Fuerteventura, Larnaca and Ibiza. [16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Aircraft Movements, Air Passengers by Type and Nationality of Operator Cite error: The named reference "stats" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The History of Birmingham International Airport". Birmingham International Airport. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  3. ^ The Aeroplane and Astronautics. Temple Press. 1959. p. 252.
  4. ^ Vladimir Zakian (2005). Control Systems Design: A New Framework. Springer. p. 328. ISBN 1852339136.
  5. ^ Noszlopy, George Thomas (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham. Liverpool University Press. p. 12. ISBN 0853236925. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ ITV webpage on the Tonight programme
  7. ^ "Birmingham Airport Award". Airports Council International. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  8. ^ "End of an Era as Airport Permanently Closes Runway". Birmingham International Airport. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  9. ^ "AAIB Report on N90AG accident"
  10. ^ "Report on the serious incident to Airbus A310-304, registration F-OJHI, on approach to Birmingham International Airport on 23 February 2006". UK AAIB. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  11. ^ "AAIB Report on OO=TND incident"
  12. ^ "Aviation safety network summary of TNT accident"
  13. ^ "BBC News article, 27 July 2006 - Cargo plane crash pilots sacked"
  14. ^ "Cargo flight 'a near catastrophe'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  15. ^ Number of Movements represents total air transport takeoffs and landings during that year.
  16. ^ "Year Ends With Record Month". BIA. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
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