Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport currently serves over 9.1 million passengers per year. It is sixth busiest the airport in the UK, and from a business point of view the second busiest outside London. 

The airport has plans for development underway, in order to accommodate forecast increases in passengers and aircraft. Developments will be as follows:

• The existing main runway is 2,605 m long and will be extended to 3,000 m to ensure that it can serve a full range of worldwide destinations.  It is estimated that an extension to the main runway could be operational by 2012.
• A short (2000m) wide spaced second runway is to be constructed to accommodate more than 50% of the forecast aircraft types/routes in 2030.  The shorter length will minimise the environmental impact.  In addition it will only be used by quieter, modern aircraft and will not be used at night.
• It is proposed that Terminals 1 and 2 be expanded to deal with 12 million passengers per annum and 7 million passengers per annum respectively by 2030.  
• A new terminal 3 will be required by 2016 and will need to cater for 15 million passengers per annum by 2030.

Economic Impact:

The benefits of the expansion of the airport will include:

• Improving perceptions of Birmingham.
• Attracting inward investment and the propensity to invest.
• Fostering international trade.
• Stimulating inbound tourism.
• Enhancing cultural links. 

The forecasts for 2030 are:

• A growth of 14,000 jobs.
• An increase of £737 of generated income.
• An increase of £21 million people travelling to and from Birmingham.

HS2

A new UK high speed railway service is proposed which will serve Birmingham International Airport. The construction of a ‘Birmingham Interchange’ station based near the M42 will connect to the airport via a ‘rapid transit people mover’.