Official Birmingham Airport (BHX) Thread 1

[NeilM]

Originally Posted by SuttonBluenose

Use Regent Holidays mate if u want to go to ex soviet countries. My brother Carl Meadows works for them. He generally does north Korea (yes North), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc, well u will see all the places.

He recently went on the tour to Chernobyl. He says it's brilliant.

I hope he isn't planning on visiting Fukushima any time soon.

[simbastyles]

hey guys used the info provided on that site to send an email to easyjets chief executive although i knew i was never going to get a response from her the response is promising if somewhat similar to those recieved by hassan. my email and then the response follow:

New routes and frequency possibilities and why these routes would work

Rome
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 236,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Largest unserved market from BHX catchment
Madrid
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 184,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Untapped hub potential as route has not been served effectively with IB code on it.
Warsaw
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 141,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Over 6,000 passengers were carried on BHX-WAW during August 2008 - yet it is now unserved!
Berlin
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 135,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) ideal route for low-cost or full service airline.
Cologne
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 118,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Smaller than Berlin's potential, but with a higher business class component.
Bergamo
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 108,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Highest inbound traffic (50%) potential of these routes listed here.
Valencia
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 102,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Despite having one of the largest potential markets this route has never been served direct from Birmingham.
Budapest
- Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 98,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) This route has the highest business class (37%) potential of these routes listed here.
Lisbon
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 96,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Untapped hub potential as route has not been served effectively with TP code on it.
Salzburg
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 92,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Despite being a ski destination this route has year round potential.
Venice
Annual market from BHX 1-hour catchment of 88,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 07) Predominantly (93%) UK-originating traffic on this route.
Athens
Annual market from BHX 1-hr catchment of 89,000 (CAA Survey Statistics 06), ideal for low freq (2xw).
Other major reasons to serve this airport


Birmingham's 60 minute catchment is 8m - about the same size as the population of Austria.
Less than 40% of the local catchment that originates within one-hour of the Airport is actually served by the airlines presently serving Birmingham. The remaining 60% of the market therefore represents a genuine opportunity for a new operator to grow rather than "raiding" passengers from other airlines already operating at the airport.
Economic output of the region is £63bn (approaching EUR100bn) - 8.2% of the total UK GDP (the GDP of the Czech Republic is smaller).
Birmingham is one of the youngest cities in Europe with 37% of the population under 24.
Birmingham is one of the most ethnically-mixed cities in the UK, with significant Pakistani, Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Irish, Bangladeshi and Chinese communities.
As well as having one of Europe's leading retail and entertainment city centres in Birmingham, in terms of attractions the UK's Midlands boasts historic Warwick, home of Shakespeare Stratford-upon-Avon, the UK's biggest theme park Alton Towers, the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in Ironbridge and the tranquil beauty of the Cotswolds. Birmingham airport also topped a poll by airporttransfers.co.uk for passenger experience with a score of 54 out of a possible 60.




Thank you for your e-mail to Carolyn McCall, our Chief Executive Officer. Ms McCall has requested that I reply on her behalf.

I have forwarded a copy of your e-mail to our Scheduling & Network teams for their perusal. This team regularly reviews route requirements in the UK and all over Europe. I am certain that the information you have provided will be useful to them.

Many thanks for compiling and sending this to us.

Yours sincerely


Clayre Catlin
Executive Support

[Brum X]

I sent an email to Andrew Davies at BHX last night regarding my frustration as per above and this is my reply from him:


Alan


Thank you for your email. I too share your frustrations with regard to the gaps in Birmingham's route network. Having only very recently been appointed to the position of Head of Air Services Development, I feel that there is much for me and Birmingham Airport to catch up on.


Let me assure you that we are in discussion with a number of significant airlines with regard to bolstering our European network including to the cities that you have mentioned. Whilst the planned runway extension and potential long haul services tend to grab the headlines, I am well aware that the bulk of our passengers are looking to travel within Europe and that additions to the network are required.


I am hopeful that in the coming months we will give you cause to look more favourably at Birmingham.

[Brum X]

This was my quite abrubt email to him, LOL


Dear Sir, i am writing you this email as i am becoming ever increasingly frustrated with the fact that my local airport which serves about 8.5 million passengers per year still has no direct service to capital cities in Europe such as Madrid and Berlin, however i can fly from little East Midlands down the road??? Why is this? I do understand that the aviation industry is suffering at the moment like we all are and that BHX has ambitious plans to serve long haul destinations like India and China, however we cant even offer direct flights to important european capital cities like Madrid//Rome and Berlin to name only a few as there are many more not served from the airport.

[Brum X]

Hopefully these emails will make these people in charge of these kind of things, take a little bit more notice and work a little bit harder.

I think its shocking that a airport like Birmingham is not linked (Direct) to Madrid/Barcelona/Rome and Berlin.

[woodhousen]

i look forward to seeing what andrew davies has to offer...

[pug]

Hopefully these emails will make these people in charge of these kind of things, take a little bit more notice and work a little bit harder.

So you are implying that they haven't been working hard before now? The naivety of some on here is astonishing.

Those responsible for attracting new business are those very people who wrote the wish list on therouteshop.com. The very same list you are emailing to airlines and back to them. Do you honestly think you are in a position to tell people how to do their job?

[Brum X]

Originally Posted by pug

So you are implying that they haven't been working hard before now? The naivety of some on here is astonishing.

Those responsible for attracting new business are those very people who wrote the wish list on therouteshop.com. The very same list you are emailing to airlines and back to them. Do you honestly think you are in a position to tell people how to do their job?

Well from my reply from Mr Davies at BHX, he also thinks BHX should be doing better than it is. At the end of the day BHX should be connected to the likes of Madrid, if East Midlands/Liverpool and now Manchester can do it then yes the folks at BHX have not been working hard enough, too busy talking talking talking about a runway extension.

[world_rep]

I do agree to some degree what pug is saying.

Airlines will already be fully aware of what BHX can offer airlines, as, when BHX talks to them, they will use all the figures quouted in the routeshop article.

The thing is, there are some innacuracies, like the 'Birmingham is twice the size of Manchester' just isnt true these days, and ailines dont listen to that sort of thing these days, as its not the size of your city, but the amount of people/money you can get on an air service.

Also, if BHX wants to attract a new service, perhaps it needs to bring the charges down. MAN does so well because it has an alomst flat rate of £3 per pax, wheras BHX is £10.71. Ridiculous!

[pug]

yes the folks at BHX have not been working hard enough, too busy talking talking talking about a runway extension

You have just proved my point in that sentence.

[Brum X]

The thing is you dont need to talk about runway extensions to have direct flights to major european cities and maybe they should bring the prices down like world rep has said, no wonder loads of airlines are missing at BHX if we are charging over £10 per pax.

[pug]

Clearly the prices are an issue, but i think suggesting the whole business development team are solely concentrating on a runway extension is ignorant.

[world_rep]

Prices are a major issue:

PLS International £10.71 per departing passenger
PLS Domestic & Irish Republic £6.44 per departing passenger
Runway Charges £9.71 per tonne or part (based on MTOW of departing A/C)
Navigation Charges £1.77 per tonne or part (based on MTOW of departing A/C)
Ground Handling Systems £0.14 per departing passenger
Hold Baggage Screening £0.14 per departing passenger

So, international pax= £10.99

Compare to MAN:

For Routes departing in Standard Periods

Year One - £3.00
Year Two - £4.00
Year Three - £5.00

So, even by year 3, MAN is still half the price of BHX. Not exactly the biggest incentive.

[Brum X]

Yes indeed and these are the people running our airport.
Loads of new routes are starting all over the UK with the exception of BHX with no major news at all for summer 2011
Easyjet have now just announced new routes from Manchester to Madrid and Berlin and Ryanair are going to do Manchester to Madrid.
Jet 2.com are starting a new base at Glasgow airport with the creation of 150 new jobs.

[world_rep]

Yes, its great that MAN finally has MAD/SXF back on the boards.

BHX possibly could get RYR on MAD-BHX, as seen as theres a base at both ends, but any new route RYR have launched of late seems to replace another.

As for getting easyjet to expand, Im sceptical as Carolyn McColl seems to have MAN/LGW at the forefront of her UK sights. Yes, other airports will gain one or 2 new routes, but not the same speed as MAN/LGW. MAN has had 5 new routes this year already.

For now, any prospect of longhaul can be put aside, as only the middle easterns seem to be expanding at a rate enough to include BHX, and even said middle easterns seem to have retreated the bulk of services to LHR/MAN.
QR will eventually come (as they have said they are interested in another UK point).

Etihad is slightly different, in that it is a relativly new airline (7 years old), so there are still bigger fish to fry for them. The fact MAN has gone 2 daily is quite astonishing given this fact, but I suppose its the fact they have been at MAN for 5 years out of the 7 they have been in exsistance.

[morestoreysplease]

I still maintain that when BA left BHX, these kind of destinations (Madrid, Barcelona and Rome) weren't properly picked up by the others. Lo-co's aren't always stepping into the bigger shoes...

[blar]

Birmingham Post

New £10m control tower to built at Birmingham Airport

By Ed Stephens

Apr 1 2011

A new state of the art control tower is to be built at Birmingham Airport at a cost of £10 million.

Work on the new landmark building will start in May but it will be two years before it is operational because of the complexity of the new equipment being installed in it.

The new 115ft tower will be built on a 33ft high hill and will dominate the western side of the airport and be easily visible from the A45.

Once commissioned it will take over from the original control tower which is situated at the old Elmdon Airport site and has been in use since 1939.

The move from Elmdon to the current airport location took place in 1984 but use of the old 79ft high tower continued.

The new building will give air traffic controllers a better view over new buildings which have sprung up on the airport complex but more importantly will allow them to see to the end of the new 400-metre runway extension which it is ultimately hoped to build.

Will Heynes, the airport’s operation director, said the new control tower would feature the very latest state of the art equipment.

“We anticipate it will take a year to build but then a further year to install all the new equipment, commission it and train our air traffic controls in the use of it,” he said.

The airport is anxious to extend the runway in a bid to attract more airlines offering a wider choice of long-haul routes for Midland travellers.

Mr Heynes said the airport would be seeking ideas for the use of the old control tower when it was decommissioned.

“It’s a lovely 1930s Art Deco building which we are obliged to keep in its present form and we are looking for ideas for a new use for it.

“It’s a large building in a prime location with spectacular views and we are open to suggestions.”

The airport has just opened a new £1.3 million hi-tech control centre on the fifth floor of the Diamond House office block opposite the main airport building, combining the separate control centres of its engineering, baggage, terminal management, security and airfield operations in one unit.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/birmin...#ixzz1IFaFwA8S

[neon18]

They have been using the Elmdon tower since the airport was first built in 1939 and never really needed to be replaced when the terminal was moved over to its current location in 1984. I am happy that this is getting built as it means the 400m extension will get built as well. If I remember right the location chosen for the tower would also be suitable for a 2nd runway when required.The height when including the hill will be similar to the Crown Plaza Hotel in Birmingham.

[RN750]

Does anyone have any renders or more details of the design position or the planning application??

Ta
Adie

[neon18]

The links for the BHX ATC plans:

http://planningapplication.bhx.co.uk...er%20Drawings/