Birmingham Airport plan ‘super terminal’
21.06.09
Birmingham Airport is aiming to knock two terminals into one and double passenger figures to 20 million in 10 years, the Post reports. New airport boss Paul Kehoe said Birmingham was the ‘last great aviation opportunity in the UK’ following the recent approval for the £130 million 400 metre runaway extension, opening up markets such as the American West Coast and China.
Mr Kehoe said that a Tory win at the next election would block new runway developments at ‘Horrible Heathrow’ and Stansted, allowing ‘Beautiful Birmingham’ to spread its wings and attract an extra 10 million passengers a year. He told the Breakfast Connection organised by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry: ‘We have a little piece of real estate that we can exploit that will deliver dramatic changes at this airport. The challenge for us is to take two terminals that we have and make them one. Having two terminals is not very cost-effective. The extra 400 metres plus the one terminal concept, I believe, will give us an airport that is truly world-class.’
Mr Kehoe also said Birmingham Airport had missed out on millions of extra passengers by backing BA rather than low cost airlines. He said: ‘We backed the wrong airline. We should have had easyJet, Ryanair and bmibaby all those lined up years ago and we didn’t. We should not be 10 million (passengers) - we should be 20 million today.’
John Morris, Head of Corporate Affairs at Birmingham Airport, said consultants were already looking at the one terminal plan. He said: ‘This is not about knocking large sections of the airport down. The infrastructure is already in place.’
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