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Birmingham Airport, formerly Birmingham International Airport is an international airport located 5.5 NM east southeast of Birmingham city centre, at Bickenhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands, England. The airport is a base for Flybe, Monarch, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways.

The airport offers both domestic flights within the UK, and international flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North America and the Caribbean. Passenger throughput in 2014 was about 9.7 million, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport. However, the airport is the sixth in terms of international passengers.

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

Location
Birmingham Airport is 5.5 NM east-south-east of Birmingham city centre, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. It is bordered by the National Exhibition Centre to the east, Marston Green to the north, Sheldon to the west, and the village of Bickenhill to the south.

It is primarily served by the A45 main road, and is near Junction 6 of the M42 motorway. It is connected by the elevated AirRail Link with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line.

The airport's location south-east of the city, plus the only operational runway being north-west – south-east (15/33), means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham. The relatively short north-east – south-west runway (06/24) is not operational, and has been incorporated into the taxiway for aircraft departing the end of runway 33, or gaining access to runway 15.

1920 to 1939

 * 1928: Birmingham City Council decided that the city required a municipal airport.
 * 1933: Plans were submitted, identifying Elmdon as the site for the airport, delayed by the Great Depression.
 * 8 July 1939: Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark opened Elmdon Airport. The airport was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. Initial services flew to Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Ryde, Shoreham, Manchester and Southampton.

World War II

 * World War II: The airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was used by the RAF and the Royal Navy as RAF Elmdon, an Elementary Flying School and a base for the Fleet Air Arm. During this time, the original grass strip was replaced by two hard runways: 06/24 at 2469 ft and 15/33 at 4170 ft. Avro Lancaster and Stirling bombers manufactured at the Austin Aero Company's shadow factory at Cofton Hackett could not take off from the short runways at Longbridge. Instead they were transported by road, minus the wings that would be attached at Elmdon. They were test flown from the aerodrome, and once declared airworthy they were flown to their operational units.
 * 8 July 1946: The aerodrome returned to civilian use, though still under government control.

1946 – 1979
During the post-war years, public events, such as air fairs and air races were held on the site. 2 April 1966 First jet flight to Palma - BAC111
 * 1 January 1960: The City of Birmingham took over responsibility again.
 * 1 April 1960: The City of Birmingham assumed full responsibility.
 * 1961: An additional terminal building to handle international traffic was opened, called The International Building.
 * 1967: The main runway was extended to 7,400 feet (1.4 miles) to allow jet operations, including introducing VC-10 services to New York.
 * 1970: The Birmingham Corporation Act 1970 gave the corporation the power to attest constables for the airport, creating the Birmingham Airport Police.
 * 1974: Ownership of the airport passed to the newly formed West Midlands County Council.

1980 – 1989

 * 4 April 1984: The current airport was first used. A new terminal was opened on the east side of the runway adjacent to the Birmingham International railway station and the National Exhibition Centre, able to handle three million passengers a year.
 * 30 May 1984: Elizabeth II opened it.
 * It included a Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system, running between the airport and Birmingham International railway station on a 600 m track.
 * The original Art Deco 1939 terminal and control tower are still visible and are in use as aviation related offices, near hangars to the west of the runway.
 * 1985: Take Off, a sculpture by the Polish artist Walenty Pytel, was set up, on a roundabout on the approach road. It is 1.4 m tall. The unpolished steel sculpture was designed to commemorate 40 years of peace in Europe.
 * 1986: Ownership of the Airport transferred to the newly formed West Midlands Joint Airport Committee, comprising the seven West Midlands district councils. Shortly after this, the Airports Act 1986 was introduced, requiring municipal airports with turnover greater than £1m to become Public Airport Companies.
 * 1 April 1987: Ownership of the airport was transferred to Birmingham International Airport plc, although still owned by the seven West Midlands district councils.

1990 – 1999

 * 26 July 1991: A second terminal, "Eurohub", opened (with Concorde in attendance), more than doubling the airport's capacity. This second terminal was designed for the use of British Airways and its partners as part of a "hub and spoke" system whereby aircraft would arrive in waves from domestic and European destinations and allowed easy transfers so that a passenger from, say Edinburgh, could connect to a range of European destinations. In 1980, British Airways started operating a service to New York-JFK,and Toronto-Pearson.
 * 1993: The Government limited public sector borrowing. This meant that the airport could only expand by using private sector finance. 51% of the local council shares were sold to restructure the airport into a private sector company, enabling a £260 million restructuring programme to begin in 1997.
 * 1995: The Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system was closed due to high cost and problems sourcing parts.

2000 – 2010

 * 3 March 2000: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the £40 million redevelopment of the airport. The redevelopment introduced a new customs and immigration hall, twelve new shops, a new baggage reclaim area, a new arrivals concourse, a new pier with three air bridges, and sixteen new check-in desks in Terminal 1. They also linked Terminal One with Terminal Two (previously "Eurohub") for the first time with the newly built Millennium Link. Following on from this, £18 million was spent on replacing the Maglev by the AirRail Link people mover, which was the first in the world to be used at an airport.  The public transport interchange was built to extend Birmingham International railway station for airport users. This has since been named Birmingham International Interchange.
 * 2000: Emirates launched a new service to Dubai, eventually going twice daily in 2005. The service will operate thrice daily from August 2015.
 * 20 October 2003: Concorde made her final visit to Birmingham Airport on as part of her farewell tour.
 * June 2006: A new turnoff from the main runway was completed and saw an improvement in traffic rates on southerly operations, where the only available option for landing traffic had been to travel to the end of the runway to exit.
 * July 2007: Birmingham was voted the best airport in Europe in the 5 million to 10 million passengers per year category.
 * November 2007: The airport published a master plan for its development up to 2030, called "Towards 2030: Planning a Sustainable Future for Air Transport in the Midlands". 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 was disputed by opponents. Although initial plans for a second runway were scrapped, this is now firmly back on the airport's agenda ahead of the report into Britain's aviation strategy being published. Plans for a 2nd runway on the other side of the M42 and a new terminal building and business park have been published, and they could help to create around 250,000 jobs. It has been estimated that if these plans went ahead, the airport could handle around 70,000,000 passengers annually, and around 500,000 aircraft movements.
 * January 2008: The shorter runway (06/24) was decommissioned. It had been used less often due to its short length, noise impact, and its inconvenient position crossing the main runway making it uneconomic to continue operation. The closure also allowed for apron expansion on both sides of the main runway. However it remains open as a taxiway and a helicopter airstrip.
 * January 2008: Plans for the extension of the airport runway and the construction of the new air traffic control tower were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
 * June 2008: Work began on building the new three-storey International Pier. It was officially opened on 9 September 2009. As part of the airport's 70th anniversary, the airport welcomed the Airbus A380 as the first user of the pier. The special service was the first commercial A380 flight in the UK to take place outside London Heathrow Airport.
 * The new pier is a three-storey construction, 240 metres long and 24 metres wide. Departing passengers will be accommodated on the top level, with arriving passengers on the middle level and office accommodation for airline and handling agents on the ground floor.
 * The new facility provides air-bridged aircraft parking for seven wide-bodied aircraft and enough space to serve 13 smaller aircraft at any given time and is capable of accommodating 'next generation' environmentally-efficient wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' as well as the larger aircraft types such as the Boeing 777 which currently serves the airport daily. The new pier also hosts a new lounge for business class Emirates passengers.
 * March 2009: The runway extension plans were approved.

2010 – present

 * September 2010: An announcement was made that following the merging of Terminals 1 & 2 in 2011, the airport would drop the International from its official name to become Birmingham Airport. A Midlands-based marketing agency was recruited to "create a new corporate identity that reflects [Birmingham Airport's] current position in the market place, as well as its future potential". Figures from Birmingham Airport show that 8 million people live within a one hour's drive of the airport, but less than 40% of them use it. It is hoped that the rebrand will make the airport "more visible to the market".
 * November 2010: The new name started to be used. The new logo, interlocking circles in shades of blue, and slogan, "Hello World", were designed to reflect the airport's new positioning as a global travel hub.
 * January 2011: The airport merged its two terminals into a single Terminal Building. This involved building two new floors added to the airport's terminals (& Millennium Link). The 3rd floor was built in the Millennium Link (also in the two terminals) accommodating the new Centralised Security Search area and a Lower Ground Floor, accommodating the new Arrivals and Meeting & Greeting (Meet & Greet) area. There are also plans to extend both terminals, adding another Departures and Arrivals.
 * 23 February 2011: It was reported that Birmingham Airport had announced the HS2 extension could be a solution to runway capacity problems in London, citing that will be quicker to get to London from Birmingham than from London Stansted once completed and claimed that the airport had capacity for nine million more passengers.
 * March 2011: Construction of the runway extension and a new air traffic control tower began. The extension to the southern end of the runway originally required the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section, but to cut immediate costs, it will be diverted to the south of the runway until 2020, when it will be moved into a tunnel.
 * July 2011: Building a new control tower for the airport began, to replace the old tower which has stood at the airport since it was opened in 1939.
 * March 2012: The new control tower was completed.
 * 23 April 2012: An Olympic ceremony was held at the airport. The Olympic rings were unveiled on the tower and could be seen from the A45 road and the main terminal building. This was to commemorate the build-up to the London 2012 Olympic games. These rings were removed once the Olympic Games officially closed, just before 2012 Summer Paralympics began.
 * Summer 2012: By now the new control tower's equipment was installed. Testing and training began.
 * Late 2012: Work began on the runway extension (whose original target was in time for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.)
 * Summer 2013: The new control tower was fully operational.
 * August 2013: The old carriageway of the A45 road was closed and the new carriage way was opened.
 * May 2014: The runway was completed.
 * 22 July 2014: The runway extension was officially opened.

Runway Extension
Plans for the extension of the airport runway, and the construction of the new air traffic control tower, were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in January 2008, and approved in March 2009. The construction of the runway extension, and the new air traffic control tower, began in March 2011.

The extension to the southern end of the runway originally required the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section, but to cut immediate costs, it was diverted to the south of the runway until 2020, when it will be moved into a tunnel. In August 2013, the old carriageway of the A45 road was closed, and the new carriage way was opened.

Originally, the target for completion was in time for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. However, work began in late 2012, and the runway was completed in early May 2014. The runway extension began to be used by aircraft in May 2014, and was officially opened on 22 July 2014, when China Southern Airlines operated its first charter flight between Birmingham and Beijing. This was the first aircraft that had to make use of the new runway length.

The extension caused controversy as more than 2,000 local residents complained about the increased noise levels due to the new flight path around the airport that was required after the runway was extended.

The extension increased the runway length from the previous 2,605 m (8,547 ft) to 3,052 m (10,013 ft). There is a loop taxiway from which planes will taxi to the runway and then takeoff. The airport owners believe there is likely to be sufficient demand for long-range direct services operated by aircraft whose operations were constrained by the previous runway length. The previous runway length was short for an airport with Birmingham's passenger throughput and range of destinations. The old length limited 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.

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

Passenger numbers
Birmingham handled a record 9.7 million passengers in 2014, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport.

Accidents and incidents







 * Follow this link for a more detailed report and Official reports from the AAIB.




 * |event= Eastern Airways Flight 2239 from Southampton to Birmingham operated by and BAe Jetstrem 41 crashed onto the moterway inbankment of the A45, after striking runway apporach ligts to runway 33. The aircraft exploded on impact, killing all 18 passengers and crew on board. The cause of the accident was pilot error in poor weather during approach.

Security incidents






Train
Birmingham Airport is served by Birmingham International station. The station is on the West Coast Main Line between Birmingham and London. London Midland, Virgin Trains, Arriva Trains Wales and CrossCountry. Access between the railway station and the airport terminal is provided by the free AirRail Link.



Proposed High Speed Two
As part of the proposed High Speed Two rail link, a new railway station called Birmingham Interchange would be built to serve both the airport and the National Exhibition Centre. The station would be built on the far side of the M42 motorway and connect to the airport using a "rapid transit people mover". If the project is given the go ahead, High Speed Two is currently planned for completion by 2026.

Bus and coach
National Express West Midlands operates the main bus routes calling at Birmingham Airport, those being the 900 to Birmingham city centre and Coventry, and the 966 to Erdington and Solihull. Additionally service 97A to Birmingham via Chelmsley Wood now runs to the airport 24hrs a day. Other smaller operators also call at the airport. Bus stops are situated outside Terminal One. Most buses are operated by National Express West Midlands, who do not give change when selling tickets, so foreign travellers will need to ensure they have British coins when taking a local bus.

National Express Coaches operate various long distance coaches calling at Birmingham Airport on the way to or from Birmingham Coach Station, such as the 777 and the 422.

Taxi
Black cabs are available at the taxi-rank outside the arrivals area of the terminals.

Car
Birmingham Airport is accessible from the north and south via Junction Six of the M42 motorway. From Birmingham city centre, the A45 runs directly to the airport. There are no pick-up or drop-off areas available outside the terminal.

Bicycle
The only cycle route available heads south over the A45 travelling towards Solihull. Birmingham Airport have however published "recommended routes" for cyclists. Free short term cycle parking is available close to Terminal One. For longer stays, bicycles must be stored in Left Luggage for a charge.

Creation and growth
In 1933 Coventry City Council decided to develop a civil airport on land that they owned to the south-east of the city in Baginton. Coventry Airport was opened in 1936. Armstrong Whitworth, aircraft manufacturers based nearby at Whitley Aerodrome, built an aircraft factory on the airport site soon afterwards.

During World War II the airport was utilised as a fighter station, RAF Baginton, by the Royal Air Force. It was damaged in the 1940 Coventry Blitz bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.

After the war the airport was returned to civil use as a passenger and freight terminal. In the 1950s Jersey Airlines operated De Havilland Heron and Douglas Dakota aircraft on services to the Channel Islands. In the 1960s British United Airways flew Dakota, Carvair (which also carried passengers' cars) and Handley Page Heralds to the Channel Islands. During the 1980s West Midlands based travel agents Hards Travel started using the Airport with its Viscount and Dart Herald aircraft for holidays to Spain, Italy and Austria, flying to Beauvais in France and Ostend Airport, operating under the Janus Airways banner. The holiday brands they used were Summer-Plan, and HTS Holidays. In the late-1980s, Coventry City Council sold the airport lease to Air Atlantique.

Papal visit
Pope John Paul II visited the airport on 30 May 1982 as part of his six-day visit to Britain. He arrived in a gold and blue British Caledonian helicopter, and just after 10.00 a.m. he set off in a popemobile from the helipad to visit a crowd of about 350,000 people. He celebrated Mass and administered the sacrament of confirmation, and there was a carnival when he had lunch. He left in the helicopter at about 3.15 p.m.

Live veal calf export
From 5 November 1994 to 4 May 1995 live veal calves were exported from Coventry Airport to Amsterdam for distribution across Europe, and the locality became a focus for animal rights demonstrators. On 21 December 1994 Air Algérie Flight 702P, a Boeing 737, used for exporting calves crashed in Willenhall Wood, Willenhall, Coventry near to houses, on approach to the airport in bad weather, and all five people on board were killed. The aircraft was owned by Air Algerie and on lease to Phoenix Aviation. On 1 February 1995, Jill Phipps, an animal rights activist aged 31 years, was crushed to death under the wheels of a lorry carrying live veal calves into Coventry Airport.

Scheduled jet flights
In February 2004 the airport lease was sold to TUI AG, who started scheduled international flights from a temporary passenger terminal building in March 2004 under the brand Thomsonfly using two Boeing 737s. The operation drew vociferous opposition from environmental campaigners, some local residents and Warwick District Council, but was supported by Coventry City Council. Warwick District Council unsuccessfully sought an injunction to stop flights, claiming that the temporary facilities were built without planning permission. Flights expanded through the following years, while the airport sought planning permission for a permanent passenger terminal and facilities. Thomsonfly expanded operations with more European flights and up to six aircraft based at the airport, while WizzAir also began regular flights to Poland.

After planning permission for a permanent passenger terminal was initially denied by Warwick District Council in 2004, two public inquiries took place, followed by an unsuccessful appeal by the airport owners to the UK government planning inspectorate, and finally to the High Court in 2008. The planning battle affected the confidence of flight operators. On 1 September 2008, Wizz Air confirmed they would not continue their seasonal service from Coventry to Gdańsk and Katowice. On 15 October 2008, Thomsonfly confirmed that they would cease operations at Coventry Airport, citing their increased focus on charter services after their the merger with First Choice Airways. Scheduled passenger flights from Coventry ended on 9 November 2008. The airport continued with cargo operations, and was a base for executive jet services, general aviation and flight training, and the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Closure, sale and re-opening
In May 2009, Coventry Airport was put up for sale. The owners outsourced security, and also air traffic control to Marshall Aerospace. On 1 December 2009, it was reported that a petition was made by HM Revenue & Customs in the High Court to wind up the company, to the concern of local businesses. A hearing was due to take place at London’s Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday, 9 December 2009. On 8 December 2009, the CAA closed the airport with immediate effect, filing of a Notice to Airmen withdrawing its operating licence. All commercial flying and flight training was suspended, although the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance continued to use the airport as a base. The airport re-opened as an unlicensed airfield the following week, without air traffic control, to private traffic.

A Swiss firm announced its interest in acquiring the airport in early 2010, but did not conclude a bid. Sir Peter Rigby's Patriot Aviation group took over ownership of Coventry Airport on 28 April, and it was fully re-opened in summer 2010. As of June 2010, Air Traffic Control services at Coventry have been provided by SERCO.

Cancelled second Papal visit
As part of Pope Benedict XVI's planned visit to Britain in September 2010 it was announced that the centrepiece of the visit, the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, would take place on 19 September at the airport, following the success of the 1982 visit of Pope John Paul II. However, it was subsequently announced in June 2010 that the preferred venue had changed to the smaller Cofton Park, in Birmingham.

Triumph in the Skies II
Hong Kong TVB filmed flight training scenes for their series Triumph in the Skies II at the airport using facilities and aircraft owned by Aeros Flight Training.

Tenants

 * Aeros Flight Training
 * Coventry Aeroplane Club
 * Almat Aviation
 * Midland Air Training
 * British International Helicopters
 * Atlantic Flight Training

Accidents and incidents

 * On 15 April 1969, Douglas DC-3D N4296 of Aviation Enterprises was destroyed by fire at Baginton Airport.
 * On 21 December 1994 an Air Algerie Boeing 737 aircraft crashed in Willenhall Wood on approach to Coventry. Five crew were killed.
 * On 17 August 2008, five people were killed when two light aircraft collided on their final approach into Coventry Airport. The aircraft involved were a Cessna 402C and a Rand KR-2. The Air Accident Investigation Board's report of crash concluded that: The two aircraft collided because their respective pilots either did not see the other aircraft, or did not see it in time to take effective avoiding action. In 2012, an inquest jury criticised poor monitoring and communication by staff at Coventry Airport. The jury also said the tower controller at the airport provided the Cessna 402 with "inaccurate information" about the other aircraft.