Birmingham Airport

thumb|The airport site, as it was around 1921

thumb|[[British Airways and British Caledonian aircraft at the old terminal in 1978]]

thumb|right|The [[Maglev rapid transport system, which operated from 1984 to 1995, was the first commercial maglev system in the world.]]

Birmingham Airport , formerly Birmingham International Airport, is an international airport in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. It lies east-south-east of Birmingham city centre and west-north-west of Coventry, slightly north of Bickenhill village.

Officially opened as Elmdon Airport on 8 July 1939, the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry during the Second World War and used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy as RAF Elmdon. It was largely used for flight training and wartime production purposes. On 8 July 1946, the aerodrome was reopened to civilian operations.

Birmingham Airport currently holds a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (no. P451) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. Passenger throughput in 2024 was over 12.8million, making it the seventh busiest airport in the UK. In 2025, while maintaining its seventh position, it served 13.66 million passengers, accounting for 4.6% of all airport passengers.

The airport offers international flights to destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent. Birmingham Airport is an operating base for easyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair and TUI Airways. Other airlines that operate here include Emirates, Saudia, Turkish Airlines, Loganair, and KLM.

Location

Birmingham Airport is 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, the village of Bickenhill to the south, and the village of Elmdon to the south west.

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

The airport's location southeast of the city, plus the only operational runway being northwest–southeast (15/33), means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham. The former northeast–southwest runway (06/24) has been incorporated into a taxiway for aircraft accessing runway 15/33.

History

Construction and opening

In 1928, Birmingham City Council decided that the city required a municipal airport; thus soon thereafter a committee was established to work towards establishing such a facility. Its terminal, which incorporated the airport's air traffic control tower, was designed by Norman and Dawbarn in an Art Deco style; this facility would continue to be used as a terminal until 1984 and subsequently as staff offices and for private flights; it is still intact as of 2023. The airport was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. Initial services flew to Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Ryde, Shoreham, Manchester, and Southampton; further services were added soon thereafter, although its use as a civilian airport would soon be interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Large numbers of Avro Lancaster and Stirling bombers were manufactured at the Austin Aero Company's shadow factory at Cofton Hackett, but were unable to take off from the short runways at Longbridge; thus, they were transported by road to RAF Elmdon, their wings being removed beforehand and re-attached after arrival. They were test flown from the aerodrome and, once declared airworthy, they were flown to their operational units. On 8 July 1946, the aerodrome was reopened to civilian operations, though it remained under government control. On 20 October 2003, Concorde made its final visit to the airport as part of its farewell tour.

1981 to 2000

Birmingham Airport was once home to the world's first commercial maglev system in the form of a low-speed maglev shuttle that ran along a 620-metre line between the terminal and the nearby Birmingham International railway station. Following a year of testing and trial use, the Birmingham Airport Maglev was opened to great fanfare during April 1984. However, during 1995, the Maglev rail link was discontinued after 11 years; the closure has been attributed to the system's unreliability, it having suffered from frequent breakdowns. The original guideway lay dormant but intact for a time, while proposals for its restoration or adaption for other uses were considered. In 2003, a replacement cable-hauled system, the Air-Rail Link Cable Liner people mover, was opened, which reused the track and much of the existing infrastructure.

During 1993, the government limited public sector borrowing came into force and was applied to Birmingham Airport. This change 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; this initiative led to the commencement of a £260million restructuring programme in 1997.

2000s

During November 2007, Birmingham 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 set out details of changes to the terminals, airfield layout and off-site infrastructure. As with all large scale plans, the proposals were 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. Plans for a second runway (a third when demand requires) on the other side of the M42 and a new terminal complex 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.

In 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, runway 06/24 remains open as a taxiway and a helicopter airstrip. In the same month, 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.

In 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 outside London Heathrow Airport. The new pier is 240 metres long and 24 metres wide. Departing passengers are 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 for 13 smaller aircraft. It can accommodate 'next generation' environmentally-efficient wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A340-600, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747-8, and the Boeing 777X. The new pier also has a new lounge for business class Emirates passengers. In March 2009, the runway extension plans were approved.

2010s

thumb|Main check-in hall in Terminal 1

thumb|Departure lounge area

In September 2010, it was announced that after the merging of Terminals 1 and 2 into a single facility 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 8million 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". In 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.

In January 2011, the viewing gallery, 'Aviation Experience And Gift Shop', closed indefinitely. In the same month, the airport merged its two terminals into a single terminal building, which involved the construction of two additional floors. A new lower ground floor accommodates the new Arrivals and Meet & Greet area, while the 3rd floor was built in the Millennium Link and the two terminals to accommodate the new Centralised Security Search area. In July 2011, construction of a new control tower began. The new control tower was completed in March 2012; it replaced the airport's original tower, which had been used since the airport opened in 1939.

On 23 February 2011, Birmingham Airport announced that the High Speed 2 railway could be a solution to runway capacity problems in London; management figures suggested that it would be quicker to get to London from Birmingham than from Stansted Airport once completed, and claimed that the airport had capacity for nine million more passengers.

Plans for the extension of the airport's 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 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 costs, it was diverted south of the runway instead. In summer 2013, the new air traffic control tower became fully operational; In May 2014, the 400-metre runway extension was officially opened;

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a Canadian institutional investor, increased its stake in the airport to 48.25% in early 2015. It also owns 100% of Bristol Airport. Birmingham handled over 11.6million passengers in 2016, a record total for the airport, making it the seventh busiest UK airport.

2020s

British regional airline Flybe operated an extensive route network from Birmingham to destinations within the United Kingdom and mainland Europe until it entered administration on 4 March 2020. It subsequently resumed operations using the airport as its headquarters and main base of operations. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary mortuary was established in a hangar at the airport, with space for 12,000 bodies.

On 13 January 2023, Emirates announced that they would return to flying the iconic Airbus A380 on their daily flights to Birmingham Airport from 1 July 2023. Previously, Emirates had used the Airbus A380 on their flights to Birmingham since 2016; however, they resumed using the Boeing 777 during the COVID-19 pandemic due to reduced demand.

In January 2023, regional airline Flybe, successor to the aforementioned airline of the same name, which maintained its main base in Birmingham, entered administration and ceased all operations.

In July 2025, another petition was launched to rename the airport as Birmingham Ozzy Osbourne Airport in honour of the artist, following his death that month. Despite a record number of signatures and public support, the airport rejected the proposal.

Terminals

Birmingham Airport's current terminal complex combines the two old terminals via the Millennium Link into one large terminal, with gates 1–20 in the old Terminal 2, and all other gates in the old Terminal 1. All check in desks and arrivals are on the ground floor. The central security area, along with airside shops and restaurants are located on the first floor.

Terminal 1 was opened on 3 April 1984, seventeen years after the original plans to construct a new terminal to ease congestion in the original Elmdon Terminal (Grade II listed since August 2018 and now used for private and official flights). Since then, Terminal 1 has been extended multiple times to accommodate the increase in both passenger numbers and aircraft movements.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

thumb|center|800px|Birmingham Airport passenger destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Birmingham:

Cargo

Statistics

|valign="top"|

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right; display:inline-table; margin: 1em auto"

!| !! Passengers !! Movements

!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 || 114,679

!2008

|9,627,589 || 112,227

!2009

|9,102,899 || 101,221

!2010

|8,572,398 || 95,454

!2011

|8,616,296 || 93,145

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"| <sup>Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority

!2025

|13,663,877

|| 99,140

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"| <sup>Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority

Security incidents

Ground transport

thumb|[[Birmingham International railway station]]

right|thumb|The [[Air-Rail Link joins the railway station to the airport, operated by a track and pulley system]]

Public transport

Rail

Birmingham Airport is served by Birmingham International railway station. The station is on the West Coast Main Line between Birmingham and London, and trains are operated by West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Transport For Wales, and CrossCountry. Access between the railway station and the airport terminal is provided by the free Air-Rail Link.

Bus and coach

National Express West Midlands operates the main bus routes calling at Birmingham Airport, those being the X1 to Birmingham city centre and Coventry, the X12 to Chelmsley Wood and Solihull, and the 96 to Chelmsley Wood, Erdington and Kingstanding. Other smaller operators also call at the airport. Bus stops are situated outside Terminal One. Most buses are operated by National Express West Midlands.

National Express Coaches operates various long-distance coaches calling at Birmingham Airport on the way to or from Birmingham coach station.

Taxi

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

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. Parking charges apply in some areas even for very short periods of time, with locations farther from the airport being cheaper than those near the airport.

Bicycle

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

Future transport links

thumb|right|The proposed 'Birmingham Interchange'

High Speed 2

As part of Phase 1 of the High Speed 2 rail link, a new railway station called Birmingham Interchange will be built to serve both the airport and the National Exhibition Centre. The station will be built on the far side of the M42 motorway and connect to the airport using a "rapid transit people mover".

West Midlands Metro

Funding has been approved to construct the "East Birmingham & Solihull Metro Extension" to the West Midlands Metro. This would link Birmingham Interchange, Birmingham International, and Birmingham Airport to the city centre.

References

External links

Airport Consultative Committee
Birmingham Airport Maglev 1984-1995
Opening ceremony, 1939 Pathé Newsreel