jabird - I agree, the new terminal facilities (including the new pier which is a vast improvement on the last) have hardly resulted in a rush of new carriers or routes so can hardly see that a longer runway will make a difference. Whenever I have used the pier it has been like a ghost town, great views of a quiet airfield, lots of empty seats and some very bored staff in Costa Coffee and WHSmiths......so a longer runway I don't think will result in any new business apart from perhaps a few extra long haul charters and maybe just very maybe an extra US destination. Of course, if it had been done properly when it should have been back in the 1960's then perhaps it would be a very different story today at BHX, hindsight is a wonderful thing