JennyB
Not being funny here, but with the airport being closed at 2300, do you think that may explain why most freighters were in before 2300?
Of course only the few that could get in before then of course, most operated to EMA,SEN,CVT,DSA and LPL, all flights that previously would have operated through BHX.
Many flights operated to those airports even during the times that BHX was open, because the nature of ad-hoc work meant that they could never be guaranteed to arrive before closure, and arrangements for handling/trucking/customs/screening(for outbounds), etc would have to be made beforehand, not at 2305 when the aircraft is turned away from BHX.
I'm not quite sure if we're talking about the same "Birmingham" Most of the ad hoc (largely motor industry related) freight operations take place during the day / early evening, and yes, a few flight clearly will have been victims of the seemingly interminable night closures, many flights (and I mean more than a handful per week) did operate to / from BHX. Clearly they aren't regular, as line stops on certain components lead to spikes in movements, but really, the night closures won't account for the incorrect cargo figures that are published by the CAA.
Leaving aside the irritating, but necessary night closures, for much of the year (2014) the airport was H24 and ad hoc cargo operated as normal - whatever normal is for ad hocs!
Are you suggesting perhaps that the CAA numbers are correct?