Infrastructure and expansion.
I actually agree with Fr@STN.
It is a chicken and egg situation.
We had many years where the airport stagnated,then all of a sudden Paul Kehoe and his team bring route expansion never seen before in the airports history.We have gone from less than 10 million pax to almost 13 million in a very short time.
Now as for infrastructure,surely you need the commitment of the airlines to operate before you embark on a multi-million pound spend to improve facilities.Without that commitment then any spend will be seen as a waste of money.Some people are saying the runway extension was exactly that.
All airports go through growing pains at some point,BHX has become a victim of its own success,and to a degree should be applauded for what it has achieved.However this has brought its own problems.
I can assure you,as someone who has worked at the airport for over 20 years,the airport company is well aware of its responsibility to its customers,and it has started to tackle the problems at baggage reclaim etc.
I witnessed a few problems last night,and a number of passengers were saying they would never use BHX again.
It is disappointing when these things happen,but BHX is not alone as many on this forum know.
There is some uncertainty as to whether a number of airlines will continue to operate some of their services/routes from the end of this summer,so although the airport has committed to much needed improvements,which will take time to complete,where exactly do you draw the line.
The addition of Jet2 and continued expansion of TOM,TCX and 1 or 2 others pax numbers should continue to rise,despite the political and security uncertainties.
HS2 is another problem,as some future expansion could well involve that facility,and we all know the situation there.
Unfortunately I can see problems getting worse this summer before things should settle down and improve going forward.We just have to hope that any damage done to the airports reputation is not permanent.