BIRMINGHAM - 4
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Body Scanners
Reported on a local forum but taken from the bbc - bhx bound this month.
BBC News - 'No scan, no flight' at Heathrow and Manchester
Probably will affect my family as we are off to the USA this year!
Not a particulary nice thought in respect of how it works but neither
is the potential of the alternative.
Pete
BBC News - 'No scan, no flight' at Heathrow and Manchester
Probably will affect my family as we are off to the USA this year!
Not a particulary nice thought in respect of how it works but neither
is the potential of the alternative.
Pete
Last edited by OltonPete; 1st Feb 2010 at 20:59. Reason: added text
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I think there has been a lot of rubbish in the press over this...Only one operator in a separate room will view these images. That person will be changed regularly for obvious reasons. There won't be loads of giggling individuals there for the laugh. With the thousands of passengers passing through the scanners can anyone really believe they are going to be interested in anything other than contra indications??? It seems people are OK with someone invading their personal space and touching them, but, when it comes to a blurry image...Well!
I hate all of these security systems, but if it speeds up the damn process, get them on the staff access points.
I hate all of these security systems, but if it speeds up the damn process, get them on the staff access points.
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EK lounge I think is around 05th March with official opening a few weeks later by some famous cricket player I understand ? not 100% though.
A6-ECY been in 4 days on the row now, only delivered 27th Jan - Nice to have a nice new B777 on the route!
A6-ECY been in 4 days on the row now, only delivered 27th Jan - Nice to have a nice new B777 on the route!
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Quote from another site
Emirates upgrades Business Class 
Emirates have now upgraded their lunchtime service (EK039/040) to the new re-configured High-density (HD) cabin with new "lie flat" seats in Business Class. This new configuration is initially being offered in the UK market with Birmingham being the first route to be upgraded! Currently 2 brand new 777-300ER's have this new configuration (both A6-ECY/ECZ*) with the latter yet to be delivered. A6-EBD is also being re-configured at this time. (new config: 42J/386Y).
The evening service will remain operated by mostly Low-density (LD) 777-300ER's until September 2010 when this service also gets an upgrade to a HD aircraft.
Emirates have now upgraded their lunchtime service (EK039/040) to the new re-configured High-density (HD) cabin with new "lie flat" seats in Business Class. This new configuration is initially being offered in the UK market with Birmingham being the first route to be upgraded! Currently 2 brand new 777-300ER's have this new configuration (both A6-ECY/ECZ*) with the latter yet to be delivered. A6-EBD is also being re-configured at this time. (new config: 42J/386Y).
The evening service will remain operated by mostly Low-density (LD) 777-300ER's until September 2010 when this service also gets an upgrade to a HD aircraft.
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The introduction of the lie flat bed in Business is something EK should have done years ago, their current Business product is way behind BA, VS and EY. Still better late than never and a sure sign of a strong commitment to BHX, lie flat business beds and the opening of a dedicated lounge. Although it may be some time yet, I can see a third daily flight in the future, unless another carrier gets in there first - EY and QR must have looked/been looking seriously at BHX but don't seem to have gone much further than that 
Emirates have now upgraded their lunchtime service (EK039/040) to the new re-configured High-density (HD) cabin
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EK
crewmeal
It is an "upgrade" in the product on offer to business class passengers
and a short-term downgrade in the number of daily seats on sale from bhx until the HD 77W starts in September on EK37/8.
EK39/40 was a 442 seat aircraft although over the last year I believe
various aircraft have been used but mainly the 442 and 427 config.
I am not sure if there is more space in economy with 386 seats than
there what was on offer on the 42/400 config. I would imagine the extra space is given over to business to get the lie-flats in.
GayFriendly
With EK pax fast approaching 40000 per month I am amazed that EY or QR are not looking at the situation carefully. EY have nailed their colours to
the mast recently with the intention to increase Dublin and upgrade MAN
to the 777 and there are rumours that QR are looking to upgrade their Manchester service to a 777 as well.
QR's two rumoured new European destinations have been announced as Barcelona and Copenhagen but they are for Spring and with several new 777's due this year more routes are on the cards. Although I believe they have justannounced a Brazillian destination although that will be a 77L.
I suppose it is a lot cheaper to increase an existing airport than "risking" a new destination not too far away with all the associated marketing costs.
The one advantage QR would have is probably 100 transits pax per day (say 4 x a week) to Amritsar without even having to do much.
I believe Doha - Amritsar goes daily soon and if Mahan Air is now averaging 160 per flight via Tehran, I would think QR could poach some of these although I would imagine there would be a difference between the fares charged.
However where would you prefer to fly Doha - BHX or Tehran - Honily?
Pete
It is an "upgrade" in the product on offer to business class passengers
and a short-term downgrade in the number of daily seats on sale from bhx until the HD 77W starts in September on EK37/8.
EK39/40 was a 442 seat aircraft although over the last year I believe
various aircraft have been used but mainly the 442 and 427 config.
I am not sure if there is more space in economy with 386 seats than
there what was on offer on the 42/400 config. I would imagine the extra space is given over to business to get the lie-flats in.
GayFriendly
With EK pax fast approaching 40000 per month I am amazed that EY or QR are not looking at the situation carefully. EY have nailed their colours to
the mast recently with the intention to increase Dublin and upgrade MAN
to the 777 and there are rumours that QR are looking to upgrade their Manchester service to a 777 as well.
QR's two rumoured new European destinations have been announced as Barcelona and Copenhagen but they are for Spring and with several new 777's due this year more routes are on the cards. Although I believe they have justannounced a Brazillian destination although that will be a 77L.
I suppose it is a lot cheaper to increase an existing airport than "risking" a new destination not too far away with all the associated marketing costs.
The one advantage QR would have is probably 100 transits pax per day (say 4 x a week) to Amritsar without even having to do much.
I believe Doha - Amritsar goes daily soon and if Mahan Air is now averaging 160 per flight via Tehran, I would think QR could poach some of these although I would imagine there would be a difference between the fares charged.
However where would you prefer to fly Doha - BHX or Tehran - Honily?
Pete
I don't get why Mahan didn't re-introduce MAN at the same time; obviously BHX provided richer pickings.
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Mahan Air
jongeman
Honily can be quite pleasant on a summers afternoon but not much use for connections!
Indeed the last time Mahan Air operated, the Manchester service was carrying more pax than the BHX service but I assume that this time round they have got more contracts with local agents and although not exclusively for Amritsar connections it has probably helped with Air India out of the way.
Pete
Honily can be quite pleasant on a summers afternoon but not much use for connections!
Indeed the last time Mahan Air operated, the Manchester service was carrying more pax than the BHX service but I assume that this time round they have got more contracts with local agents and although not exclusively for Amritsar connections it has probably helped with Air India out of the way.
Pete
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Heathrow faces threat from plan to link high-speed rail route with Birmingham
A modestly sized airport off the M42 in Birmingham could become a serious competitor to Heathrow under government plans for a 200mph high-speed rail network.
A site near Birmingham International airport is being considered as a station on a new route that will link Britain's largest cities by a 50-minute train ride, according to rail industry sources. If the government pushes ahead with the plan it would take no longer to reach Britain's sixth largest airport from London's Euston station than it currently takes to get to Heathrow.
Dan Milmo: 'To fly from Birmingham rather than congested Heathrow' Link to this audio
The route would see the line emerging from Euston before travelling to Old Oak Common in west London where an interchange would link the route to Heathrow airport and Crossrail, a £16bn rail service joining Heathrow to Canary Wharf due to open in 2017.
The line would then sweep through Buckinghamshire to the West Midlands where a parkway station, where drivers can park their vehicles and use buses to complete their journey, would be built near Birmingham International and the nearby National Exhibition Centre.
The first phase of the line, which the government hopes will become part of a UK-wide network, will terminate at a new station in Birmingham city centre but the main spur would continue up from Birmingham International through Trent Valley to join the west coast line north of Birmingham, where the services would continue at conventional speeds to Manchester and Scotland.
Ministers are particularly sensitive about where the route goes once it emerges from London because the line is expected to go through a section of the Chiltern hills in Buckinghamshire – one of 40 areas of outstanding natural beauty in England and Wales. The Chilterns Conservation Board, the public body responsible for protecting the area, has warned that parts of the countryside could be "trashed" by a high-speed route.
A 1,000-page report compiled by High Speed Two, a government-backed company, was delivered last year to the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, including a detailed plan for the first phase placing the tracks within five metres in urban areas and 25 metres in the countryside.
It will include three broad proposals for a UK-wide network that would reduce the journey time from London to Edinburgh from four-and-a-half hours to two hours 40 minutes. London to Birmingham is expected to take 50 minutes using a service that will carry 18 trains per hour. Adonis is due to publish the report before the end of March, with construction on the first phase due to begin in 2017 and finish in 2025. A spokesman for Birmingham International said the airport had received no "formal or informal" indications that it will be on the high speed route, but added that a strong case exists for making it part of a new rail network because it will allow the airport to win back Midlands passengers who use Heathrow.
Birmingham International airport plans to nearly treble in size from 9.2 million passengers per year to 27 million by 2030 without adding a new runway. Instead, it is building a 400m runway extension that will allow the airport to host planes with heavier fuel loads, opening up destinations such as San Francisco and China.
A spokesman said that airports such as Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow would also benefit.
Birmingham International broke ranks with the aviation industry last year to lambast the government's apparent obsession with Britain's largest airport. Birmingham International's chief executive, Paul Kehoe, said it was "preposterous" to let Heathrow develop further.
He added: "Heathrow sucks in traffic, we have to support it and if you don't support it you are made to look like climate change deniers."
A report by the Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory panel, has made the case for a third runway at Heathrow by forecasting that British airports can handle up to 140 million more passengers per year ‑ which would allow at least four runways at Heathrow ‑ by 2050.
However, connecting Birmingham International to a high-speed rail line would suit the Conservative party, which has pledged to block a third runway and build an ultra-fast rail network instead. The shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, expects regional airports such as Birmingham to soak up the airport growth permitted by the government's advisory body on climate change. The committee said that UK airports could add 140 million travellers per year, on top of 230 million currently, without breaching the government's target of limiting aviation's carbon dioxide emissions to 2005 levels by 2050.
BAA, the owner of Heathrow airport, said any attempt to transform Birmingham International airport into a serious competitor would not work.
Heathrow connects 66 million passengers per year to 181 destinations around the world thanks to its two runways, while an attempt by British Airways to turn single-runway Gatwick airport into an alternative hub was a failure, it said. BAA executives estimate that 1.5 million people per year use Birmingham airport to fly to major European airports such as Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol and believe that establishing a high-speed link between Birmingham and Heathrow would see those travellers come to Heathrow instead.
A Department for Transport spokesman said the Birmingham airport station was "complete speculation".
He added: "We have yet to reach a view about specific routes. If the government decides to go ahead with plans for high-speed rail, it will publish a white paper by the end of March."
A site near Birmingham International airport is being considered as a station on a new route that will link Britain's largest cities by a 50-minute train ride, according to rail industry sources. If the government pushes ahead with the plan it would take no longer to reach Britain's sixth largest airport from London's Euston station than it currently takes to get to Heathrow.
Dan Milmo: 'To fly from Birmingham rather than congested Heathrow' Link to this audio
The route would see the line emerging from Euston before travelling to Old Oak Common in west London where an interchange would link the route to Heathrow airport and Crossrail, a £16bn rail service joining Heathrow to Canary Wharf due to open in 2017.
The line would then sweep through Buckinghamshire to the West Midlands where a parkway station, where drivers can park their vehicles and use buses to complete their journey, would be built near Birmingham International and the nearby National Exhibition Centre.
The first phase of the line, which the government hopes will become part of a UK-wide network, will terminate at a new station in Birmingham city centre but the main spur would continue up from Birmingham International through Trent Valley to join the west coast line north of Birmingham, where the services would continue at conventional speeds to Manchester and Scotland.
Ministers are particularly sensitive about where the route goes once it emerges from London because the line is expected to go through a section of the Chiltern hills in Buckinghamshire – one of 40 areas of outstanding natural beauty in England and Wales. The Chilterns Conservation Board, the public body responsible for protecting the area, has warned that parts of the countryside could be "trashed" by a high-speed route.
A 1,000-page report compiled by High Speed Two, a government-backed company, was delivered last year to the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, including a detailed plan for the first phase placing the tracks within five metres in urban areas and 25 metres in the countryside.
It will include three broad proposals for a UK-wide network that would reduce the journey time from London to Edinburgh from four-and-a-half hours to two hours 40 minutes. London to Birmingham is expected to take 50 minutes using a service that will carry 18 trains per hour. Adonis is due to publish the report before the end of March, with construction on the first phase due to begin in 2017 and finish in 2025. A spokesman for Birmingham International said the airport had received no "formal or informal" indications that it will be on the high speed route, but added that a strong case exists for making it part of a new rail network because it will allow the airport to win back Midlands passengers who use Heathrow.
Birmingham International airport plans to nearly treble in size from 9.2 million passengers per year to 27 million by 2030 without adding a new runway. Instead, it is building a 400m runway extension that will allow the airport to host planes with heavier fuel loads, opening up destinations such as San Francisco and China.
A spokesman said that airports such as Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow would also benefit.
Birmingham International broke ranks with the aviation industry last year to lambast the government's apparent obsession with Britain's largest airport. Birmingham International's chief executive, Paul Kehoe, said it was "preposterous" to let Heathrow develop further.
He added: "Heathrow sucks in traffic, we have to support it and if you don't support it you are made to look like climate change deniers."
A report by the Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory panel, has made the case for a third runway at Heathrow by forecasting that British airports can handle up to 140 million more passengers per year ‑ which would allow at least four runways at Heathrow ‑ by 2050.
However, connecting Birmingham International to a high-speed rail line would suit the Conservative party, which has pledged to block a third runway and build an ultra-fast rail network instead. The shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, expects regional airports such as Birmingham to soak up the airport growth permitted by the government's advisory body on climate change. The committee said that UK airports could add 140 million travellers per year, on top of 230 million currently, without breaching the government's target of limiting aviation's carbon dioxide emissions to 2005 levels by 2050.
BAA, the owner of Heathrow airport, said any attempt to transform Birmingham International airport into a serious competitor would not work.
Heathrow connects 66 million passengers per year to 181 destinations around the world thanks to its two runways, while an attempt by British Airways to turn single-runway Gatwick airport into an alternative hub was a failure, it said. BAA executives estimate that 1.5 million people per year use Birmingham airport to fly to major European airports such as Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol and believe that establishing a high-speed link between Birmingham and Heathrow would see those travellers come to Heathrow instead.
A Department for Transport spokesman said the Birmingham airport station was "complete speculation".
He added: "We have yet to reach a view about specific routes. If the government decides to go ahead with plans for high-speed rail, it will publish a white paper by the end of March."
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At the end of the day it will be down to cost.....If Brum is cheaper then it will be used. I doubt it will make much difference initially to the resident population. They need their habits changing. Some, especially business pax, don't put any thought into how to get to any particular destination....However it may influence incoming pax to look at BHX. I think the shuttle service that serves Birmingham International station will have to be extended to the new station or a new link put in to make it complete....I suppose, along with the runway extension, it won't do us any harm. Only time will tell and it's that far off I don't think I'll worry about the effects, positive or negative at this time.....
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AI/FR
AI - are apparently looking for a new hub in Europe to operate through, FRA (its current hub) has been cited as too expensive. DUB currently in the frame which seems a crackpot idea unless they are looking simply to make a plain tech stop (in which case it will come down to whoever is cheapest with available slots?). If they are looking to make a true hub style operation then sadly BHX I don't think has a chance even with the new pier, it is let down by runway length constraints as AI fly to west coast US. PIA did OK when they used BHX for YYZ and ORD stops en route but I seem to remember they were really only tech stops with very few pax being picked up or dropped off at BHX. I'm sure AI could make a three weekly BHX-ATQ-DEL work but sadly they don't seem to think so despite their now infamous quote made after they pulled out in 2009 'we haven't forgotten about Birmingham'. I hope BHX lobbies hard for this one, having worked with AI before could be an advantage although MAN will provide extremely strong competition me thinks.
FR - another a/c for EDI making six. Obviously BAA are more cozy to work with than BHX......and a new hangar at PIK, so all that blarney about 50 routes and a new hangar was exactly that, pure blarney. BHX needs a much more committed loco operator, I think FR have really let BHX down. Question is - who? WW and Jet2 committed to EMA, EZY just not interested in the Midlands and BE happy to stick with tried and tested routes (admittedly they have greatly expanded their French offerings from BHX this summer albeit only for six weeks or so). EDI surely will overtake BHX in pax figures this year?
FR - another a/c for EDI making six. Obviously BAA are more cozy to work with than BHX......and a new hangar at PIK, so all that blarney about 50 routes and a new hangar was exactly that, pure blarney. BHX needs a much more committed loco operator, I think FR have really let BHX down. Question is - who? WW and Jet2 committed to EMA, EZY just not interested in the Midlands and BE happy to stick with tried and tested routes (admittedly they have greatly expanded their French offerings from BHX this summer albeit only for six weeks or so). EDI surely will overtake BHX in pax figures this year?
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AI/FR
GayFriendly
I agree if AI are going to want to fly to SFO, LAX or YVR to tap into the
expat market then BHX is a non-starter until the runway is extended.
Manchester can't offer as much VFR traffic in the UK but pax might travel up from the West Mids, Leicester and Warwickshire but that is a gamble. However in the UK there is little alternative and as I said on the Manchester thread I am sure they will knocking on AI's door.
Also VFR traffic can be low yielding and it might not be a consideration but surely it all helps? However Jet use Brussels as their hub but I am unsure how successful that is although it is mainly A330's now compared to several 777's originally (I have now idea if there is much of a local ex-pat community).
FR
I compared some November loads between EDI & BHX using the CAA
punctuality stats and both were as bad as each other although there is no information on yields and average spend on board which would also be needed to get a better picture.
As I have said before I believe the routes dropped by FR were in the main
understandable, it was the original choice which was questionable.
Pete
I agree if AI are going to want to fly to SFO, LAX or YVR to tap into the
expat market then BHX is a non-starter until the runway is extended.
Manchester can't offer as much VFR traffic in the UK but pax might travel up from the West Mids, Leicester and Warwickshire but that is a gamble. However in the UK there is little alternative and as I said on the Manchester thread I am sure they will knocking on AI's door.
Also VFR traffic can be low yielding and it might not be a consideration but surely it all helps? However Jet use Brussels as their hub but I am unsure how successful that is although it is mainly A330's now compared to several 777's originally (I have now idea if there is much of a local ex-pat community).
FR
I compared some November loads between EDI & BHX using the CAA
punctuality stats and both were as bad as each other although there is no information on yields and average spend on board which would also be needed to get a better picture.
As I have said before I believe the routes dropped by FR were in the main
understandable, it was the original choice which was questionable.
Pete
Last edited by OltonPete; 13th Feb 2010 at 07:47. Reason: spelling
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AI hub: Dublin Manchester or Brum?
If you consider the facilities BHX has to offer in two different forms, then it is clear where the bar to development and expansion lies.
Firstly for the passenger in terms of current infrastructure: terminal facilities, accessibility by road, rail or bus and its central local within the UK and proximity to ethnic strongholds are all very good, much better than most if not all other UK airports.
However, facilities for airlines wishing to develop routes and hubs are limited through the length of the runway.
This was, is and will remain the major stumbling block at BHX up and until the airport's management tackle the problem.
No extended runway, no major development. It is as simple as that.
Firstly for the passenger in terms of current infrastructure: terminal facilities, accessibility by road, rail or bus and its central local within the UK and proximity to ethnic strongholds are all very good, much better than most if not all other UK airports.
However, facilities for airlines wishing to develop routes and hubs are limited through the length of the runway.
This was, is and will remain the major stumbling block at BHX up and until the airport's management tackle the problem.
No extended runway, no major development. It is as simple as that.