BIRMINGHAM - 5
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Bagso, you seem to correlate the success of MAN with the success of the city of Manchester, afraid you can't, MAN is the de-facto gateway for Northern England, it sits in the middle of 4 of the UKs largest urban conurbations, Merseyside, Gtr Manc, West Yorkshire and West Mids, add Lancashire, East Yorks, Cheshire etc you begin to understand why there is no point in comparing BHX to MAN. BHX serves predominanty the city of Birmingham and in my opinion is doing a decent, not brilliant but a decent job of it. MAN serves a much wider geography and as such any comparison is between the 2 airports is frankly daft.
Join Date: Jul 2004
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hammerb32,
BHX serves much more than the city of Brum.
If one forgets about LoCo's, and their are a vast number of the travelling public that have will do their utmost to avoid travelling by LoCo, and think 'proper' scheduled service, worldwide network destinations, then BHX serves the middle of England, between LON & MAN, and much of Wales also.
Which other airport, between LON & MAN, offers worldwide destinations with the likes of KLM, Swiss, Lufty, SAS, Sabena, Frog Air etc. etc. etc?
BHX serves much more than the city of Brum.
If one forgets about LoCo's, and their are a vast number of the travelling public that have will do their utmost to avoid travelling by LoCo, and think 'proper' scheduled service, worldwide network destinations, then BHX serves the middle of England, between LON & MAN, and much of Wales also.
Which other airport, between LON & MAN, offers worldwide destinations with the likes of KLM, Swiss, Lufty, SAS, Sabena, Frog Air etc. etc. etc?
Join Date: Jan 2007
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If memory serves me right, Manchester got a head start way back when the National council for Airports disbanded and Airports went totally independent.
The council allocated development monies to airports through an application process. In the last year of it's existence Manchester was allocated nearly all of the pot for its major expansion of the terminal and stands. This gave it a massive advantage that, to be fair, it's not let go......
It will always be ahead of BHX in routes etc. It's pointless entering any war of words on something that just is and will be. However, BHX is a better airport overall In my humble opinion..
The council allocated development monies to airports through an application process. In the last year of it's existence Manchester was allocated nearly all of the pot for its major expansion of the terminal and stands. This gave it a massive advantage that, to be fair, it's not let go......
It will always be ahead of BHX in routes etc. It's pointless entering any war of words on something that just is and will be. However, BHX is a better airport overall In my humble opinion..
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Either a route is viable or it isnt. There is no magic and markets cannot be 'rustled up' from nowhere.
There is always VFR, there is always some need for a business meeting, and there are always curious tourists looking for new places. These can all help fill a few rows in their own way, and people who use one airport to continue by land to another city can help make up the balance.
I content that there is already a 'market' for most European major cities from BHX - and certainly for our tired list of capitals not served (BER, MAD, STO, ATH etc).
With the right aircraft, frequency, deal at each end and marketing, all of the above, and many more could work.
Conversely, hundreds of routes each year which 'look' popular get dropped, usually because the market 'exists', but the yields are poor.
Mahan Air
So I wonder if this has put paid to any chance of a revival of the Mahan Air's route to BHX
Accident: Mahan A306 at Mashad on Sep 4th 2011, burst tyres, runway excursion and nose gear collapse on landing
Accident: Mahan A306 at Mashad on Sep 4th 2011, burst tyres, runway excursion and nose gear collapse on landing
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EMIRATES' PERFORMANCE AT MAN v BHX
An interesting article on Emirates’ performance at MAN that BHX will no doubt want to ponder on. It's appeared in today's Manchester Evening News:
Airline Emirates today said passenger and freight figures have soared since it brought its biggest jumbo jet to Manchester a year ago.
The carrier launched the A380 on its Dubai service 12 months ago and has since added a third daily flight.
That has led to passenger numbers increasing by 50 per cent, while the amount of cargo it has flown out of Manchester has grown by 40 per cent.
UK vice-president Laurie Berryman told the MEN that Emirates hopes to bring a second jumbo to Manchester within two years, as well as upgrading the A330 aircraft it uses on its 10am daily flight to a larger A777.
He said Emirates’ expansion has been driven by a combination of businesses seeking export opportunities to the east and holidaymakers eager to explore new, far-flung destinations, particularly at a time when the pound has been performing poorly against the euro.
Mr Berryman added: “This year has been extremely successful and has exceeded all our expectations. Going back to 12 months ago, we were concerned about adding the extra capacity and it was a bit of a step into the unknown.
“However, as has been the case with Manchester time and again, we have filled the extra capacity we put into the market.”
Mr Berryman added the amount of cargo the airline carried out of the north west increased across the year by 40 per cent, with Manchester comfortably outstripping Emirates’ other UK bases, like Birmingham and Newcastle.
Airline Emirates today said passenger and freight figures have soared since it brought its biggest jumbo jet to Manchester a year ago.
The carrier launched the A380 on its Dubai service 12 months ago and has since added a third daily flight.
That has led to passenger numbers increasing by 50 per cent, while the amount of cargo it has flown out of Manchester has grown by 40 per cent.
UK vice-president Laurie Berryman told the MEN that Emirates hopes to bring a second jumbo to Manchester within two years, as well as upgrading the A330 aircraft it uses on its 10am daily flight to a larger A777.
He said Emirates’ expansion has been driven by a combination of businesses seeking export opportunities to the east and holidaymakers eager to explore new, far-flung destinations, particularly at a time when the pound has been performing poorly against the euro.
Mr Berryman added: “This year has been extremely successful and has exceeded all our expectations. Going back to 12 months ago, we were concerned about adding the extra capacity and it was a bit of a step into the unknown.
“However, as has been the case with Manchester time and again, we have filled the extra capacity we put into the market.”
Mr Berryman added the amount of cargo the airline carried out of the north west increased across the year by 40 per cent, with Manchester comfortably outstripping Emirates’ other UK bases, like Birmingham and Newcastle.
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Emirates’ performance at MAN that BHX will no doubt want to ponder on
Join Date: Aug 2006
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Just like people who gossip about others because they don't have enough to talk about from their own lives, I think the MAN vs BHX 'debate' has only happened because, lets face it, in terms of airline developments, jack 
is happening and is likely to happen at BHX so its easier to start going on about somewhere else that does seem to be going places. MAN always was, is and will be bigger than BHX for well documented reasons.
BHX has its place in the UK airport business but I think we have to get used to the fact that, due to its location (too close to LON for comfort), failure 10 years ago to embrace the developing loco airline business (concentrating instead on pleasing BA) and a high cost base, it isn't now as important in the UK airport league as people like to think: I very much doubt BHX will overtake LTN or EDI in pax figures or range of short haul destinations offered in the near or even longer term future. Its very unlikely either that BHX will attract a new loco base now (there's only EZY or LS in the running for that, neither are interested). What BHX does have is a solid range of European full service hub connections (although EDI is not far behind on that one) which although will not offer spectacular growth in pax numbers seem to be successful and here to stay. The question is, where can BHX turn now to achieve pax and direct destination growth? The phrase 'up the creek' comes to mind......
PS Worryingly there don't appear to be any new shop openings at BHX either......so there really will be nothing to talk about now!
is happening and is likely to happen at BHX so its easier to start going on about somewhere else that does seem to be going places. MAN always was, is and will be bigger than BHX for well documented reasons. BHX has its place in the UK airport business but I think we have to get used to the fact that, due to its location (too close to LON for comfort), failure 10 years ago to embrace the developing loco airline business (concentrating instead on pleasing BA) and a high cost base, it isn't now as important in the UK airport league as people like to think: I very much doubt BHX will overtake LTN or EDI in pax figures or range of short haul destinations offered in the near or even longer term future. Its very unlikely either that BHX will attract a new loco base now (there's only EZY or LS in the running for that, neither are interested). What BHX does have is a solid range of European full service hub connections (although EDI is not far behind on that one) which although will not offer spectacular growth in pax numbers seem to be successful and here to stay. The question is, where can BHX turn now to achieve pax and direct destination growth? The phrase 'up the creek' comes to mind......
PS Worryingly there don't appear to be any new shop openings at BHX either......so there really will be nothing to talk about now!
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GayFriendly
There are all sorts of exciting things happening at BHX.
There's erm, a new Chief Financial Officer, probably brought in to think up ways of increasing Paul Kehoe's £300,000 a year remuneration.
Then there's a new Travelodge Hotel, probably mothballing rooms already.
Surely the most exciting thing, particularly for Mr Kehoe who is apparently an enthusiastic Greenie, we have a new Environment Manager.
The BHX environment team are a dedicated bunch who are regularly sent out to stir up local oppostion to any proposed expansion of the Airport.
More seriously, there seems to be no visible strategic plan to increase passenger numbers.
BHX is known as a quite profitable airport with managable debts but apparently little ambition to challenge rival airports.
For me the question which is never really asked is, why are Birmingham Airport's charges so high?
Typically they are double those in place at Manchester and almost treble that airport's in the off-peak period.
Birmingham seems to have fees which are near, or at, those at London airports rather than at other regional airports.
It's possible the strategy is to build, and pay for, the Runway Extension and new Tower before embarking on a cost cutting exercise which will allow BHX to attract growth by lowering charges substantially.
If that's the case, I doubt much will happen for a couple of years.
There are all sorts of exciting things happening at BHX.
There's erm, a new Chief Financial Officer, probably brought in to think up ways of increasing Paul Kehoe's £300,000 a year remuneration.
Then there's a new Travelodge Hotel, probably mothballing rooms already.
Surely the most exciting thing, particularly for Mr Kehoe who is apparently an enthusiastic Greenie, we have a new Environment Manager.
The BHX environment team are a dedicated bunch who are regularly sent out to stir up local oppostion to any proposed expansion of the Airport.
More seriously, there seems to be no visible strategic plan to increase passenger numbers.
BHX is known as a quite profitable airport with managable debts but apparently little ambition to challenge rival airports.
For me the question which is never really asked is, why are Birmingham Airport's charges so high?
Typically they are double those in place at Manchester and almost treble that airport's in the off-peak period.
Birmingham seems to have fees which are near, or at, those at London airports rather than at other regional airports.
It's possible the strategy is to build, and pay for, the Runway Extension and new Tower before embarking on a cost cutting exercise which will allow BHX to attract growth by lowering charges substantially.
If that's the case, I doubt much will happen for a couple of years.
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The parking charges at EGBB are very cheap.
I gather the Elmdon apron is going to have new stand markings put down.
One stand big enough for a 744. And another for a md11. Read in to this what ever you want to......................
I Think the most exciting thing going on at the moment is how rapidly the new control tower is going up and Eurojets new hangar.
I gather the Elmdon apron is going to have new stand markings put down.
One stand big enough for a 744. And another for a md11. Read in to this what ever you want to......................
I Think the most exciting thing going on at the moment is how rapidly the new control tower is going up and Eurojets new hangar.
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Guess it could make sense, the international pier has designated markings for MD-11's yet realisticly there is more chance of a freighter MD-11 coming in. Unless of course KLM are planning an upgrade! Doesn't Elmdon have a stand for a 747? Just thinking back to the G8 summit when Air Force One parked up.
Join Date: Feb 2010
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New Head of Route Development
Annoucement from BHX.COM A step in the right direction?
"Birmingham Airport has recruited William Pearson as Head of Route Development to grow the Airport’s airline and route network. He joins Birmingham from Manchester Airport and is due to start his new role on the 6th October.
Currently Head of Aviation Sales at Manchester Airport, Will has an established background in aviation and has been a familiar face within the industry for some years"
Full Story
William Appointed as New Head of Route Development - Birmingham Airport
"Birmingham Airport has recruited William Pearson as Head of Route Development to grow the Airport’s airline and route network. He joins Birmingham from Manchester Airport and is due to start his new role on the 6th October.
Currently Head of Aviation Sales at Manchester Airport, Will has an established background in aviation and has been a familiar face within the industry for some years"
Full Story
William Appointed as New Head of Route Development - Birmingham Airport
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Head of Route Development Appointed
Real news from BHX at last.
William Pearson, currently Head of Aviation Sales at Manchester, has been appointed Head of Route Development at Birmingham starting 6th October.
He'll have his work cut out as long as BHX's charges remain so high.
William Pearson, currently Head of Aviation Sales at Manchester, has been appointed Head of Route Development at Birmingham starting 6th October.
He'll have his work cut out as long as BHX's charges remain so high.
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Aviation Sales
TSR2,
His Linkeden profile is as follows, so it does like he could be a person to move things forward...i wonder if the route development agency Mr Kehoe brought in is now Kaput!
"Head of Aviation Sales
Manchester Airport
Public Company; Airlines/Aviation industry
March 2009 – Present (2 years 7 months)
Retention of existing and development of new air services to Manchester Airport"
His Linkeden profile is as follows, so it does like he could be a person to move things forward...i wonder if the route development agency Mr Kehoe brought in is now Kaput!
"Head of Aviation Sales
Manchester Airport
Public Company; Airlines/Aviation industry
March 2009 – Present (2 years 7 months)
Retention of existing and development of new air services to Manchester Airport"