I think this sort of devlopment tends to fall out of the the lo-co model. No longer do airlines want to pay to use airports. They expect airports to make a return from the increased passenger flows which result from the arrival of said lo-co airlines.

However passengers are tightening their belts & airlines are getting more creative at keeping the passengers out of the terminals. Internet check in & baggage pricing policies deter passengers from checking in baggage & to a certain extent from turning up early to shop in the terminals. As a result, the airports find they have to become more "ingenious" / "crafty" / enter a less polite term of your choice, at creating revenue streams of their own.

Charging for trollies (BHX is not the only one) & charging to use the drop off zone etc are some of the less popular ideas but no one loves most of a certain airlines ideas when they first get suggested (....pay to check in anyone???) It doesn't appear to deter them though.

I heard it all today, seems some people think the trolly is a bargin at a £1 and are taking them home with them :}

Whilst we talk about penny pinching, I assume the car park passes will be discounted for the staff car park now that no realistic bus service is provided??

I think the latest valuation is £7 to £8 each scrap value......:}:}

Lets face it BHX is out to make as much money as possible from all angles, some not very pleasent. EMA dont charge for trolleys, also they dont charge you a £1 to drop off or pick up.... You get minutes free.... BHX hide behind the terror threat to make the money which in my mind is disgraceful. I always supported my local airport but over the years I have found they are lousy in many departments all due to cost cutting... Flew in from Jersey and the flight was shorter than waiting for the bags to arrive on the carousel:*
So I now try and fly from EMA which actually treats you like a customer not some one to fleece... Manchester went from there to USA and was out of the airport with bags and driving home within 20 mins of wheels hitting terafirma...
So BHX and Mr Joe Kelly you can shove BHX where the sun dont shine:ok:

It's Paul Kehoe not Joe Kelly!!!:rolleyes:

BHX charges

I for one am finding this BHX bashing tedious.

Any one of you enlightened types, who want everything for nothing, care to enlighten me on the back of a fag packet how the airport is ever going to raise funds for its planned large capital projects, including the runway extension?

I appreciate that the £1s from the trolleys won't go far, but its a start. Times are tight and the airport must maximise its revenue by any means possible.

We are still in a deep recession and so the actions BHX and others take may not be the ones they would choose in happier times. Only today we have seen a leading rail route effectively nationalised. The operator wanted the big profits, but baulked at the reality.

Somehow, I don't think a knight in shining armour will rescue any BHX projects. It is up to the owners, and management to be prudent in any financial dealings they are involved in.

Of course, you are entitled to that view, but when we all end up paying for: trolleys, toilets, clear plastic bags for fluids, checking-in, buses to car parks, dropping passengers off, the shuttle link to the train station, just remember how pleasant travelling through BHX once was.

You may think that a measly 1 pound for a trolley is such a trivial matter but others can see where it is all going to end up.

Do you work at BHX? If so, maybe you'd be happy with a pound slot on the staff toilet cubicles? Every penny helps, eh?

It's not a case of wanting everything for nothing - it's a case of not being charged for everything!

This is the Birmingham airport thread....So you'll have to put up with a bit of BHX bashing as you put it. Unless of course you do something wonderful, then you'll get praise for it...
Not nice to see how your decisions are received is it? Us enlightened types are perfectly entitled to view it as bad Customer Service. As you acknowledge the few quid will not go far....Treat the customers right and that will go further...
Will they give free trolleys after the recession?? No way,

"the airport must maximise its revenue by any means possible".....Well that gives you lots of scope then.....How about charging to use the escalator instead of the stairs? Lets car boot all the stuff security are confiscating...

I know that CS has gone west in the UK in general. It's a shame that aviation is sinking to the lowest common denominator.
I've no doubt others will follow and start charging for trolleys, however, that does not make it something to be proud of.....

I guess everyone is yearning for the old customer service that a plane ticket used to buy you. Sadly plane tickets are generally worth less than a train ticket now and the service levels are now at that level. Airports are merely a hub to get you to your destination these days. Brittish Rail do not provide anything for free. You turn up, get on a train, get off at the other end. Sadly this is now the same as airports but this is the sign of the convenience of air travel these days.

Call100 No I did mean Joe Kelly... BHXRWY33 re bashing BHX I think they deserve it, dont use the tightening of belts as an excuse, because if thats correct the end user will have to also tighten their belts and use other airports that are cheaper and care about the customer......:=
One other thing BHXRWY33 you may defend the airport and its money grabbing management but what happens when they start cutting staff and sadly if your one of them, I somehow think your tune will abruptly change!

Can we run a campaign to remove those terrible BMIBABY adverts on the monorail trains while we're at it? I'd make an exception, and pay a quid happily!

Trolley usage.
 

Did a couple of BHX/GRO legs last week and I cannot recall one PAX using a trolley from/to drop off car park-everyone was towing luggage.
If this is the norm then the capital expenditure on the new system will never be recovered.
Which bookeeper did the calcs to justify the capital expense and what utilisation figures did he use.
Not knocking BHX, just the bean counter who cannot count.

Trolleys/plastic bags/drop-off parking
 

Regarding BHX bashing - along with most(?) others, its the bean counter who come up with these p1ss-poor suggestions we have a gripe with and not the staff who operate the facility. If BHX needs to raise funds for future capital works, for example I'd rather pay an additional £5 flat rate tax ontop of my ticket cost instead of feeling that I'm being stung by some Steptoe-esque airport management every time I want to engage with a facility of any description at BHX.

P.S. How come most other airports seem to operate/expand successfully (& it's not just BAA group) without charging for all the things that BHX has started to impose recently?

Mahan Air / Emirates A380
 

Lets get away from trolley talk and back onto aircraft - please !

Mahan Air returned to BHX this morning with A310 F-OJHH, lets hope the troubles in Iran dont put an early end to the service !

Emirates will operate the evening service with an A380 on 9 Sept 2009 to coinside with the opening of their new BHX business lounge.

BHX5DME

Mahan Air Today I hear the Fuellers have refused to fuel it and its just sitting there at BHX oh dear!!!:ugh::ugh:

Mahan Air are a lousy airline witha p!sspoor reputation, wasnt it their 310 that tried to land at Honiley beacon a while back. I would not fly with them and if I lived near the flight path I would make sure I was out shopping when that heap of junk took off:E

Only Exxon/Esso refused to refuel...As it's an American company it won't deal with anything Iranian!!??
They didn't have a contract for fuelling with the other two. Hopefully it's been resolved...They may not be an airline most want to fly with. They are another addition to the fold though!! Not a good start but maybe, just maybe, they might make more of success of it this time round...:}

There is still some sort of problem (don't know whether this is still anything to do with fuelling) with todays Mahan Air flight as it has been delayed since 11.30 this morning!

bhx
 

hope it works out ok with mahan air at bhx
0523 covman

If not maybe they can operate from Cov:E
Joking apart its such a bloody shame that nothing operates from there anymore. I flew a few times from Cov and found the staff superb it may have been a bit cramped and lacking in facilities but that was more than made up by the way everything was done, maybe the Cov management could take over from the shiesters at BHX:ok: