Birmingham Airport reports record-breaking February figures
Birmingham Airport notched up its busiest February on record last month, after a big jump in the number of passengers travelling from its terminals.
During February the airport handled 807,733 passengers – 83,000 more than the same month in 2016 and an 11.5 per cent increase.
Demand increased on both long and short haul services with very significant growth again recorded on long-haul flights – up 21 per cent compared to the same month last year.
The number of passengers taking short haul flights grew by more than nine per cent year-on-year.
It also means that Birmingham Airport has now recorded two continuous years of record figures.
Paul Kehoe, chief executive officer at Birmingham Airport, said: “This unprecedented demand, particularly to long haul destinations, goes hand-in-hand with the booming regional economy and means this airport is becoming increasingly attractive for airlines to serve the Midlands market.
“Only last month we broke the news that one of the world’s most recognisable brands, British Airways, will be returning to Birmingham Airport from this summer, becoming the tenth new airline in the last year to launch.
“Our focus now is on completing the £100 million package of development works for the summer season to prepare the operation for our busiest period ever, and later this year we will consult on our Master Plan to scope out how the current site can be maximised and the benefits of HS2 realised.”
Scheduled traffic in February accounted for 91 per cent of the total, with charter passengers making up the remaining nine per cent.
Destinations which saw a particular spike in demand included Madrid, Cape Verde, Berlin, Salzburg and Budapest.
