Record year for Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport has reported its busiest year ever in 2014, which ended with another record month in December.

Over the twelve month calendar year, the airport handled 9,707,449 passengers; an increase of 6.5% compared to 2013. It also celebrated seven record months in April, May, June, July, August, November and December and recorded Dublin, Dubai and Amsterdam as the top three routes.

During December, 622,317 passengers travelled through the airport, an increase of 8.4% compared to the same period the previous year and the busiest December since 2008.

Paul Kehoe, the Airport’s Chief Executive, said, “During 2014 we experienced seven record months and saw the completion of a major package of infrastructure works that has prepared the airport for future passenger growth.

“The passenger records have been achieved as a result of airlines introducing new routes and more people realising the ease of travelling to and through Birmingham Airport – and the coming year looks equally exciting as we prepare for American Airlines, Norwegian and Vueling to start operations in the summer.

“We also expect Dubai to overtake Dublin as the busiest route this year, as Emirates get set to launch a third daily service from August, and with more capacity being offered by Turkish Airlines, Air India, SAS, Brussels Airlines, Aegean, Thomson and Thomas Cook, travellers can expect more choice than ever from Birmingham in 2015.”

International services saw the biggest number of passengers in December, with 464,190 travellers taking flights from Birmingham during the month, an increase of 10.7% compared to the same month in 2013.

Scheduled traffic in December was up by 8.6%, with the most significant growth seen on flights to Hamburg (+116.3%), Stuttgart (+59.7%), Las Palmas (+46.9%), Alicante (+37.4%) and Knock (+36.4%).

Charter traffic increased by 6.2% in December, with growth seen on services to Montego Bay (+100%), Lapland (+89.2%), Enfidha (+58.6%), Cancun (+43.1%), Rovaniemi (+28.3%), Paphos (+28%) and Bridgetown (+25.3%).

During December, scheduled traffic accounted for 91% of the total figure, with charter passengers making up the remaining 9%.