Birmingham airport has published a draft Master Plan which would include the investment of £500 million to increase capacity and “vastly improve the customer experience”.
The airport wants to increase traffic to 18 million passengers per year by 2033, a 40 per cent increase on the current 13 million.
Works would include a major expansion of terminal facilities, additional aircraft stands, and “working with national agencies and regional partners to deliver improved public and road transport surface access for passengers”.
Entitled The Midlands Gateway to the World, the draft Master Plan is now open for a 12-week public consultation period until the end of January, with public exhibitions taking place across the West Midlands over the next three months.
The airport said that its forecast demand growth is “fully achievable on the existing single runway which has the physical capacity to handle 25 to 30 million passenger movements a year”.
Commenting on the news Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
“Birmingham Airport is a key part of an economy that is growing faster than anywhere else in the UK and it is important we invest and grow this asset to ensure it keeps being a driver of prosperity.
“These bold plans will not only see a huge investment by the airport but commit to using the existing single runway to drive this growth. For my part, I will work with the airport and key partners like HS2 and the NEC Group to ensure we deliver the world-class facility our region and country deserves.”
Earlier this year the Birmingham airport announced a series of developments aimed at improving the passenger journey, including the revamping of the security processing area, the provision of more boarding card gates, the addition of a dedicated security preparation area, and the refreshing of the waiting area with new flooring and lighting.
The airport had been set to operate new long-haul flights to Boston, Newark and Toronto with Primera Air, but these were cancelled along with the carrier’s short-haul services from the airport, shortly before Primera collapsed in October.