The UK’s Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, officially opens Birmingham Airport’s new terminal today (May 13) at a VIP event attended by 300 guests from international business and the travel industry. The new facility is the latest phase of a £100m redevelopment of the Airport, which includes the construction of a new International Pier, a 3,365 space multi-storey car park, taxiway improvements and an Air Traffic Control Tower, due to be open in 2013. In the next decade it will invest a further £100 million to help achieve its vision for the future.
The new ‘One Terminal’ is a result of a £13m redevelopment to merge the Airport’s two terminals into a single facility to improve its overall operational capabilities and the customer experience. The investment has led to the development of a larger centralised passenger security search area, an enlarged arrival and onward travel facility, and a significant retail and catering offer, including a spacious 20,000 sq ft walk-through World Duty Free store.
“This investment places Birmingham Airport in a unique position to meet the anticipated growth in future air travel and offers an alternative for those tired of taking long and stressful road journeys to reach other UK airports,” said Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Airport, explained. “It showcases the airport as the region’s global gateway; not only to the Midlands but also the wider catchment and shows that it’s a viable alternative to London and Manchester.”
Birmingham is increasingly being acknowledged as a strategic national asset, which should form part of an integrated transport system. A runway extension scheme, to be operational by 2014, will allow for direct flights to China, South East Asia, the west coast of America and South Africa and will also go some distance to clawing back the market which currently ventures outside of the region for air travel. “This, together with HS2, means that Birmingham can easily form part of the solution to the over-heated south east,” said Paul Kehoe.
The airport’s management acknowledged to The HUB that combining the two terminals into one was “a very challenging redevelopment” with many “complicated activities” taking place in a 24 hour live operation. “A great deal of hard work by everyone involved has produced this first class facility, on programme, on time, and with minimal passenger disruption,” added Paul Kehoe.
The World Duty Free store is 50 per cent larger than the previous offer and has a wider range of products across all categories including liquor, beauty, accessories and confectionery. Whilst the store incorporates a ‘walkthrough’ layout for those passengers wishing to fast track to their gate, it also provides walkways to lead customers to distinct ‘boutique’ areas and bays which are occupied by the various brands.
In addition to the internal changes, the outside of the passenger terminal has been given a complete facelift to incorporate the Airport’s new identity, which was launched in October last year and loses the name ‘International’. The new terminal frontage comprises the new ‘Hello World’ messages from its new identity and giant faces from different nationalities welcome customers to the site.
“Our previous brand identity didn’t reflect what we were about and what we aspire to be in the future. We want to embrace the fact that we can connect people to over 400 different places worldwide and want people to feel proud and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead,” said Paul Kehoe. “There are around eight million people living within an hour’s drive of the Airport but less than 40 per cent of this demand uses Birmingham; we are determined to increase this figure over the next few years.”
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