Airport News
Birmingham aiming to extend runway
Fri, 30 Nov, 2007
Birmingham Airport has announced it is to apply for planning permission to extend its runway.
It hopes to be able to lengthen the runway by 405 metres in order to accommodate larger aircraft landing, which would enable the expansion of long-haul services from the West Midlands.
Officials from Birmingham Airport launched a consultation about the proposal earlier in the month and intend to submit a formal planning application to Solihull metropolitan borough council once they have had time to evaluate the responses.
The runway expansion scheme forms part of the airport's newly published Master Plan, which outlines how it can expand sustainably until 2030.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the transport minister, said he had high hopes for the airport's future after reading the Master Plan.
"Birmingham Airport will have an increasingly important role in supporting prosperity and providing the international links and surface access opportunities that are so important to modern business and society," he predicted.
The airport recently announced that passenger numbers were 2.8 per cent higher in October 2007 than in the corresponding period last year.