Airport News
'No threat to Birmingham expansion'
Fri, 01 Aug, 2008
Birmingham Airport has rejected reports that the soaring cost of fuel is a threat to expansion plans.
The £45 million redevelopment of Terminal One is already underway and there are plans to extend the main runway to handle non-stop flights to China, India and the US west coast.
But speculation is mounting that the rising cost of aviation fuel and concerns over the future of budget airlines could spell the end for the redevelopment of the airport.
Responding to the rumours, the airport's business development director Peter Vella said the airport is looking forward to "continued growth".
"There may be an element of decline in the future, but overall it will be a blip rather than a long term trend," he told the Birmingham Post.
Birmingham Airport handled six million passengers in 2006 and is the sixth-largest airport in the UK. It has the second-highest proportion of business traffic, behind London Heathrow.