Features

Centre forward

1 May 2010 by AndrewGough

Birmingham airport is on a mission to recapture customers in the heart of the country, reports Michelle Mannion

Located in the centre of England at the crossroads between London and Manchester, Birmingham International airport is blessed with a wide catchment area and enviable rail links. It serves 143 destinations direct with a mixture of low-cost, charter and long- and short-haul scheduled services, and allows passengers to connect to a further 279 places in a less congested environment than the capital’s airports. That should give the UK’s second-largest regional airport a unique advantage – so why is it failing to earn the loyalty of even those passengers who live close by?

Marc Watkins, the airport’s business development manager, recognises the problem. “Within our one-hour catchment there are eight million people, and in that area you’re encapsulating the West Midlands, most of the East Midlands, going down towards Banbury and Oxford, and to London, Gloucester and Cheltenham in the south-west, as well as Stoke and Stafford towards Manchester,” he says. “But only 38 per cent of passengers in that area use Birmingham – the rest leaks out.”

Ironically, it’s partly a result of those great transport links (see panel, page 48). Birmingham International station is on the West Coast Main Line, providing fast connections from London, the north-west, north Wales and southern Scotland. Trains from London Euston take about an hour and ten minutes – about the same time as it would take to get from the City of London to Heathrow on the underground. The airport station itself is only two minutes from the terminals on the efficient Skyrail people-mover system that runs every two minutes. And if the proposed high-speed rail link goes ahead, in years to come you could go from London to a new station near the airport in 38 minutes.

“We like to say we’re at the heart of the road and rail network,” Watkins says. “Most of the main arterial routes, be they road or rail, pass through here but that’s part of our success and failure – if you’re accessible to get to, you’re accessible to get out of.”

Paul Kehoe, the airport’s chief executive, has his own view on why Birmingham has lost ground to London and Manchester. “The reason we only capture 38 per cent largely boils down to the fact that we unswervingly supported British Airways for 60 years – we even built them a terminal [now Terminal 2]. But in 2007 BA turned its back on the regions, pulling out of Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, and this airport was left bereft.”

Just as damaging was that Birmingham’s concentration on BA meant it had been slower to catch on to the budget airline market. Flybe took on BA’s regional services, and Ryanair arrived in 2008, to the point that the two airlines are now the airport’s biggest operators – Flybe has the most slots, while Ryanair carries the most passengers. But this didn’t fill the void, Kehoe says. “Even though Flybe picked up the British Airways routes, it wasn’t a BA product and a million people with their silver and gold cards effectively left the airport. Despite the fact we’re a very successful Star Alliance spoke [Lufthansa, Continental, Turkish Airlines, Swiss, SAS and Brussels Airlines all operate here], the power of that Oneworld BA card is overpowering.”

The airport has consequently launched an offensive to win back customers. “We need to get the message out that there is an airport here. We should be working our catchment far harder,” Kehoe says.

Recent initiatives include the Fly India campaign, aimed at trying to get an Indian carrier back following the departure of Air India in 2008, and Birmingham First, which urged personal assistants in the area to consider the local airport when booking travel for their bosses. Birmingham is also taking full advantage of the Web 2.0 revolution. “We’re Twittering, we’re Facebooking, we’re Myspacing and uploading videos to You Tube,” Kehoe says.

But what will really make the difference is the infrastructure upgrades being made. In September, to mark its 70th birthday, the airport unveiled its new £50 million international pier at Terminal 1. The three-level facility is 90 metres longer than the one it replaced and twice as wide. It can accommodate seven wide-bodied aircraft or 13 smaller planes. “We’re a lot more flexible in terms of how we can operate,” Watkins says. “It’s given us the scale and scope to grow – it should see us through the next five to ten years in terms of the capacity we need, but if the demand is there we can add a further two stands.”

Aesthetically, the new facility is a marked improvement. Kehoe says: “The old pier was dark and dingy and we were putting 400 people a time on a B777 down it – it was a nightmare. The new one is light and spacious – it really is the business.”

It should also help to attract new airlines. Watkins says: “In the past I’d be a bit wary of taking prospective carriers down the pier, but now we’re showcasing it. We’re in talks with a particular airline at the moment and 18 months ago I wouldn’t have been able to say with confidence that we could have handled their operation – now, the pier is an important part of our armoury.”

To streamline operations, a state-of-the-art £1.5 million control room has just opened. Kehoe says: “We used to operate from four different control centres around the patch – now we have a dedicated centre which is all about the technology. It’s transforming the way we do things.”

Work has also started on a £13 million project to merge the two terminals, aimed at improving passenger flow and efficiency. It will involve creating a central security search area between what is currently T1 and T2, enlarging arrivals and improving the shopping and dining offerings.

Watkins says: “There is a negative perception out there of air travel in terms of the hassle factor of getting through airports, and the project is about eliminating as much hassle as possible.” Business class travellers will benefit from new executive lounges and a custom-designed priority channel in the search area.

Work is due to be completed by next May, and Watkins says the airport will be working to minimise the impact on passengers in the meantime. While building is going on, a covered outdoor walkway will be provided for people to move between the two terminals.

Shoppers should also feel the benefits. An extra 1,800 sqm of retail space is to be added to T1, while the offering in T2, where Ryanair and Flybe are based, will be reconfigured to be more express-style. “The first phase is a brand-new World Duty-Free store, which will be the hub of the new complex,” Kehoe says. “You’ll come through security into a ‘calm-down’ zone to reorient yourself, with duty-free and necessities, and then into the wider shops.”

Many of the brands are yet to be confirmed, but Kehoe hopes for a mini Selfridges-type product akin to the one in Birmingham’s Bullring centre. One of the more unusual offerings, a teeth-whitening facility costing £125 for a 20-minute session, was set to open on April 16.

Ultimately, what would really transform the airport is a longer runway. While the current 2,600-metre one is sufficient for flights of up to 7,200km, such as east-coast US and parts of India, places such as China, the Far East and west-coast US remain off limits unless it can be extended by 400 metres. The project is estimated to cost £120 million and will involve rerouting the A45, which links Birmingham and Coventry, around the extension.

“We’ve got to get the money to do it, and do it at the right time for when we think the market is ready for it – it’s not a cheap scheme but the city of Birmingham has global aspirations and to be globally connected it needs an airport with a runway that’s capable of getting you anywhere in the world,” Watkins says.

The extension will be essential to securing carriers in the key market of China, he adds. “You’ve got a billion people whose personal wealth is growing and they’re going to want to be travelling, plus more and more business is being conducted with China every day, so to have a direct link is going to be critical,” Watkins says. “We’ve spoken to Singapore Airlines and Chinese carriers for years, but until we’ve got the extension, the airlines aren’t going to evaluate us seriously because they want to fly direct. Once we’ve got the money in place and can say, ‘This is the programme for the build,’ it will allow us to refocus on those markets.”

So when is it likely to happen? “If we were to break ground today it would be three, four, five years before we have the extension in place,” he says. “It will also depend on the type of scheme – how we extend it and what we do with the A45.” As for a second runway, Watkins doesn’t foresee a need for the next 20 years.

What the airport does have is capacity for the A380, albeit on a diversionary basis. Emirates operates a twice-daily Dubai-Birmingham service on Boeing 777 aircraft, and to mark the airport’s birthday, special permission was granted to fly in the superjumbo. But as the runway is not wide enough for regular services, the airport would have to make upgrades to take the aircraft on a frequent basis. Watkins says: “We would need to spend some money to accommodate the A380, and it would depend on the type of operation and its regularity as to whether we would do that.”

For now, that’s not in Emirates’ game plan. The Gulf carrier is one of Birmingham’s biggest success stories – it enjoyed a record 21 per cent growth in passenger numbers in February compared with the same month last year, with some 75 per cent of passengers using the Dubai service to connect to other destinations. In February it opened a £1.3 million business lounge on the new pier.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates’ area manager for UK north, says: “Birmingham is a key part of our UK network and we look forward to further expansion over the next ten years. We constantly review our services in the UK to ensure we are meeting demand, but at this stage have no plans to introduce the A380 on to the route.” Instead it has opted to bring the aircraft to Manchester from September, making it the first carrier to serve a regional airport with the superjumbo (see Upfront, page 8).

In the meantime, Birmingham is busy getting more carriers on board. This month, Spanair starts a four-times-weekly service to Barcelona and thrice-weekly flights to Madrid, further boosting the airport’s Star Alliance network. Flights will be operated on two-class A320 aircraft. Iceland Express will also fly weekly to Reykjavik this summer.

As for prospective carriers, Watkins recognises the need for another US airline (Continental’s daily New York Newark flight is the only US route since US Airways pulled its Philadelphia service last year). “A million people a year want to fly to the US from our catchment area – we have one flight a day that caters for about 100,000 of those, while 50 per cent drive to Heathrow,” he says. “To break the back of this, I think we have to jump to four flights a day.” Continental’s decision to pull its Bristol-Newark route this November (see Upfront, page 12) may help to push US-bound passengers towards Birmingham.

More Easyjet routes are high on Kehoe’s wish list – the budget airline runs only two winter services, Geneva and Grenoble. “It’s the biggest request we get from passengers,” he says. If he manages to convince Stelios, Birmingham would be well on its way to clawing back those local flyers.

Additional research by Maggie Squires

 

WHICH TERMINAL?

  • T1: Aer Lingus, Air France, Bmi Baby, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Easyjet, Emirates, KLM, Lufthansa, Monarch, Pakistan International Airlines, SAS, Swiss, Turkish Airlines
  • T2: Flybe, Ryanair

 

GETTING THERE

CAR The airport is 13km east of the city centre on the A45, 2km from junction six of the M42, from where there are direct connections to the M1, M5, M6, M6 Toll and M40. To reach the airport, type the postcode B26 3QJ into your satnav. CAR PARKING The Drop and Go car park in front of the terminals costs £1 for 15 minutes or £2 for 30 minutes. For 15 minutes’ free parking use long-stay car park one – you can use a courtesy bus or walk to the terminals from here. Short- and medium-stay car parks one, two and three cost £3.30 for an hour or £18.20 per day, or from £25 for a three-night weekend break. Long-stay car parks one and two cost £8 per day – pre-book early at birminghamairport.co.uk and pay from £3 a day. Valet parking is also available – book at least a day ahead.

RAIL Trains run between the airport and Birmingham city centre about nine times an hour with a journey time of ten to 20 minutes. A single ticket from Birmingham New Street station to the airport costs from £2.30. Virgin Trains’ service from London Euston runs every 20 minutes and takes about an hour and ten minutes, with standard advance fares from £10. London Midland’s trains run hourly and take two hours and ten minutes, with standard advance fares from £6. 

 

HOTELS NEARBY

Quick rail links mean staying in the city centre is an option, but for convenience there are hotels on-site as well as at the NEC (National Exhibition Centre), located next to the airport and connected to Birmingham International station by a covered walkway. Planning permission for another airport hotel has been granted but no details have yet been released.

Novotel Birmingham Airport

Located opposite the terminals, the hotel has 195 rooms with a work area, TV with paid-for movies, safe and tea and coffee-making facilities as standard. Elements restaurant is open 5am-10.30pm, while the 24-hour Elements bar offers an à la carte menu. There are six meeting rooms, a gym and 24-hour room service. Connect to the internet through the TV for £15 per 24 hours, or wirelessly for €20.
Tel +44 (0)121 782 7000; novotel.com
Rooms from £75

Ibis Birmingham Airport

For a budget option, the 162-room Ibis is a two-minute walk from the terminals. It has a 24-hour bar serving hot snacks and a café open 6pm-10pm. There is also a business centre. Wifi costs £7 for two hours or £14 for 24 hours, or connect through the TV and get internet, movies and music for £10 for 24 hours.
Tel +44 (0)121 780 5800; ibishotel.com
Rooms from £43

Hilton Birmingham Metropole

The 811-room Hilton is located next to the NEC. A courtesy bus runs from the station to the hotel every 30 minutes (call ahead). It has a restaurant, two bars, a gym, pool and 33 meeting rooms. In-room wired internet costs £15 for 24 hours, or wifi is available on the ground floor for £10 per 24 hours.
Tel +44 (0)121 780 4242;
hilton.co.uk
Rooms from £109

Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC

Five minutes’ walk from the NEC, the Crowne Plaza provides a shuttle bus to the airport every 30 minutes from 6am to 9.45pm. The 242 rooms have wired internet access, with wifi (£8 an hour or £15 for 24 hours) available in some bedrooms, the restaurant, bar and meeting rooms. There is also a restaurant, cocktail lounge, 24-hour room service and a gym.
Tel +44 (0)871 942 9160; ichotelsgroup.com
Rooms from £99

Forest of Arden, A Marriott Hotel and Country Club

If you want something a bit different from your average airport or conference hotel, this 214-room Marriott property is 6.5km from the airport, about a 15-minute drive. It has two golf courses, 13 meeting rooms, a spa, tennis courts, a gym and a pool. Wired internet (wifi in public areas) is £15 for 24 hours.
Tel +44 (0)1676 522 335;
marriott.co.uk
Rooms from £159

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