Home » Aviation news » Birmingham Airport sees 19.6% increase in passenger numbers in 2023 due to rapid travel growth, with expansion to North America and Asia in sight
Saturday, August 17, 2024
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Birmingham Airport is actively pursuing long-haul opportunities with a focus on expanding its service to key destinations in North America and Asia.
Birmingham Airport (BHX) is experiencing strong growth, with passenger numbers expected to reach 11.4 million in 2023, a 19.6% increase over the previous year. Located in the English Midlands, BHX is perfectly located to serve a catchment area of over 10 million people within a one-hour journey. This reach is expected to expand further with the completion of HS2, reducing journey times to central London to just 37 minutes by the end of the decade.
Currently, BHX offers connections to over 130 destinations, with major budget and leisure airlines based at the airport, including Ryanair, Jet2.com, TUI and easyJet. Additionally, European full-service airlines such as KLM, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Air France and SAS have long-standing presence at BHX. The airport is also a major hub for long-haul airlines with routes to the East, including Qatar Airways, Emirates, Air India and Saudia. With a goal of serving 18 million passengers by 2033, BHX is actively expanding its route network, particularly to Asia and North America.
EasyJet will open its new hub at BHX in March 2024 and will deploy three aircraft to operate 33 routes from the city. The airline plans to introduce new routes in winter 2024 to destinations such as Hurghada in Egypt, Rovaniemi in Finland, Prague in the Czech Republic, Marrakech in Morocco, Krakow in Poland and Reykjavik in Iceland.
Jet2.com is preparing to launch routes to Jerez and Costa de la Luz in its summer 2025 schedule, after adding new routes to Tivat, Bergen and Gdansk this year. SunExpress has expanded its services to Turkey, now offering 25 weekly flights from BHX to Antalya, Dalaman and Izmir, while Ryanair, which increased its fleet at BHX to seven aircraft this summer, has introduced new routes to Tirana, Paris and Delhi. Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus also recently increased frequencies to its hub at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen.
BHX has also been selected for Lufthansa CityAir's inaugural service, further strengthening the popular Birmingham to Munich route.
As a member of Routes 360, an exclusive digital platform specialising in route development, Birmingham Airport (BHX) has multiple route opportunities listed on its profile.
Unavailable routes:
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)Greater Toronto Airports Authority (YYZ)Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)Changi Airport Group (SIN)
Underserved routes:
Budapest Airport (BUD)Lisbon Airport (LIS)Copenhagen Airport A/S (CPH)Milan Airport – SEA (MXP)Athens International Airport (ATH)
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