Work starts on Birmingham Airport extension - The Coventry Observer

Work starts on Birmingham Airport extension

Coventry Editorial 24th Jan, 2020 Updated: 24th Jan, 2020   0

CONSTRUCTION of a new departure lounge at Birmingham Airport has started.

The project will create a larger lounge with a mezzanine floor, new retail and restaurant units, more toilets and seating.

Politicians broke ground on the project, with a visit from newly elected MP for Meriden, Saqib Bhatti.

Improvements are also set to bring 11 additional aircraft stands and better public transport links.




The airport is part-owned by Solihull Council.

Airport bosses said their departure lounge extension will be 21 metres tall at its highest point and over 130 metres long. It will use one thousand tonnes of steel and at peak times will see 200 construction workers on the project.


In a ground breaking ceremony on Thursday (January 23), Paul Maynard MP, minister for aviation, said: “Our second city’s airport serves more than one million passengers every month, so it is vital that it has the world class facilities and state-of-the-art infrastructure it deserves.

“This modern extension to the departure lounge will be good news for the whole of Birmingham, helping boost the local economy while still supporting the airport’s wider commitment of becoming net zero by 2033.”

Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport said: “The extended lounge forms part of a wider terminal transformation project, known as TE18, which will cater for the forecast growth in passenger numbers to 18 million per year by the year 2033. The departure lounge extension is the largest component of TE18 and the biggest terminal investment we have made in ten years, at a cost of £30m. Once complete early next year, it will provide a spacious and modern facility for our customers with a wide range of shops, restaurants and amenities.”

Birmingham Airport recently committed to becoming a net zero carbon airport by the year 2033, some years ahead of the UK’s 2050 target. It is developing a carbon roadmap to outline how this can be achieved over the next 15 years.

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