January 2009 passenger figures

Birmingham International Airport handled 561,648 passengers

during January 2009 - a fall of 2.5% on the previous year

.

Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s Chief Executive Officer,

explains: "During 2008 Birmingham Airport enjoyed its

busiest ever year, including a number of record months,

and all this despite increasingly challenging economic

conditions. The rolling 12-month figures up to the end of

January show an increase of 4.2% year-on-year, and the

Midlands continues to show great confidence in its local airport"

.
"All the indications are that we are in for a challenging period

ahead, with the Airport not immune to the current pressures

affecting the UK economy. However, with a growing portfolio

of carriers and routes from Birmingham, and with a final

decision regarding our proposed runway extension due in the

coming weeks, there is still a lot to look forward to at Birmingham"

.

During January a 3.5% growth was achieved on flights to the EU,
with sunshine destinations such as Alicante, Malaga and Palma
proving popular. Snow-lovers, not satisfied with the UK’s wintry
conditions, made Grenoble and Geneva their first choice for a bit
of piste action

.
Scheduled routes that experienced growth included:
Grenoble (+173.9%), Alicante (+59.3%), Inverness (+49%),
Prague (+48.1%), Shannon (+46.7%), Malaga (+40.1%),
Palma (+38.6%), Tenerife (+30.1%), Geneva (+12.2%),
Hamburg (+4.7%), Chambery (+4.4%), Arrecife (+1.6%)
and Zurich (+1.1%)

.
Charter traffic which experienced growth included:
Austria (+30.7%), Egypt (+25.3%) and Switzerland (+21.6%)

.
Scheduled traffic accounted for 83.6% of the total

passenger traffic in January whilst charter passengers

made up the remaining 16.4%
.

Friday 13 February 2009