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| Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham Airport, Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Lorely Burt MP for Solihull are pictured on the site of Birmingham Airport's runway extension |
Birmingham Airport’s re-development programme, one of the country’s top 40 infrastructure projects,
has entered its final stage before completion. Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury
welcomed progress on the scheme during a visit to the airport on Thursday 23 January 2014
Work on the final stage of the project, a £40 million 400 metre extension of the runway, is well under-way
and due to complete in the next few months. The Minister brought this closer to completion by starting
the last section of paving on the runway extension. The longer runway will allow larger aircraft to operate
from the airport and support more direct long-haul flights to destinations currently out of reach, such as
Brazil, China, and the West Coast of the USA
The runway expansion is just one part of a long-term investment programme, worth over £100 million,
at Birmingham Airport. The earlier stages have already delivered a new combined terminal, a new
maintenance hangar for larger aircraft and a new state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control tower. The airport
development has been funded through private sector investment, and will support the airport’s long term
development has been funded through private sector investment, and will support the airport’s long term
ambition of quadrupling the annual number of passengers to 36 million
As well as significant benefits to consumers and passengers, the airport development will open up new
growth opportunities, through additional long-haul connectivity, for businesses throughout the Midlands
Danny Alexander, said: "Rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure is crucial to the economic recovery, and
this is one of many major projects being delivered this year. The extended runway, together with other
developments at the airport, is great news for passengers, businesses and the wider region. The new
Birmingham Airport will be critical to growth in the Midlands and will contribute to rebalancing the
economy away from the South East"
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| Thursday 23 January 2014 |