Last section of airport runway extension laid

Work on the extension of Birmingham Airport's runway has entered its final stage, with the last section of paving started by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, during a visit on 23 January.

The £40 million project will add 400 metres to the runway and is due to be finished in the next few months.

Long-haul ambitions

The longer runway will allow larger aircraft to use the airport, fully loaded, and make it possible to fly direct to destinations that are currently out of reach, such as Brazil, China and the west coast of the United States.

The extension is the last part of a long-term investment programme at the airport worth more than £100 million. Earlier stages have already delivered a new combined terminal, a maintenance hangar for larger aircraft and a new air traffic control tower. The work has been funded by private investment.

The airport's long-term ambition is to quadruple the number of passengers it handles each year to 36 million.

"Critical to growth"

Mr Alexander, who chairs the government's infrastructure committee, said the airport development was one of the country's top 40 infrastructure projects.

"Rebuilding our nation's infrastructure is crucial to the economic recovery, and this is one of many major projects being delivered this year," he said. "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."

During his visit, he also went to Jaguar Land Rover's plant in Solihull, where he met staff and apprentices.

A road moved

The extension has been one of the most complicated engineering projects in the area for years. To make room for the longer runway, a section of the A45 Coventry Road had to be diverted, a major piece of work in itself.

The runway extension was approved after a long planning process, with the airport arguing that the short runway put it at a disadvantage compared with competitors. Some residents living under the flight path have raised concerns about noise, and the airport has promised measures to reduce the impact.

Why it matters

Birmingham Airport already serves destinations across Europe and has long-haul services to places such as Dubai and New York. But its runway has been too short for the largest aircraft to take off fully loaded for the longest routes, limiting how far they can fly.

Business leaders in the city have long argued that direct flights to fast-growing economies such as China and India are essential to attract investment and help local firms trade overseas. With the planned HS2 station close by, the airport also hopes to attract passengers from further afield in the years ahead.

Once the extension opens, the airport will be able to market itself to airlines as a genuine alternative to the London airports for long-haul flights.