News: Birmingham set to scrap second runway plans
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Flights > News > # 1258 (02/05/2007)
Birmingham International airport will scrap plans to build a second runway.
The Birmingham Mail has reported that the airport will instead extend the existing runway to allow for larger aircraft.
Officially, the airport is still considering its options and will publish a master plan setting out its decisions in July.
Speaking to The Birmingham Mail, an airport spokesman said: "The airport is now progressing the Master Plan with a target for publication in summer 2007.
"Reviewed by the Board in April, the Master Plan is now being progressed with shareholders prior to final adoption by the company."
The £120 million extension will increase the length of the existing runway to just over 3,000 metres.
Flightmapping.com founder, James Avery, said proposals for a second runway at Birmingham had always been a pipe dream.
He said: “Birmingham has not really expanded, hovering around nine or ten million passengers per annum for the last three or four years.
“The airport’s snobby attitude and desperation to attract long-haul routes has resulted in them neglecting to develop the no-frills market. Compare the paltry European destinations on offer at Birmingham with Manchester and Liverpool.
“It is not far enough away from London to be a genuine hub airport, so the second runway was always a non-starter.”
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