Birmingham Airport 'can ease pressure at Heathrow'

Birmingham Airport has claimed that it can play a vital role in reducing congestion and pressure at Heathrow Airport if it is linked to the London hub by high-speed rail.

Following proposals for a new airport to be built in the Thames Estuary, the West Midlands gateway revealed that it has the capacity to ease overcrowding in the south-east by handling an extra nine million passengers a year.

If a high-speed rail connection is developed between Birmingham and the capital, it would reportedly be quicker to travel between the two destinations than to walk from one side of Heathrow Airport to the other.

Birmingham Airport said that, while it is not looking to "transplant the Heathrow operation in its entirety", it has the capacity to incorporate south-east passenger traffic as an element of its "wider portfolio".

Paul Kehoe, the gateway's chief executive officer, said: "Birmingham is ready to respond to any current or future government initiatives. We already attract passengers from the home counties who choose the convenience, choice and accessibility of Birmingham over other alternatives.

"We have plenty of capacity and, linked to high-speed rail, we are uniquely positioned to not only claw back people from our own region, who make the long journey to Heathrow, but to attract passengers from the overheated south-east."

A spokesperson for airport operator BAA recently said that a third runway at London Heathrow is the only viable way of meeting the need for extra capacity at the hub.

Posted by Andrea, 20 October 2009 11:37

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