Further upgrades planned for BHX ahead of summer peak

Birmingham Airport (BHX) today announced that it is investing further in its infrastructure to “ensure ease of travel through the airport for its customers”.

According to the UK gateway, the next two projects, as part of its previously announced £100 million capital spend up to 2033, will benefit those customers arriving through the airport.

The first project is an additional baggage carousel to complement the existing six within its ‘north’ departure baggage make-up area.

As passenger numbers at Birmingham Airport increases, the demand for baggage capacity increases. The development of the extra carousel will be ready for the busy summer peak and sees an investment of £4.2 million for this project.

The currently underway second part of development is the reconfiguration and expansion of BHX’s the south immigration area, and the baggage reclaim area, before the summer peak.

This project will provide an increase from five to eight primary control points, that are operated by UK Border Force and will future proof the introduction of E-gates.

In addition to the extra primary control points for the border, existing baggage carousels will be increased to accommodate more bags. These changes to the Immigration and Baggage Hall will permit an increase in the amount of arriving flights that BHX can process in this area to upto eight an hour, at an investment of £6.4 million.

Al Titterington, BHX’s terminal operations director, said: “With forecasts of up to 13.8 million passengers this year, we want to ensure we provide the best possible customer service.

“Last year investment was focused on the outbound customer journey but with these projects the emphasis is providing the right welcome to the region, with increased baggage capacity and additional immigration desks to be resourced and operated by our Border Force colleagues as well as catering for the increased outbound demand.

“By investing in these areas, we can adequately cater for the increase in customers and ensure we are on our way to hit our 13.8m target this year.”

Birmingham Airport has an extensive on-going capital plan that is responsible for asset replacement, ensuring capacity growth and environmental improvements.