Birmingham Airport’s passenger numbers down every month this year so far

Primera Air said operations were no longer “commercially viable” from Birmingham, based on the demand it had seen for its winter schedule.

But in a statement Birmingham Airport responded by blaming “operational reasons” for Primera Air’s decisions and pointedly adding that the news was “disappointing, especially as there is so much demand for these destinations”. Primera is also stopping some routes from Stansted.

In June the Icelandic-owned airline suspended its transatlantic flights from Birmingham to New York and Toronto after less than a month. It had previously cancelled its Birmingham-Boston service before it launched.

The withdrawal of European routes will put further pressure on passenger numbers, which have been down by an average of 5% each month this year.

Analysis of data from the Civil Aviation Authority showed 331,000 fewer passengers flew in or out of Birmingham in the first six months of the year, continuing a trend that began late last year.

Birmingham Airport’s monthly passenger figures had shown like-for-like growth since at least 2014 until November 2017:

June saw a fall of 63,000 passengers, with Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands worst affected. Birmingham-Tenerife had nearly 15,000 fewer passengers, while Malaga was down by more than 13,000, Alicante fell 12,000 and Barcelona dropped by 11,000.

Countries which gained in popularity included Turkey, which added 15,000 passengers, and Greece, which was up by 11,000.

Birmingham Airport, which has been without a permanent chief executive since the departure of Paul Kehoe a year ago, did not respond to requests for an interview.   

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/westmidlands/news/2019970-airports-passenger-numbers-begin-nosedive  

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