Time for 'London Birmingham' airport

on Friday, 20 January 2012. Posted in Mark's blog

Birmingham Airport must rebrand itself as 'London Birmingham' to maximise use of the new HS2 rail link.

The upcoming development of HS2 means passengers will be able to get from the terminal building at Birmingham Airport to central London in around 45 minutes, making it a viable alternative to the capital's existing airports.

With the Government blocking any plans for further airport growth in the southeast (don't believe the hype about 'Boris Island' – it's a total non-starter), and Birmingham going ahead with a major runway extension, it is perfectly placed to tap into the London flights market – by far the biggest in the world.

From a marketing point of view it is all about London. The harsh reality for Birmingham is that visitors to the UK, especially those coming from further afield, primarily want to fly into London – so the second city should make the most of this new connectivity, especially if deals can be done between the airport and the HS2 train operator to keep ticket prices down.

The idea of two cities sharing an airport name is well established abroad. Successful examples include Cologne-Bonn, Baltimore-Washington and New York-Newark.

A newly named London Birmingham Airport would effectively become the capital's EIGHTH airport, following Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Stansted, Luton, Southend and Oxford - which all have the London prefix.

Comments (4)

  • Thomas Edmonton

    Thomas Edmonton

    22 January 2012 at 15:20 |
    What a completely ridiculous suggestion!

    This would totally wipe our second city off the map, and make the whole West Midlands a laughing stock. You are effectively saying that we should downgrade ourselves to playing second fiddle to London - right at the time when the airport itself (think new flights to Italy, Berlin etc) is seeing an upturn, and planning for much bigger things in the long run.

    In the meantime, take a look at the Bull Ring, the Cube etc - Birmingham is on the up.

    We must never let this ridiculous idea gain any further momentum!
    reply
    • Ade

      Ade

      23 January 2012 at 11:05 |
      I hope Birmingham Airport is not as parochial in its future planning as you! If you want more flights to more destinations then embrace this idea. The fantasists seems to think that the runway extension will miraculously attact flights from the US westcoast and the Far East. That ain't gonna happen because nobody in these places has heard of Birmingham. Mark is right - its all about London. What is the first question any American asks if you say that you are from Birmingham - "Oh, is that near London?"
      I live in King's Norton by the way, so before you say it, I'm not an out of town Brummie basher.
      reply
  • Matt, Olton

    Matt, Olton

    23 January 2012 at 16:05 |
    I don't care if they call it 'Birmingham Robert Mugabe' airport if it means bringing in a better range of flights from Birmingham!
    reply
  • HolteEnder

    HolteEnder

    23 January 2012 at 16:11 |
    Birmingham Airport are so slow on the uptake. They should have been shouting from the rooftops last week extolling the virtues of their airport as a much more viable alternative to ease London's lack of capacity compared to the fanciful Boris Island. Didn't hear a peep from them. Given the choice I'd far rather take flights from Birmingham than travel all the way to north Kent!
    reply

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