Passenger numbers take off in airport's busiest month ever

MORE than one million passengers passed through Birmingham Airport in August, record breaking figures out today show.

It was the busiest month in the airport's history with the nine per cent rise on last year the biggest of any of the country's airport.

The record-breaking month saw 1,031,259 passengers fly in and out of the airport - just the ninth time it has topped a million since it opened in 1939.

The most popular destinations were traditional summer holiday spots such as Palma, Alicante and Malaga while flights on new routes to Barcelona and Nice were also busy.

Chief executive Paul Kehoe said: “August has been a fantastic month for us in terms of passenger numbers.

"It is particularly pleasing to learn we were the best performing airport in the UK, clearly demonstrating there is strong demand to fly from Birmingham."

New routes set to launch for the winter season include easyJet’s daily service to Belfast International, SAS's new route to Stockholm while Ryanair are now flying out to Milan and Krakow.

Mr Kehoe, who is lobbying Government for Birmingham to be allowed to expand instead of Heathrow, added: "This is great news for our business community and those seeking city breaks.”

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