Emirates marks 10 years in Birmingham with passenger rise

16th Dec 2010

Airline Emirates has marked 10 years of operations from Birmingham Airport with a leap in passenger numbers.

The airline, which marks the anniversary on Saturday (December 18), has seen passenger numbers increase by 15% in the year to date when compared with 2009.

Emirates first started flying from Birmingham to Dubai in December 2000 when it launched the route with a daily non-stop service, operated by a 278-seat Airbus A330.

Now, after increasing to a double daily service in 2005, Emirates operates a pair of Boeing 777-300ERs with a total of 870 seats each day – trebling capacity since launch.

Over the course of the decade, Emirates has carried 2.7m passengers and 76m kilos of cargo from Birmingham. The route to Dubai has recently overtaken Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Paris to become the second largest from the airport in terms of passengers carried.

Laurie Berryman, Vice President UK & Ireland, Emirates, said: “Our Birmingham service has gone from strength-to-strength since 2000 and has received tremendous support from people across the region. This is demonstrated in our passenger figures for the route which are now well on their way to hitting the three million mark in total.

“The route has always proved a strong part of our UK operation and this looks set to continue. With the lack of extra runway capacity in the South East, Birmingham is in the perfect position to respond to the ‘Heathrow Problem’.

“It is the UK’s only airport with major planning consent for runway development and will be just 38 minutes by train from London when the High Speed Rail is introduced. These are exciting times for both the airport and Emirates.”

Paul Kehoe, chief executive at Birmingham Airport, added: “Emirates’ Birmingham service is a real success story. It’s grown from strength to strength, with Dubai leaping from our 8th most popular route in 2006 to second place this year.

“Its success is partly due to the strong Midlands market realising the ease of flying to Dubai and beyond from their local airport but also due to the commitment that Emirates has shown to the region. We look forward to further growth and perhaps seeing Dubai become Birmingham’s largest destination in the coming years.”

In the last nine months alone, Emirates has opened a new £1.3m lounge at Birmingham Airport for its First Class and Business Class passengers, and increased capacity by 22% per cent over the summer by introducing the larger Boeing 777-300ER aircraft onto its evening flight.