Christmas has arrived at Birmingham Airport with the decorations in place and Father Christmas making an early arrival to sing carols with children from local schools, who helped to switch on the Christmas lights.
Nearly half a million passengers (495,549) are expected to travel through the Airport’s doors during the Christmas period (21st December to 7 January) – a +4.4 per cent increase on last year.
The busiest day for departures and arrivals combined, is expected to be Friday, 21 December with an estimated 34,394 passengers set to travel through the terminal, an increase of +16.8 per cent over the same day last year.
The busiest day for departing passengers is expected to be Friday, 21 December, with 18,624 people jetting off to visit loved ones, hit the slopes or bask in the winter sunshine. The busiest day for arriving passengers is predicted to be Sunday 6 January when it is forecast to handle 17,411 passengers as people fly back home after the festive break
Christmas Day will see 11,046 passengers travel through the terminal (+41 per cent), and on New Year’s Day the Airport will handle 25,796 passengers (+11 per cent).
The top most popular destinations will be will be Dubai, Dublin, Amsterdam, Belfast, Paris and Tenerife.
On Christmas Day, passengers will be jetting off to some of the top winter sun destinations including Tenerife, Alicante and Lanzarote. Those travelling further afield will be flying to destinations including Dubai, Montego Bay and Banjul.
Acting managing director, Simon Richards said: “We are all set for the Christmas period and ready to welcome almost half a million people between the 21 December and 7 January. The Airport is a 24/7- 365 operation so we will remain open and ready to serve our customers throughout the festive season, including Christmas Day when we’ll welcome more than 11,000 passengers.
“Looking to 2019 – our 80th anniversary year – we will continue our investment to improve the customer experience, with the start of work to extend the departure lounge, creating space and adding additional facilities for our customers.”
