Birmingham Airport is celebrating another major milestone, as passenger numbers for a rolling 12 month period have exceeded the nine million figure. The nine million milestone was achieved after the Airport enjoyed the second busiest month in its history during August when it handled over one million passengers, a two per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

August also saw the Airport record its busiest day of the year so far, as 36,781 people passed through the terminal on Friday 23rd. Passenger numbers at the Airport have been given a significant boost thanks to the introduction of new airlines including Air India, who began a four times weekly link to Delhi and Amritsar in August, using its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The continued expansion of other airlines including Monarch and Aer Lingus has also been a key factor in attracting new passengers to Birmingham. Turkish Airlines increased its daily flight programme from seven to ten flights a week to Istanbul back in April, providing onward connections to 221 destinations worldwide.

Speaking to The HUB ahead of World Routes, Paul Kehoe, chief executive officer, Birmingham Airport said: “These passenger figures clearly demonstrate there is strong demand for flights from Birmingham. We’ve seen a period of sustained growth throughout the past 12 months, welcoming nine million passengers to the Airport.”

“We’ve also enjoyed a strong summer performance too, recording the second busiest month in our history, as passengers enjoy the benefits of our state-of-the-art facilities and expanding network of flights. These growing passenger figures, coupled with the extension of our runway, which is due to be complete in spring 2014, certainly provides encouraging signs for the future,” he added.

Between September 2012 and August 2013, popular destinations for passengers flying from Birmingham included Amsterdam, Paris and New York. However, according to airport data, Dublin proved to be most popular, for those visiting friends and relatives, closely followed by Dubai, for onward connections to the Far East and Australia.