Birmingham Airport banishes bad weather blues

Bad British weather has boosted the number of holidaymakers flying out of Birmingham International Airport.

July figures from the Midlands airport show that there was a 0.8 per cent rise in passenger numbers on last year with some destinations experiencing a massive surge in popularity.

Scheduled flights to Palma saw growth of 154.7 per cent as Britons chose to leave the wet weather behind.

Joe Kelly, the acting managing director of Birmingham International Airport told the Birmingham Post newspaper: "July saw positive passenger figures with the start of the school holidays and families jetting off for sunnier climes to escape the rain."

And figures show passengers, some of whom took advantage of the airport parking, have been escaping all over the world.

There was an increase of 4.5 per cent in passengers to non EU routes, 6.1 per cent within the EU and a 6.4 per cent rise in holidaymakers on long-haul routes to Asia.