Birmingham ends 2007 on a high

Birmingham Airport ended 2007 on a high, it has announced, with a record-breaking month in December.

Some 587,760 passengers travelled through the West Midlands hub in the final month of the year, the highest number of people ever to use the airport in the Christmas month and 2.3 per cent more than in December 2006.

These figures brought the total traffic through Birmingham in 2007 to over 9.23 million people, nearly one per cent more than the previous year.

Joe Kelly, acting managing director of the hub, said: "Birmingham International Airport has experienced an incredible year, with lots of highs and some lows but we're really pleased to have ended 2007 with record numbers of passengers in December and an increase overall during the 12 months.

"We've welcomed new airlines and introduced new destinations for our region's leisure and business travellers, and have opened our new extended Terminal 1 departures lounge, significantly increasing facilities for the comfort and experience of our passengers."

December brought growth of 8.7 per cent in EU routes from Birmingham Airport, while non-European services saw passenger numbers rise by 3.8 per cent.