Birmingham Airport Response to the 2014 Budget Announcement

Following the Chancellor’s Budget statement to Parliament today (Wednesday 19th March), Paul Kehoe, the CEO of Birmingham Airport has said: 

“Birmingham Airport is committed to encouraging long-haul routes to emerging economies to help boost growth in the Midlands. Our runway extension will open this summer allowing us to deliver flights around the world. 

“As such, we were extremely pleased to hear the announcement today that Air Passenger Duty is to be set at a lower band for long-haul flights. With our new routes to India and China, this is extremely positive news for the region. 

“However, whilst the Regional Air Connectivity Fund that the Chancellor enhanced in the Budget is good news for our smaller, more peripheral regional airports, it does not help make best use of capacity at Airports like Birmingham because airports in our great regional cities are not included. 

“We continue to support a regional rate of APD for long-haul routes from airports outside of the South-East in order to serve passengers across the regions, build a resilient aviation network and help to rebalance the economy by delivering international connectivity across the UK”. 

The full Budget statement can be seen here