Gulf airlines boost capacity at UK's Birmingham airport as A380 flies back in

Chief executive tells The National the return of Emirates and Qatar Airways, as well as the launch of new services by Saudia, bodes well for increased passenger traffic from the Gulf

Emirates airline's Airbus A380 jets will return to Birmingham airport on Saturday, July 1. AFP

Gulf airlines are flocking back to Birmingham airport in a major boost for the UK's second city.

From Saturday, Emirates will resume using its 615-seater Airbus A380s for one of its two daily return flights between the West Midlands airport and Dubai, for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Qatar Airways will return to the airport on Thursday July 6, after a three-year pause during the pandemic, with daily flights to Doha.

Meanwhile, Saudia will on Sunday begin a thrice-weekly service to Jeddah.

“Emirates had been running mostly through the pandemic. Whenever they could, they were operating but, of course, it was quite a lengthy period where the [had] no choice,” Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport told The National.

“They couldn't operate it because of the rules at the time. They were first to restart. Qatar are restarting after a hiatus since March 2020 and Saudi are new to us. So, it’s all positive.

“Most airports around the world would be drooling at the prospect of launching and growing the airlines that we're talking about in a single week in July and it’s us that’s doing it.”

Onward links

Mr Barton believes much more expansion of capacity is possible in the wake of the pandemic. The Gulf connections are important not just because of the direct connections, but also because of the onward links that are possible through the region's airport hubs.

“To see these services being brought back just shows you how complex our industry is,” he told The National.

“It operates across the world by definition, and the impacts of Covid have left a very, very long tail. And that tail, thank heavens, has an end which we’ve got to.

“Which means that we would expect to see the growth of these carriers in particular, because they offer both point-to-point traffic, but also crucially, very significant onward connections through their respective hubs in the Middle East.

“That is something that we would expect to continue to grow to levels in excess of where we were previously.”

Emirates UK divisional vice president Richard Jewsbury said that the airline is excited to be brining back the A380 to Birmingham

“The return will make it easier to connect more passengers to popular long-haul destinations including Thailand, Australia and, of course, the vibrant city of Dubai for summer and beyond,” he said.

“We're extremely proud of our partnership with Birmingham airport and our ongoing commitments to the wider Midlands region.”

'Economic potential'

Mr Barton points out that Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands area are home to six million people “with an economy the size of Hungary's and future economic potential not yet fully realised”.

Birmingham plays host to divisions of HSBC and Deutsche Bank, with Goldman Sachs recently opening an office in the city.

There is also a significant technology sector, as well as engineering and automotive centres in the West Midlands.

What Mr Barton also describes as a “game-changer” is the advent of the HS2 high-speed rail line, which, when open, will connect Birmingham airport with London in a little over half an hour.

“Where I sit in my office, I can see literally see where the station will be built, and that will connect us into HS2 and get us into London in around 37 minutes,” he told The National.

“When they say it, it’s difficult to believe that this is true. But this is what's happening.”