BIRMINGHAM Airport has recorded the busiest year in its 77-year history, seeing eleven million passengers travel through the Midlands’ global gateway in the last twelve months. This is just a year after breaking the ten million mark last August.

Comparing the same period between 2014 and 2015, 10.2 per cent more people have travelled through the airport, due to airlines increasing capacity and launching new services to and from Birmingham. The airport also recorded its busiest single day to date on Friday, August 19 when 44,767 were recorded – 14.1 per cent more than the last busiest day recorded on August 13 last year.

Birmingham Airport’s chief executive, Paul Kehoe, said: “Reaching 10 million passengers last August was a big milestone in the airport’s history but reaching 11 million is an absolute game changer. It shows that demand for flying to and from the Midlands is rapidly rising and this is only expected to continue as national and international investment in the region continues and the Midlands Engine powers on.

“We have celebrated a huge amount of accomplishments recently, including welcoming an astonishing thirteen new airlines to the airport, creating an even stronger network of global routes. We now have more than 440 direct or one-stop flights globally with 50 airlines and handle the magnificent A380 and Dreamliner aircraft, daily."