One of the benefits of building HS2 with a station at Birmingham Airport is the passenger growth potential at Birmingham Airport, and the ability to take pressure off the South-East. Currently serving circa 9 million passengers per year, Birmingham Airport could double passenger volumes immediately, without any further infrastructure. Approved plans could see capacity moving to 27 million passengers, and beyond.

HS2 will make Birmingham Airport only about 45 minutes from Oxford Circus and will take less time to reach than Stansted, Gatwick or possibly even Heathrow – given the proposed slow-down of services to that airport. It is anticipated that even in 2013, a new West Coast franchise could deliver a journey time of less than an hour, from the Airport station to Euston.

HS2 is an opportunity to create fresh thinking about UK connectivity. London and the south-east economy is vital to the country – but with HS2 it will be accessible from Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and much more. Linking Spare Capacity at Birmingham and other Airports will add 100 million extra passenger capacity, and will help to build national resilience.

On the latter note, Germany has five major ‘hub’ airports and is building number six. It cannot escape anyone’s notice that Germany has managed to spread economic activity in the same manner to which UK now aspires.

We cannot place all of our eggs in one basket, and it is time this thinking was absorbed before new capacity is built either in London or out to sea, where most of the UK cannot reach it.”

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