will allow aircraft to fly direct from China, and we are pushing our route- development people hard. It will probably be a charter operator from the UK in 2015, but never say never – we are out there hustling airlines all the time.” Kehoe’s idea for the UK is to
have hubs like Germany. “We serve five German destinations with Lufthansa alone, and Lufthansa owns Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and more, so that gives passengers a choice. If there is an issue with a flight to China via Munich, it doesn’t matter because they can still get to China via one of the other European hubs. “The reason we want the debate is that BAA has hi-jacked the ‘hub’ word, and it has become a bit meaningless. What we need is greater capacity – and with the runway extension, our capacity can grow to 36 million passengers by 2030.” Kehoe has steered the airport
through some of the toughest times the industry has seen. How has his previous experience helped in times of austerity? Is ‘unbundling’ here to stay? He laughs: “The reason that has
happened, and I take some blame for starting that at Luton, is what the airlines have done to us. They don’t want to pay for X, Y, Z. The airlines have the dominance, not the airport – apart from at Heathrow – so I’m in competition not only with airports in the UK, but also Berlin, Barcelona and so on. “We have not raised our
aeronautical charges for 17 years – and 17 years ago we had 80 per cent of our income from those charges. Today it is 45 per cent from aeronautical charges and 55 per cent from parking and lounges.” But Kehoe points out that unbundling shouldn’t affect business class passengers, who have access to lounges and fast-track lanes. For the future, Kehoe says Brazil will be a focus and Rio is in range of the new runway. But his wish-list is more flights to the Middle East, North America, India and one or two direct services to China. “Look at the markets we are in – automotive, digital, industry: these markets need to have access to Birmingham. That’s where I would like to be in five or six years.” ■
Paul Kehoe has been CEO at Birmingham airport since October 2008 and was previously CEO at Bristol International airport. Between 1997 and 2005 he worked for airport operator TBI Plc, joining as MD for Belfast International, then heading the company’s European division, and becoming MD at London Luton airport. Paul started his career in aviation as an air traffic controller in the Royal Air Force and has worked for British Aerospace and Serco Aviation. He is married with two children.
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