Business Travel
Happy landings at world’s most punctual airport
Birmingham Airport was the world’s most punctual airport in 2016 – with 91.28 percent of arriving and departing flights operating on time. The statistics were recorded by air travel
intelligence company OAG. With over 100,000 scheduled flights from Birmingham Airport last year, the most punctual route was to Dublin, boasting an on-time score of over 95 per cent.
‘We have invested £350m in the last ten years to improve the airport infrastructure’
Birmingham beat contenders from countries such
as Japan, Brazil, America, Germany and Australia to claim the global crown. Chief executive Paul Kehoe said: “To be crowned
the world’s most punctual airport in 2016 is a tremendous prize, particularly in the busiest 12 months in our 77-year history. “This achievement is a result of a team effort by the
7,000 employees and 140 companies operating at the airport - from the ground handlers to bus drivers, fuellers to caterers, and cleaners to office staff. “We have invested £350m in the last ten years to
improve infrastructure and we’re currently working on a further one million pound development project.
On time: Birmingham Airport is the world’s most punctual airport
“These investments have helped us achieve this
award because we can offer our customers an efficient service that makes us proud to be an airport that is easy to get to and easy to get through.” OAG’s punctuality league is based on
approximately 54 million flight records using full-year data from 2016. John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, said: “The
success of Birmingham is just another example of how the UK’s regional airports have created world-class facilities that both connect their regional communities to the world, and provide valuable economic growth.”
Sector Focus
Buses drive home with award wins
Bus services in the West Midlands have brought home two golds and a silver from the UK Bus Awards. Stephanie Maher, who runs
National Express’ busy Wolverhampton Garage, won Young Manager of the Year. The West Midlands Bus Alliance -
made up of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) with National Express West Midlands, other bus operators, highways authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) - won Local Authority Project of the Year. And the West Midlands Safer
Travel Partnership got silver in the category Putting Passengers First. Steph Maher, 30, joined National
Express West Midlands in 2011 as a graduate trainee. She is now in charge of more than
500 staff and nearly 200 buses at Park Lane depot in Wolverhampton. She also represents the company at the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. The judges praised the West Midlands Bus Alliance, which is the first of its kind in the UK, saying: "Being a good model that could
be reproduced elsewhere, we were pleased to see a single body acting in the interests of bus passengers, making this a worthy gold winner."
Blu-sky thinking: Paul Kehoe with Vlad Cristescu, and two members of the airline’s cabin crew
Blue Air launches service to Romania
Blue Air has launched a three times weekly service from Birmingham to Romania’s second largest city Cluj-Napoca. The launch follows on from the
airline’s announcement of a new route between Birmingham and Larnaca starting in March 2017 and its inaugural Bucharest launch which was celebrated in March last year. Served by a 189-seat Boeing 737-
800 aircraft, the carrier will fly to the city of Cluj-Napoca on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. Paul Kehoe, chief executive
officer at Birmingham Airport, said:
“Blue Air has had a very successful few months at Birmingham Airport flying thousands of passengers to and from of Bucharest. “We are delighted that they are
already introducing this second route to Cluj-Napoca. The Romanian city will be a popular city break destination as it is a cultural and historic centre home to universities, great nightlife and landmarks dating to Saxon and Hungarian rule. “We look forward to seeing the
carrier continue to go from strength to strength here at Birmingham Airport.”
February 2017 CHAMBERLINK 55
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