Birmingham Airport has reported a rise in passengers with more than nine million flying through the airport for the first time since 2009.
Latest figures reveal 9.1 million passengers used the airport in 2013, a 2.3 per cent increase compared to 2012.
The nine million milestone was achieved after the Airport enjoyed a busy December, which saw 574,854 passengers pass through the terminal, an eight per cent increase compared to last year.
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Paul Kehoe, the airport’s chief executive, said flights outside the European Union had driven the growth at a key time – with the long-awaited runway extension just four months from completion.
He said: “We are now looking to build on this success in 2014, which will see the opening of our longer runway and with it, the capability to serve more long haul destinations than ever before.”
The top scheduled destinations in 2013 from the airport were Dublin, Dubai and Amsterdam, and the most popular charter destinations were Dalaman, Palma and Tenerife.
The biggest growth sector in December was non-EU charter services, up 12 per cent, to destinations including Barbados and Gambia.
Scheduled routes that experienced particular growth in December included Stuttgart, which saw a rise of 89 per cent, Milan, at 81 per cent, and Chambery, at 75 per cent.
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Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, said growth at the city’s airport reflected well on chances of an economic boost.
The runway extension set to complete in April will mean far-flung destinations are in reach in one flight from the city. The Post recently reported that new flights to Bangladesh and New York had been secured on the back of the investment. It means growth regions like China, South Korea and Indonesia are in reach from the city.
Mr Rami said: “The prospect of more of the international business community being able to fly to and from Birmingham in future months thanks to the airport’s runway extension, coupled with our current work with European funding partners to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia, shows that 2014 could prove to be even more successful.”
Scheduled services saw an increase accounted for 87.9 per cent of all traffic, whilst charter made up the remaining 12.1 per cent of passengers flying from Birmingham Airport during the month of December.