A string of new flights will be operating between Birmingham Airport and the Middle East. They also includes direct flights to Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Emirates, which fly twice a day to Dubai, trumpets the return to BHX of its iconic 615-seater A380 “superjumbo” from Saturday, July 1. Saudia starts operating from Birmingham, flying the first of its thrice-weekly rotations to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second city from Sunday July 2.
While Qatar Airways returns to BHX, following a three-year absence, with daily services to Doha’s Hamad International, voted second best airport in the world in Skytrax’s 2023 rankings. This will run from Thursday, July 6.
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“Direct connectivity with the Middle East has never been better for our business and leisure customers. Emirates, Qatar and Saudia are all major global players connecting BHX directly to their hub airports each with impressive onward networks variously serving Australasia, Africa and the Far East,” said Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport.
“In Birmingham and the West Midlands, Emirates, Qatar and Saudia see what many other global brands see, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Accenture and HSBC to name just a few who have recently established headquarters in Birmingham … a British region home to six million people with an economy the size of Hungary’s on a strong trajectory of growth, and future economic potential not yet fully realised.”
Over the past five years – 2017 to 2022 -, the West Midlands has attracted 771 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects – the strongest FDI performance outside London and the Southeast. In the same period the West Midlands region has created more than 28,000 new jobs from FDI, second only to London. Job creation levels are now at pre-Covid levels, and this growth is expected to continue through 2023 and beyond.
Mr Barton added: “The draw of the West Midlands strengthens further still when one considers the opportunities offered by the new HS2 railway, which, once operational in the early 2030s, will connect London directly to the BHX terminal in a barely conceivable 32 minutes. That’s a game-changer.”
BHX plays a key role in the economy of the West Midlands. In 2022 its economic contribution stood at £1.5bn with 30,900 jobs – direct and indirect – supported. By 2033, BHX forecasts annual customer numbers to grow from 12m to 18m, by which time its GVA will be £2.1bn and supported jobs will be 34,400.
Among the customers using the three Middle Eastern airlines’ BHX services will be students. A recent study jointly published by the Universities UK International, the Higher Education Policy Institute and Kaplan International with London Economics revealed that of the £42bn impact of international students to the UK economy, £3bn is generated in the West Midlands.
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