Brum Brum Brum to up up and away (Birmingham International Airport (BHX))

Name: koshkha

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Product:	Birmingham International Airport (BHX)
Date:	28/01/08 (253 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Big enough to give service, small enough to still care

Disadvantages: Bloomin tricky signage off the M6 and M42

When I was a kid, I loved going to airports - any airport, it didn't matter - it was all just so exciting. Strange exotic people, big shiny shops and lots of static electric shocks from the nylon carpets - there was nothing quite like it. But as I grew up the whole airport experience started to become just a tedious part of life. It's not yet the end of January and I've already been through five different airports this year. There are still some outstanding airports that lift my spirits and inspire me to look forward to a visit. These are the airports that can become almost a destination in themselves - I'm thinking of Norman Foster's stunning Hong Kong airport or Kuala Lumpur International Airport where you can have a 12 hour connection and still not run out of things to do. But most of the time, airports are little more than slightly-glorified bus stations.

If you travel as much as I do, it's inevitable that you develop preferences - favourite hotels, favourite cities and even favourite airports. I used to love Manchester - back 15 years ago it was a lovely airport to use but it degenerated fast and now I find it pretty nasty. Then I moved south and Stansted became a second home when I lived just 38 minutes drive away. But like Manchester, it slid downhill with the inexorable rise in passenger numbers brought by the growth of budget airlines. So today, if I have a choice and if it serves the destination I need, my first choice is always Birmingham.

Birmingham Airport is situated to the East of Birmingham, close to the point where the M6, M42 and M6 Toll all intersect in a mess of complex roads. I live roughly 45 minutes from Birmingham International Airport, a few minutes more from Luton and maybe an hour from East Midlands. We've also got teensy Coventry Airport in the area though I've not yet found a chance to use that one. So you could say I have plenty of choice. So why is Birmingham number one for me?

Size
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Firstly gentlemen, don't believe it when we tell you that size isn't important - of course it is, and in airports as in many other things there's an optimum size; not too big and not too small. An airport needs to be big enough to attract major airlines and serve a wide range of destinations, yet small enough to process its passengers quickly and efficiently. Birmingham will never be able to offer multiple flights to myriad destinations, but it does pretty well for its size. It offers both scheduled and charter flights and as well as a wide range of European destinations - mostly the capitals and major cities - it serves a small number of long-haul airports such as Dubai, Delhi, Islamabad, Toronto, New York and Ashkabad - and I don't even know where that last one IS but it ought to be in a Harry Potter book.

Layout
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Birmingham has two terminals called, not so surprisingly, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 and they sit at right angles to one another with a covered zone between. All the flights go from the terminal buildings so you won't get 'bussed' at Birmingham and there are no confusing little monorails to contend with and no really long walks either. It's dead easy to find your way around. Even if you go to the wrong terminal, it won't take more than a few minutes to get where you should be.

Ease of Use
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I prefer terminal two which is much smaller and processes passengers more quickly. I've only ever seen serious queues here once and that was August 10th 2006 - the day when security went crazy and hand luggage was cut to no more than your passport and ticket and not much else. Other than that, I've never waited more than a couple of minutes to check in. The airlines using T2 currently include KLM, Air France, Swiss, SN Brussels, and Flybe/BA (which I believe will be moving to T1 soon)

Terminal one is the 'big' one - although it's really only mid-sized when compared with the London airports. It serves the long-haul destinations as well as airlines like bmibaby, Lufthansa and any charter flights. It's busier and the security checks can take a bit longer but in recompense for that, the shops are better.

Parking
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Don't you hate it when your transfer from the car park to the terminal takes longer than your flight? All the parking on-site at Birmingham airport is close to the terminals. There are two long-stay car parks, a small one and a big one and sadly (since it's my favourite - told you, favourite car parks, favourite airports.....) the little one is closed during the winter months. I wrote to complain and they told me that they do it to save energy because they can turn all the lights off and there's not really much you can argue with about that. But roll on May when it opens again. The big Long-Stay is enormous - but if you park at the end furthest away from the entrance, you can walk to the terminal in just a few minutes - that's what I usually do because the bus service to that Long Stay is really rubbish. In fact, the closest end of the Long-stay is closer to T2 than the Short-stay car park is. Parking isn't cheap though with even the Long-stay charging £10 for the first day but it reduces for further days beyond that. Be sure to plan ahead and book on-line to avoid paying too much for your parking.

Dropping Off
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You used to be able to drop off directly in front of the terminal. After the Glasgow airport attack that stopped and now you either have to go into the mini-car park (£1 for 20 mins! Shame on them) or use the long-stay where you get 60 minutes free to make your drop off or pick up. Hubby parks up round the corner when he comes to get me and then drives round to get me once he knows the flight has landed. I have trained him well.

Check-in Time
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For T2 an hour is plenty of time to check in, go through security, browse the shops, have a cuppa and still be on time for departure. For T1 I'd suggest to add half an hour just to be sure - but bear in mind I err on the side of caution. Realistically you could probably do T2 in 40 minutes and T1 in an hour but you might get caught out and try to sue me. So generally I leave home 2 hours before a flight allowing 45 minutes for the journey, 15 minutes for parking and walking to the terminal and an hour for all the palaver of check in and security.

On-Site Facilities
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I'm more familiar with T2 so I'll outline more about what's available there rather than T1. In the check-in area there's a newsagent and by the escalator to security there's a Subway and a Costa Coffee as well as some vending machines that come in handy if your flight back is late and you need a quick snack. Walking towards the other terminal you can take an escalator up to some more food outlets but normally I aim to get airside as quickly as possible so I head up to security. The lines are never very long - partly because there aren't that many flights, but also because there's not much space to fit everyone in. There's just the one X-ray machine and depending on who's in charge and what mood they are in you may or may not need to remove your shoes, belt, etc. Laptops always need to be taken out of your bags.

Fortunately Birmingham is one of the airports that has abandoned the 'only one bag' policy so unless your airline has a policy that still doesn't allow an extra bag (such as evilJet, sorry easyJet), you should be in luck. Check on line before you go if you aren't sure. The check in lady at Flybe tried to tell me I could only take my handbag if it went inside my laptop bag until I asked her to ring security and check.

Shopping
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Once you've made it through security and dressed yourself again, there's a small selection of shops to help you while away your waiting time. There's a Boots - just a small one but my top choice for getting food for my flight (God bless the Boots Meal Deal - it's a bargain) - a Duty Free store with all the usual perfumes, toiletries, booze, fags and electrical stuff. They have a nice selection of tempting Radley handbags as well. There's a newsagent, a camera shop, I think there's an Austin Reed and that's about it for shops. There's a coffee bar, a Wetherspoons restaurant, a sandwich bar, a slot machine area and if there's anything else, then it's not made enough impact for me to remember.

Going to the Gates
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Gates seldom open more than 30 mins before departure - sometimes less. They don't make boarding calls (unless you are about to be offloaded) so you need to keep an eye on the monitors. At most of the gates you'll find free newspapers but they tend to be local Birmingham or Coventry dailies or obscure magazines you've never heard of before. A lot of the airlines in T2 use quite small planes that can be boarded very quickly - indeed it's not unusual for flights to take off slightly early if everyone is already on board.

Coming Home
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Immigration queues in T2 are short and move quickly. T1 can take much longer because of the more international flights - arrive behind a big bird from Islamabad and you can expect quite a delay if you are at the back of the line. Bags tend to come through quickly and you don't need to allow more than 15-20 minutes from landing to leaving the terminal building for T2.

Last time I flew into Birmingham a couple on the bus to the car park were carrying a bag of groceries. In T1 there's a handy Spar (or similar) shop where they stocked up on bread and milk to save going out for them once they'd driven home. Not something I've ever done but I can see that it could come in handy.

Is it ALL Good?
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OK, I have to find some bad things to mention and topmost of them would be the complexity of getting to the airport and getting away again after. It doesn't matter how many times we go, hubby always comes within a whisker of missing the turn off. Travelling westward along the M6 and onto the M42, the signposting for the airport is shockingly bad. And getting away again I've several times ended up on the M6 heading in completely the wrong direction. It's confusing as hell and creates a ridiculous degree of stress that could easily be alleviated with better signage.

My most frequent destination is Hamburg and there is only one direct flight in and out per day - otherwise I have to go via Amsterdam or pretty much anywhere else in Germany. When I first started using Birmingham I had more direct options and they flew at better times of day - that's just life I suppose.

Other than that, I'm very happy with Birmingham. If it's in an area that's good for you, why not have a look at the airport website - www.bhx.com - where you can find out more about the airlines that use the airport as well as information about trains from the nearby Birmingham International Station. Unfortunately I can't tell you anything about that as I've never been.

One final point to make would be to point out that Birmingham airport is only a few minutes walk from the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) which is an important venue for concerts, sports events and trade show.

Summary: If you've gotta fly, fly from Brum