Birmingham Airport - a great way to travel (Birmingham International Airport (BHX))

Member Name: rji0907

Product:	Birmingham International Airport (BHX)
Date:	04/08/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent standard of airport

Disadvantages: Expensive food/drinks

Birmingham International Airport is situated just off the M42 next to the National Exhibition Centre in Solihull, West Midlands. It is the 6th Busiest airport in the UK and has grown over recent years with the addition of the 2nd Terminal on which works are still being completed.

When travelling abroad people say that the travelling is the most stressful part but so far I have to say that all my experiences of Birmingham International Airport have been pleasant ones. Living in the West Midlands, Birmingham Airport is my local airport and I have flown from/to this airport on all but one occasion when travelling abroad.

The Airport itself is easy to navigate around. There are separate parts of the building for Departures and Arrivals which are both clearly marked. Legislation with regards to parking at the airport has changed in recent years whereas where you used to be able to park directly outside the airport when dropping off/picking up you are now unable to do this. This area is now strictly for buses ferrying people to/from car-parks to ease congestion around this area and to aid security procedures.

For a short stay of just 20mins or less for drop-offs/pick ups there is now a designated car parking area located directly outside the terminal with just two pelican crossings to cross taking you to the airport. To park in this car park you have to take a ticket & pay £1.00 on departure.

For longer stays, there is a vast array of car parks available which are all security monitored 24hours a day 7 days a week to choose from. If you are staying for a week this can cost you anything up to around £72.00 so would recommend scouring the internet for a cheaper company to secure your parking through. We did this and got a weeks parking for just £27.50. The only problem with this being that although it was on one of Birmingham Airports designated secure car-parks it was quite a distance from the terminal itself & the bus was needed to get back to the terminal, though these do run to and from the airport every 10 minutes or so.

Having said that the car parks are supposed to be secure I will admit that when we travelled from this airport just last year my step-son returned to find his car had been stolen from this 'secure' car park so its not without its flaws!!

As for the airport itself it is a clean, spacious area. I have found that the airport is extremely organised form the luggage check-in area to customs and boarding areas. I have (touch wood) never had to queue long to check luggage in and have never received any problems whilst doing this, though this is more down to your airline rather than the airport itself. I have always found staff to be polite, friendly and most importantly security conscious.

The food is up to a good standard and you have a few eateries to choose from including a pub area and cafe, though the food does tend to be rather pricey. They serve anything from cold snacks to hot meals and are perfectly edible.

The airport also includes shops such as WH Smith, The Sock Shop, Boots, A Book Store and an arcade to keep you amused whilst you wait. There are screens located all over the airport which keep you informed on all departures including your own and give information such as any delays and which gate to proceed to when your ready to go to the departure lounge. This information is not read out over any tannoys so you must keep your eye on the screens to see whats going on.

The customs/passport control area again is pretty organised in my opinion & i have never been kept hanging around for long. The queues move quickly but not at the expense of safety and the staff seem to have common sense but seem very security conscious at the same time - paramount in air travel.

Once through to the departure lounge there are more shops, bars and arcades to keep you amused before your flight and again screens indicate when you are ready for boarding. The walk to your designated gate can be a pretty long one so it may be an idea to check this out if you are travelling when someone with walking difficulties before you fly.

Upon arrival back into BHX again I found the jaunt through passport control to be stress free and pretty quick considering the amount of flights entering the UK into BHX. As with every other airport in the world you do tend to wait a few minutes at the carousel for your luggage but again it has been pretty uneventful for me everytime Ive returned to the UK from my hols.

In summary I couldn't recommend travelling to/from BHX enough. Friendly staff, security paramount and stress free travelling. Though I know everyone has different experiences whilst travelling and some may not agree with me but apart from the car incident I have never had a problem with travel arrangements at BHX. I have never been delayed and I believe this is down to the great organisation at this airport.

The airport is clean and well looked after with plenty of shops and eateries to keep you going whilst you wait. All in all a great way to start and end your holiday and if possible I will always use this airport for my hols.

4/5 Stars. The only 'lost' star is due to the expensive prices charged by the airport for food etc whilst you wait. Other than that cannot be faulted.

Summary: A fab way to fly!!