Insider Media Limited

The chief executive of Birmingham International Airport has outlined the challenges faced by the aviation industry to attract passengers. Speaking at a lecture at the University of Wolverhampton Business School, Paul Kehoe said that the airport aimed to double its annual passenger footfall to 18 million by 2017.

Kehoe presented the Crystal Lecture, now in its 17th year. The event, which was attended by business leaders across the region, was hosted jointly by the University of Wolverhampton Business School and Chartered Management Institute.

The lecture, titled High Hopes in Hard Times, also covered the hurdles in expanding the airport’s runway, terminal and rail links and how it planned to grow and develop to meet its target of more than 18 million passengers by 2017, compared to nine million passengers in 2007.

Professor Kit Field, acting dean of the University of Wolverhampton Business School, said: “Paul gave us a great insight into the work to raise the airport profile, showing us how his team have approached promoting the Airport to potential travellers, how they have been building its brand, the work done by the team on their digital marketing to achieve this, plus the work that has gone into developing the airport facilities and customer experience while there.

“He talked us through the profiles and trends in passengers at Birmingham Airport and comparisons to other airports, whilst covering operations challenges from the different airlines and baggage handling to developing effective office teams. He also explained the commercial challenges in how the airport income is generated and things that can affect this.”