Runway 'plan B'
15.05.10
A ‘cunning plan B’ to build the runway extension at Birmingham Airport for virtually half the published £120m cost of the scheme has been drawn up, the Post reports. Airport chief executive Paul Kehoe said a phased scheme would deliver 95% of the original anticipated capacity at a much lower cost.
The revised plans are being mooted six months after Mr Kehoe said the business case for a £120m scheme was ‘marginal at best’. He told the newspaper: ‘We need to find 400 metres of concrete. The scheme costs £120m but the company is struggling to find the cash to build that.'
‘But we have a cunning plan, Plan B. We can build the runway in phases and, by losing 50 - 60 metres, we can build it at half the price. Then, when it is up and running, we can finish the job. It would be £65m for phase one.’
He said the new phased plan was achievable by removing 50 - 60 metres of the project earmarked for a tunnel facility as part of an ‘overrun’ area, adding: ‘We still have to move the A45. We have planning permission for 7 years and we have to exercise that permission within 7 years.'
‘We are the only airport in the UK with significant planning permission. This puts us in a great position. We are only operating at 40% of our capacity, with 9 million passengers a year. All the ingredients are there so has Birmingham’s time come?’
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