Cheap flights boom at Brum

Budget airline Ryanair today revealed a £350 million expansion at Birmingham Airport, launching scores of new European routes and creating thousands of jobs.

It is to start a major operation at the airport which will see 10 new aircraft based there within five years.

The expansion will see as many as 100 new routes from Birmingham Airport to destinations across Europe by 2012.

The airport currently handles around 9.5 million passengers a year. Today's announcement will see that figures soar to at least 14.5 million within five years.

From June two new planes will be based at BIA, rising to three by July and operating 20-new routes.

There will be new routes to Denmark, Norway Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. There will also be five new routes to France, five to Italy, three to Poland and two to Spain.This year's expansion will be followed by a further seven aircraft phased in within five years, with the fleet eventually handling five million passengers a year. The influx of visitors are expected to spend £400 million in the region.

The investment will create as many as 5,000 jobs.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "This is a momentous day for Birmingham International Airport and the West Midland region.

"As well as flying to all these new destinations we will be bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors in to the region providing a massive boost for tourism."

The airport is currently building a new aircraft pier to help cope with the new services, and there are plans to extend the runway and launch long haul services to West Coast of America and China.

by Business Editor Jim Walsh