| 1939 | The official opening of the Birmingham Airport, owned by the city council, marked the beginning of air service to meet the needs of residents and businesses in Birmingham. The first scheduled flight was from Liverpool by Dragon Rapide.
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| During World War II | Air Ministry took over the airport and made some improvements including building two hard runways.
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| 1946 | Civil flights to and from the airport began again when the war ended.
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| 1954 | Services were available to Dublin, Jersey, Belfast, Northolt, Edinburgh and Glasgow using Dakotas, Vikings and Viscounts.
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| 1959 | An 800 foot extension to the runway was completed. |
| 1960 | The city of Birmingham took over responsibility for the airport again. |
| 1961 | The first jet plane used the airport. |
| 1964 | The main runway was extended to 7398 feet. |
| 1966 | Regular jet flights commenced serving this airport. |
| 1971 | BOAC VC10s began flying from Birmingham to New York. This service lasted only a year and a half.
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| 1972 | Wide body jetliners began serving the airport, making the terminals quite overcrowded at times.
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| 1974 | The newly formed West Midlands Metropolitan County Council took over control of the Birmingham Airport. Under their control the terminal and runway were expanded.
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| 1979 | The first 747 jetliners began flying from Birmingham to Toronto.
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| 1980 | The first visit by Air France’s Concorde. |
| 1981 | Work began on a new terminal close to the NEC, National Exhibition Centre.
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| 1983 | Birmingham’s own airline, Birmingham Executive, was approved and began flying to Europe. The airline’s name was later changed to Birmingham European.
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| 1984 | The Queen opened the new terminal with a capacity of 3 million travellers. It had been in the building stages for three years. The same year work began to enlarge the terminal.
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| 1986 | An expanded cargo facility began operating near the site of the older terminal building.
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| 1987 | Birmingham Airport became Birmingham Airport plc. The main airport could now offer 8350 feet for takeoff, thus attracting international flights from the USA.
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| 1991 | Eurohub was opened and was used by British Airways and its air partners. This was the world’s first terminal which served both domestic and international travellers.
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| 1993 | Because of government public sector borrowing restrictions, the local authority owners allowed the airport to become a public sector company. This allowed for financing a 260 million pound development program.
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| 1999 | Up to 13 charter companies used the airport during summer months to include flights to the USA.
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| 2000 | Emirates, one of the world’s largest carriers, began daily flights to Dubai, using the Airbus 330. This opened the airport to travellers to and from Australia and Asia.
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| 2003 | Concorde’s last visit to Birmingham International Airport was made as part of its farewell tour.
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| 2003 | Birmingham International Airport, the fifth largest in the country, was voted “Best UK Business Airport”.
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