Cutting Edge or Trailing Edge?APM Technology and Risk

Birmingham International Airport is a major UK regional airport serving the central industrialised area of England, with a population of 7 million people within an hour of the Airport. The Airport was officially opened for passengers in July 1939, having been conceived by Birmingham City Council in the late 1920s. On the outbreak of war, the facilities were requisitioned by central government and it was 1960 before it was returned to city council control, commercial services having been resumed in 1949. The ownership of the Airport was transferred to the West Midlands Metropolitan County Council (WMCC) in 1974 when about 1 million passengers per year were using the facilities. The road and public transport needs of the new development and the effects of additional traffic on the existing transport networks were studied using air traffic forecast information and estimates of modal split (percentage airport users split by type of transport used for access into the Airport), peak vehicle flows and peak car parking demand.