Location
Birmingham Airport is 5.5 NM (10.2 km; 6.3 mi) east-south-east of Birmingham city centre, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. It is bordered by the National Exhibition Centre to the east, Marston Green to the north, Sheldon to the west, and the village of Bickenhill to the south.
It is primarily served by the A45 main road, and is near Junction 6 of the M42 motorway. It is connected by the elevated AirRail Link with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line.
The airport's location south-east of the city, plus the only operational runway being north-west - south-east (15/33), means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham. The relatively short north-east - south-west runway (06/24) is not operational, and has been incorporated into the taxiway for aircraft departing the end of runway 33, or gaining access to runway 15.
As the airport is in the Borough of Solihull, all planning applications are reviewed by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council which is run separately from Birmingham City Council. Due to this, Birmingham has little or no control over planning permission for Birmingham Airport's expansion plans.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham Airport