Birmingham Airport Say's 'Hello World' as New Identity is Unveiled

The essence of the new brand identity, which ceases to include ‘International' within its name, is about world connectivity and the future opportunities the airport can offer to passengers, business, the travel industry and those living in its extensive catchment area.

Using the message ‘Hello World' across the site and throughout its marketing communications activities, the airport aims to reposition itself as a truly global airport. The theme will use vibrant images of people from different countries to demonstrate the global links offered and its multicultural environment. The logo represents world-wide connectivity and the inspiration for the colour palette comes from the colours of the globe.

The Airport's new identity will be seen throughout the new £13m redeveloped terminal opening in spring 2011. This work sees the two terminals merge into a single facility, creating new shops and restaurants and increasing its security search area.

Paul Kehoe, the Airport's CEO, said, "Our current brand identity doesn't reflect what we're about now and what we aspire to be in the future. We want to embrace the fact that we can connect people to over 400 different places worldwide and want people to feel proud and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead."

The scrapping of proposals for future developments in the South East means that Birmingham can easily form part of the solution to the 'Heathrow Problem'. It is currently just 70 minutes away by train from London Euston station and with High Speed Rail in place, this becomes 38 minutes.
Paul Kehoe continued, "There are around 8 million people living within an hour's drive of the Airport but less than 40% of this demand uses Birmingham; we are determined to increase this figure over the next few years. We want people to think about their journey in a new way, and not to be bound by old habits.

"The rebrand is far more than just a new logo. It's a change of identity which aims to create positive awareness about our potential, foster a sense of pride and grow loyalty from people living within our catchment."

The Airport's strategy going forward is also to build relationships and knowledge about the airport by the travel industry to show them that they have a very important part to play in the realisation of Birmingham's potential.

This work will be vital as the market recovers and range of destinations and airlines, particularly to long haul markets, increase from Birmingham.

The new identity was created by Wolverhampton based Marketing agency, Connect Group, which was employed to manage its rebrand following a competitive tender process.

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Media enquiries should be made by contacting the Airport's External Relations department on 0121 767 7374/8024 or by emailing extrel@bhx.co.uk

Notes to Editors

• Birmingham Airport is a public/private partnership. The current shareholders include the seven West Midlands district councils (49%), Airport Group Investments Ltd. (AGIL), a limited company owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') and Australia's Victorian Funds Management Corp. (VFMC)(48.25%) and the Employee Share Trust (2.75%).
• Birmingham Airport is the UK's second largest airport outside London and the UK's sixth largest overall. In 2009 9,109,189 passengers used the Airport, a fall of 5.5% on 2008.
• Birmingham currently serves 143 direct scheduled & charter routes and offers an additional 279 possible connections worldwide. This gives passengers a choice of 422 direct or one-stop flights.
• Find out more about Birmingham Airport at www.birminghamairport.co.uk or on Twitter at bhx_official