In the wake of the announcement of a third runway at Heathrow, Michael Fabricant called for an expansion at Birmingham Airport too in the House of Commons. He told Chris Grayling “This statement has been long overdue. Some countries will have developed three entire nuclear power stations and five airports in the amount of time this has taken to be kicked into the long grass by two Labour Prime Ministers and I am afraid a Conservative Prime Minister too, and it is a reflection on this Prime Minister that the decision has finally been made. But why can we not still be talking about expansion at Birmingham International airport and indeed at Gatwick, too?”

Michael now says “With the third runway decision made in London, I am keen that we turn our focus to Birmingham. With more new jobs being created in the West Midlands than anywhere outside London, the only area in Europe enjoying a trade surplus with China, and the only airport actually linked with HS2, we need our airport to expand to take full advantage of the economic prospects now on offer. It is estimated that by 2050, 55 million passengers could be travelling through Birmingham Airport each year and it will need the capacity to handle that amount of traffic.”