Birmingham City Council is to give an £18.5m loan to Birmingham Airport as it struggles due to the Covid pandemic.
The airport, which is located in Solihull, is partly owned by the seven metropolitan authorities of the West Midlands (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton), who combined have a 49% share in Birmingham Airport Holdings Limited (BAHL).
Four of the seven local authorities and another shareholder will also contribute to the loan to Birmingham Airport, which in 2019 was the seventh busiest airport in the UK, with more than 12.6 million passengers passing through.
Like other UK airports, passenger numbers have fallen during the pandemic, with Birmingham’s down by 91%.
Commenting during the council’s Cabinet meeting, Birmingham City Council Leader, Councillor Ian Ward said: "The risk here if we don't put this loan in and ensure the liquidity of the airport is that we would lose control of the airport as seven metropolitan authorities.
"I think it is in the interests of all of the West Midlands authorities and the people across the West Midlands that we do continue to exercise influence over the airport. We would not want to see anything happen to the airport that was a detriment to the economy and it is a significant contributor to the economy.”
