Welcome to Behind the Scenes at the Airport where we show you all the amazing things that happen from arriving at the airport to flying in the plane.

So you can show off to your mates or just enjoy for yourself, on this page are some of our favourite facts:

Did you know in 2014 Birmingham Airport handled a whopping 9.7 million passengers?! Wow!

Ever wondered how long each plane has between flights to get ready for their next journey? Bigger flights take around 2.5 hours, but some flights can take as little as 25 minutes to turnaround!

It takes a lot of staff to get a plane ready to go again! Even smaller aircraft need 3 or 4 loaders, a refueller, a team of 4 to 5 cleaners, 2 caterers and between 2 to 4 staff at the gate to manage passengers boarding.

A staff member at Birmingham Airport could walk on average 17 miles a day!

There’s a lot of cleaning at airports! At Birmingham Airport a minimum of 700 mops are used annually and in peak times the terminal bins are emptied every 15 to 20 minutes!

Today’s pilots have to sit lots of exams, but in the 1920s, anyone could fly passengers or goods without obtaining a pilot’s licence or having to pass any difficult tests!

In the early days of flying pilots didn’t have air traffic control to direct them safely into the sky or onto the runways.  They just had to keep their eyes open and to be “see and be seen!”  Hope they didn’t blink for too long!

If you want to be an air traffic controller speaking English is an advantage.  Air traffic controllers over the world have to speak English when required!

It’s not just bags that go in the hold – it’s also the place where animals travel!  Many airplanes have special insulated parts in the hold for jet setting pets.  And did you know pets must have their own passports to travel, just like you and me?

The number of gates at each airport changes a lot. Birmingham Airport has 36 gates and it can take around 15 minutes to get between the two gates furthest apart. That seems easy though compared to Atlanta airport in America. It’s one of the largest airports in the world with over 180 gates and it can take up to 30 minutes to walk to the gate!

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Behind the Scenes at the Airport is brought to you by Birmingham Airport
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