The Airport was opened at Elmdon, Birmingham on 8th July 1939. Owned and operated by Birmingham City Council as a municipal airport, it closed for the duration of the war and reopened in July 1946.

In 1984, passenger services transferred from the original Elmdon Terminal to the newly opened Main Terminal (now known as Terminal 1) on the opposite side of the airfield. Seven years later saw the opening of the Airport's second terminal - the Eurohub (now Terminal 2). It was the first terminal in the world to combine domestic and international passengers.

The Airport is also the first in the world to have the new SkyRail people mover linking the passenger terminals with Birmingham International rail station next door.

Today, Birmingham is the 5th largest airport in the UK, handling more than 9 million passengers each year. More than 50 airlines operate to over 100 destinations including 20 capital cities. There are frequent scheduled flights throughout Europe and to the Indian sub-continent plus key Middle East and Northern American hubs.