A new £2 billion runway at Birmingham International Airport will be delayed after forecasts suggested fewer aircraft would operate there than first predicted. The airport said it may not now build the controversial new runway until 2020 - four years later than anticipated. Campaigners against the second runway have argued it will only extend the blight on families living near BIA. The airport's managing director, Richard Heard, also intensified the feud with neighbour Coventry Airport (CA) by suggesting its smaller rival "compromised" BIA's long-term future. Mr Heard yesterday cast doubt on CA's claims it would cap its business at two million passengers per year if given planning permission for a new permanent passenger terminal. He said the "most effective cap" would be to not build the new facilities. His comments came on the eve of the first of two public inquiries, which opens in Leamington Spa today, into CA's controversial attempts to expand passenger operations. BIA today publishes a "High Level Statement of Intent" which revises Government figures suggesting there would be 350,000 aircraft movements a year at the airport by 2030, creating a need for a second runway by 2016. A new study carried out by the airport now predicts there will be 20 per cent fewer movements - 278,000 per year. "Undoubtedly there has been a change in the industry over the last few years with the development of the 'no frills' carriers and we see that very much as part of the business going forward," said Mr Heard. "We do think there will be a move towards larger aircraft with higher load factors. That's environmentally and economically sustainable. "It will push out further the start date for our second runway. The Government said 2016 as a target, but I think we are probably looking at 2016 to 2020." The BIA study echoes earlier Government figures suggesting BIA will cater for more than 30 million passengers per year by 2030. The "Statement of Intent" is part of a draft masterplan, required by the Department for Transport and due to go out to public consultation in July, for the second runway. Mr Heard admitted BIA faced a difficult task putting together a business case for the second runway, especially if significant operations at CA curtailed its use. "It's a £ 2 billion- plus investment. You wouldn't want to build a facility you couldn't be guaranteed to use fully," he added. Secretary of Birmingham Airport anti-Noise Group (BANG) James Botham said: "My fear is that this is just a blip, a temporary reprieve. "As long as civil aviation goes under- taxed and under-regulated, airports will never rule out new runways. Meanwhile, thousands of residents remain blighted. "BIA needs to address the blight that their phantom second runway has created, regardless of whether or not the development goes ahead." Jerry Blackett, policy director at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: "Businesses build airports, not governments, and this illustrates that very well. I am quite comfortable with BIA waiting to make sure the business case is there before they commit to build." No one at Coventry Airport was available for comment. | 
