Junction 6 is the M42’s junction for Birmingham Airport, Birmingham International station and the National Exhibition Centre, on the A45. Junction 5A, opened in December 2024, gives a second route to the airport. If you are catching a flight or going to an event, this is the section to watch.

What the junctions connect to

• Junction 5A — the A4545, a 2.4 km dual carriageway alongside the motorway to the Clock Interchange, giving direct access to Birmingham Airport, the NEC, Birmingham Business Park and the planned HS2 interchange station. Northbound it is an exit; southbound it is an on-slip only.
• Junction 6 — the A45 for east Birmingham, Birmingham International, the NEC and Coventry, in both directions.

Why Junction 5A was built

Junction 5A is part of National Highways’ £282 million Junction 6 scheme, described as safety and capacity improvements to support economic growth and planned development in the area. Work on the new junction and road started in 2021, and they opened on schedule in December 2024. As at 25/09/2026, National Highways’ scheme page still shows the Junction 6 scheme as started; its update of 13/04/2026 says the motorway phase between Junctions 5 and 6 was reaching completion and that works around Junction 6 would finish in the following weeks.

Birmingham Airport and the NEC

Birmingham Airport served 13.66 million passengers in 2025 and was the seventh busiest airport in the UK. It is about 8 miles east-south-east of Birmingham city centre and is reached from both north and south via Junction 6. The free Air-Rail Link connects the terminal with Birmingham International station on the West Coast Main Line, and the NEC borders the airport to the east.

The very first part of the M42 to open, on 8 November 1976, was the section linking Birmingham Airport with the M6.

How busy is this stretch?

M42 Junctions 5A and 6 (Birmingham Airport and the NEC): vehicles a day, stretch by stretch

Stretch	Vehicles per day	Northbound	Southbound
J5 to J6	109,996	51,824	58,172
J6 to J7	128,313	63,981	64,332

© M42Traffic.co.uk · Statistics from the Department for Transport

The count rises by more than 18,000 vehicles a day across Junction 6, the junction for the airport, the NEC and the A45. Cars and taxis are about three-quarters of traffic on both stretches — a higher share than anywhere south of Junction 5.

Where to next

Heading north: Junctions 7–9, the M6 and M6 Toll. Heading south: Junctions 4–5, Shirley and Solihull. There are no services on this part of the M42; the nearest are Hopwood Park to the south and Tamworth to the north.

Traffic count figures on this page are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025.