Latest News
This page of our Bristol Airport Car Parking site is designed to provide some of the latest news events at Bristol Airport. We hope you find it useful.
Bristol Airport has announced a re-branding exercise. The " International " part of the name will be dropped, and the airport name will be Bristol Airport.
"Amazing journeys star here" will also be promoted as a slogan.
Bristol Airport Expansion to get go-ahead? February 24 2010
Bristol International Airport say they are confident they can claw back the loss of passengers from last year.Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday, chief executive Robert Sinclair said despite it being a challenging year for BIA, it was in a better position than many other airports.Passenger numbers dropped 9.9 per cent last year compared to 2008 and holiday makers passing through the doors in December 2009 was down by 1.5 per cent.
Mr Sinclair said: "The outlook for Bristol is substantially more positive than other airports.
This compares to falls of 8.1 per cent in passengers for Belfast in December, 23.6 per cent for Cardiff, eight per cent for Exeter and 11.5 per cent for Newcastle."I am confident we will claw back most of the loss of passenger volumes in 2010."
At the meeting, with airline bosses, campaigners and parish and North Somerset councillors, bosses said that BIA will see its 50millionth passenger in October.Special plans for this milestone will be announced later in the year.It was also revealed that flight operators Aer Arann and Aer Lingus had reached an agreement to establish a franchise branded as Aer Lingus Regional.The new partnership will see flights from Cork to Bristol up to six days per week form March 28.The £150million expansion plan which includes a multi-storey car park, larger terminal, and several other administration buildings, is currently being considered by North Somerset Council.If approved BIA bosses hope to see 10million passengers pass through the doors annually by 2020.
Night flights at Lulsgate, due to rise to around 12 a night under the expansion plans, would now be capped at 10 per night.
There are currently around seven flights per night.
The airport is spending £10 million in total on a series of changes to its expansion plans, many involving transport links, following public consultation.
Changes include a new flyer bus service from Weston and increased funding for the £48 million Bus Rapid Transit scheme and the £47 million South Bristol Link Road.
It will also delay development of green belt land at Lulsgate, due to be converted into long-stay parking, until passenger numbers have grown enough to merit the increase in spaces.
Three weeks of consultation on the amendments has now begun before North Somerset Council decides on the whole application on February 10.
Airport chief executive officer Robert Sinclair said: "We have listened to the views expressed and responded positively. These additional measures demonstrate our commitment to working with the council to find a balanced solution which can be agreed locally."
Airport bosses are also offering an Airport Environmental Improvement Fund, with BIA contributing £100,000 per year, with this figure increasing in line with passenger numbers. This will help fund local projects to improve roads, reduce noise and enhance the environment.
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion spokesman Jeremy Birch said: "The airport has made no real concessions here. It has made offers that turn out to be no limitation on what they planned to do before, yet they sound good and are aimed to convince people that they are being flexible.
"Local jobs will be far less than BIA is implying, no more than 900, and quite possibly less. The rest are based on projected spending by incoming tourists – yet 44,000 jobs in South West tourism have disappeared since the airport started expanding in 2001.
"Make no mistake, BIA are still planning the same increase in flights, traffic, noise and use of green belt. BIA are trying to avoid real constraints being placed upon them, such as a cap on passenger numbers linked to delivered infrastructure improvements."
District councillor Tom Collinson also criticised the airport's plans. He said: "It has to be understood that the application is for enormous expansion. Current peak airport use already causes unsatisfactory local highway congestion in Lulsgate Bottom and surrounding lanes."
Opposition to the planned expansion of Bristol Airport goes on, and on.
Snow at airports across Britain and the Continent meant eight easyJet flights due to leave the Lulsgate airport were grounded yesterday, while five due to arrive were cancelled when planes were unable to take off. Other flights were diverted to Bristol Airport because of the conditions at airports in the South East.
This afternoon another seven easyJet flights were cancelled, for Amsterdam, Glasgow, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Berlin and Edinburgh.
The flights cancelled yesterday were from Bristol to Inverness, Nice, Geneva, Amsterdam, Milan, Newcastle and two to Paris, forcing more than 700 passengers to make alternative travel plans.
A Continental Airlines flight to New York was delayed for more than seven and a half hours because of a heavy snowfall at Newark Airport, and a number of other flights suffered shorter delays.
The check-in lounge at Bristol International was full as passengers queued for hours to try to book alternative flights and make other arrangements.
Many were offered coaches to Liverpool, Gatwick and Luton airports, while others were given hotel rooms.
The bad weather caused havoc for hundreds of passengers who were trying to visit their families for Christmas.
Bob and Christine Marks were driven to Bristol International from Portsmouth by their son yesterday morning so they could catch a 1.55pm flight to Inverness.The couple were going to visit their heavily pregnant daughter in nearby Elgin.Their flight was due to go ahead when they left Portsmouth, but by the time they arrived at 10.45am it was cancelled.
Mr Marks, 67, said: "We queued for an hour and a half to see if we could change our flight.
"Finally we got a flight to Glasgow, and it was delayed as well "All being well our son-in-law will travel down from Elgin and pick us up.
"We were extremely annoyed and dissatisfied.
"A bit of warning would have been OK, as it would have saved us a two-and-a-half-hour car journey.
"Since we have got here it has been chaotic.
"The girl on the easyJet counter was helpful and said they would put us up overnight, but we took the Glasgow flight.
"But the whole room was full of people milling around, and they just couldn't cater for it."
Igor Kuiper, 40, had been holidaying in Bristol with his wife Edna and twin babies Ieuan and Ceynwen, and they were due to fly home to Amsterdam.
They checked in for their 3pm flight, but at 2.30pm were told it was cancelled.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Kuiper, 40, said: "We had to pick up our baggage and wait to find out what was happening."
He said they were eventually offered a coach to Gatwick Airport, where they could get a flight.
He added: "These things happen, and it is not easyJet's fault.
"They gave us vouchers for a meal, and we are just killing time."
Chris Hazell, 22, from Bradford-on-Avon, was due to fly to Nice in France with his mum and sister to visit family.
But when their easyJet flight was cancelled they had to get a coach to Liverpool, where they will stay until they fly tomorrow morning.
Mr Hazell said: "The flight was due to leave at 1pm, but when we arrived at 11.30am we found it was cancelled.
"We queued for two hours to try to rearrange our flights, but we couldn't re-book anything.
"The easyJet staff were really helpful and gave us coffee vouchers."
EasyJet spokesman Andrew McConnell said: "As a result of significant snowfall across the UK and parts of Europe, easyJet has experienced disruption this weekend.
"A small number of our flights were cancelled from Bristol Airport, due to the knock-on effect of this disruption.
"We sincerely apologise to customers who have been affected by this disruption, and are doing everything we can to minimise cancellations and delays.
"Passengers should be aware, given this is a busy time of year, there is little availability over the next few days, so passengers whose flights have been cancelled today may not be able to transfer on to flights for a few days."
Jacqui Mills, spokeswoman for Bristol International Airport, said delays could continue over the coming days.
She said: "Bristol International is working hard with the airlines to reduce the impact to customers.
Snow hits Bristol Airport December 21 2009
Overnight snow flurries have lead to the cancellation of six flights from Bristol Airport, with nine incoming aircraft diverted to other airports.
Easyjet flights to Belfast, Krakow, Palma and Glasgow were unable to leave, and Air Southwest cancelled a flight to Manchester.
An Air France flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle was also grounded.
Customers have been advised to check airline websites for the latest information.
Avon and Somerset police report eight weather-related collisions on the roads in and around Bristol in the morning.
The roads in north Bristol and South Gloucestershire have been worst affected, with unexpectedly heavy snowfall from the Bristol Channel freezing overnight.
Changes over Bristol Airport Expansion Plans December 16 2009
Night flights at Lulsgate, due to rise to around 12 a night under the expansion plans, would now be capped at 10 per night.
There are currently around seven flights per night on average.
The airport is spending £10 million in total on a series of changes to its expansion plans, many involving transport links, following public consultation.
Changes include a new flyer bus service from Weston and increased funding for the £48 million Bus Rapid Transit scheme and the £47 million South Bristol Link road.
It will also delay development of green belt land at Lulsgate, due to be converted into long-stay parking, until passenger numbers have grown enough to merit the increase in spaces.
It will also spend £100,000 to make Weston's 121 bus service – which currently runs every two hours from Weston to Bristol city centre via the airport – hourly.
The changes follow public consultation on the expansion scheme, which includes multistorey car parks, a larger terminal and new administration building.
Passenger numbers, currently six million a year, are expected to rise to ten million by 2020.
The airport claims the expanded site would directly create 3,500 on and off-site jobs.
Three weeks of consultation on the amendments has now begun before North Somerset Council decides on the whole application on February 10.
Airport chief executive officer Robert Sinclair said: "We have listened to the views expressed and responded positively.
"These additional measures demonstrate our commitment to working with the council to find a balanced solution which can be agreed locally."
Under the terms of the proposals, BIA's contribution to the Bus Rapid Transit scheme and the South Bristol Link – both of which will help alleviate congestion on local roads – would rise to £5.4 million.
Public transport links to Weston-super-Mare would also be improved, with the airport giving up to £100,000 a year towards the cost of operating an enhanced, hourly 121 bus service, ahead of the introduction of a 'Weston Flyer' express coach when passenger numbers reach eight million passengers per year, in around 2012. This service would operate between Weston town centre, Weston railway station and Worle.
Under a new planning condition, the proposed seasonal overflow car park to the south of the airport would be developed in two phases and permitted only if set passenger milestones are reached. It has 8,000 spaces but would use land to rise to 14,000 spaces once the target number of passengers is reached.
The airport has offered to reduce the cap on night aircraft movements put forward in the original application from 4,500 to 4,000.
These comprise a summer limit of 3,000 movements and a winter limit of 1,000 movements.
Airport bosses are also offering an Airport Environmental Improvement Fund with BIA contributing £100,000 per year, with this figure increasing in line with passenger numbers. This will provide funds for local projects to improve roads, reduce noise and enhance the local environment.
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion spokesman Jeremy Birch said: "The airport has made no real concessions here. It has made offers that turn out to be no limitation on what they planned to do before, yet they sound good and are aimed to convince people that they are being flexible. Local jobs will be far less than BIA is implying, no more than 900, and quite possibly less.
"The rest are based on projected spending by incoming tourists – yet 44,000 jobs in South West tourism have disappeared since the airport started expanding in 2001.
"Make no mistake, BIA are still planning the same increase in flights, traffic, noise and use of green belt. BIA are trying to avoid real constraints being placed upon them, such as a cap on passenger numbers linked to delivered infrastructure improvements."
Bosses at Bristol Airport have said they are confident their expansion plans will not hinder efforts to cut greenhouse gas emission from aviation – despite a government report which said growth in air travel could not continue unchecked.
A long-awaited report from the government’s committee on climate change (CCC) published yesterday stated that if the aviation industry continues to grow unchecked, passenger journeys would increase by 200% in the next 40 years, but that cannot be tolerated because carbon dioxide emitted by carriers in 2050 must not exceed 2005 levels.
The report added that ministers must consider measures including a carbon tax on passengers, limits on runway expansion and restrictions on flights at existing airports. Passenger growth will have to be limited to 60% over the next four decades, compared with an increase of 130% since 1990,
“This is a very challenging target,” said David Kennedy, the committee’s chief executive. “Don’t be deceived by the fact that demand can grow. It will have to grow by much less than if we didn’t care about carbon dioxide.”
Campaign group Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) hailed the report, which it said “slammed the brakes” on the proposed expansion of the city airport.
Spokesman Jeremy Birch said the report limited Bristol’s expansion to 8.3million passengers per year – from a current level of 5million – but the planned expansion allowed for a rise to 10million passengers.
“The Committee on Climate Change has placed a final limit on aviation expansion. Airports will have to deliver actual low carbon growth, not just talk about it,” he said.
“This means that North Somerset Council will have to consider throwing out BIA’s planning application or severely restricting its growth to meet the aviation targets for 2050.
“It is clear that capping expansion is the only way that we can ensure emissions from aviation don’t jeopardise our targets for cutting emissions. This report puts a hard limit on how much UK airports can expand, and it is well below the aspirations of Bristol airport’s owners.”
Plans to expand Bristol Airport are being considered by North Somerset Council – which recently revealed it would delay its decision until the new year.
But airport spokesman James Gore hit back at the groups claims, saying the report did not have a remit to make recommendations on specific airport capacity.
He added that it included assumptions that airports such as Bristol would have changes in planning permission to allow for planned growth in the future.
“The Committee on Climate Change has set the aviation industry challenging emissions targets,” he said, “but Sustainable Aviation (a coalition of UK airlines, aerospace manufacturers, air navigation providers and airports, including Bristol International Airport) is confident that these targets can be met, bringing CO2 from UK aviation down to 2005 levels by 2050.
“The aviation industry’s commitment to operational and technological improvements demonstrates that development of Bristol International can take place in the context of overall emissions reductions.
“The Committee makes no recommendations on where growth in airport capacity should occur and, in fact, the scenarios on which its conclusions are based already factor in capacity increases at Bristol International and other regional airports.
“To paint this report as a red light for regional airports misrepresents its findings and risks leaving the South West under-served and over-reliant on airports outside the region.”
New flights from Bristol Airport October 31 2009
Low cost airline Ryanair has launched the first of four new flights from Bristol Airport as part of its new-look winter schedule.
The carrier has commenced flights to Lanzarote from the south-west airport, while a route to Tenerife South has already taken effect.
Later this week, Ryanair will also introduce flights to Gran Canaria and Malaga from Bristol, while flights will additionally operate to Alicante, Marrakesh and Malta.
These winter sun destinations are likely to tempt south-west residents looking for warmer climes, with the Canary Islands just four hours away.
The routes will be operated by Ryanair using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with the airline serving a total of 22 destinations from Bristol.
Mixed views on Bristol Airport expansion October 23 2009
A MIX of opinions on Bristol International Airport's (BIA) expansion was given by North Somerset councillors last week.
Members of the west area committee consulted on the full planning application before comprising key points.
The councillors did not have the power to approve or accept the proposal but they listed key concerns which will be passed on to the south area committee which will make the decision.
Members expressed opposition to any plans by Bristol Airport to extend its car parks onto greenbelt land in the south as part of its proposed expansion.
They also called for improved infrastructure and new transport links to be in place before the airport's expansion goes ahead, echoing the concerns of north and central area committees the week before.
Highways officer, Mike Schneider, dismissed ideas of a rail link and a park and ride system.
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion spokesman Jeremy Birch said: "We believe that the airport's previous growth has had a negligible impact on employment for Weston residents.
"There is no reason to believe that the airport's further expansion will be any better. "Significantly, as the airport's passenger numbers have dropped by 10 per cent on average against last year's levels, Weston has enjoyed a bumper summer this year and visitors to local tourist attractions have increased by around 10 per cent."
Councillor Peter Bryant said if he could not fly from Bristol Airport then he would not fly at all.
Other councillors agreed with him and said that fuel costs travelling to other airports and the increase on the carbon footprint meant that BIA expansion plans were the best option.
Job losses at Bristol Airport October 8 2009
The company, which has 350 staff at Lulsgate, blames the decision on the economic downturn.Check-in staff, ground crew and baggage handlers will find out this week if they will lose their jobs.The cuts will be made by the end of October.Servisair, one of the two handling firms operating at Bristol, works for airlines including Thomson, Ryanair and KLM.
Servisair spokesman Tony Brunskill said: "This has resulted from the downturn in aviation.
"We are confident in the long-term prospects of Bristol as an airport, so staff numbers could be increased in the future.
Last month, it emerged that passenger numbers at Bristol Airport have fallen for the tenth month in a row.
New facilities at Bristol Airport October 3 2009
Bristol International Airport has introduced refreshing new facilities for passengers flying Business First with Continental Airlines.
Travellers arriving on the transatlantic service from Newark now have access to on-site executive showers, enabling them to freshen up following the overnight flight from the US.
The showers - including a facility for passengers with reduced mobility - are conveniently located in the terminal building and stocked with luxury Temple Spa products.
Passengers can pre-arrange use of the showers at the time of booking or during the flight to Bristol. Previously such facilities were only available off-site in partnership with a local hotel.
Jason Wescott, head of sales at Bristol International Airport, said: “Many business passengers arrive from New York and head straight to morning meetings across Bristol and the South West.
"The shower facilities mean that they can now arrive refreshed and firing on all cylinders.”
As well as access to the new showers, Continental’s Business First passengers also receive free car parking in reserved spaces close the terminal, fast-track security and access to the business lounge at Bristol International.
Bristol International’s executive showers are exclusively available to Continental passengers, but could be rolled out to those travelling with other airlines in the coming months subject to customer demand.
Bristol Airport passengers numbers fall October 3 2009
Australians sell investment in Bristol Airport September 16 2009
MACQUARIE AIRPORTS has further consolidated its investments after selling its cornerstone stake in Britain's underperforming Bristol Airport for £128 million ($246 million) to a Canadian pension fund.
In its deal with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, MAp will buy a 4 per cent stake in Denmark's Copenhagen Airport from the pension fund for 570 million kroners ($130 million), which will take its overall holdings to 31 per cent.
The sale of the 35.4 per cent stake in Bristol - at a 13 per cent discount to what MAp valued it at as of June - leaves the fund to concentrate on Sydney, Copenhagen and Brussels airports. MAp sold its stake in the under-performing Japan Airport terminal in July.
MAp's European airports have suffered large declines in passengers since late last year, although the extent of the falls in traffic has moderated in recent months. Bristol has been the worst performer among its three European airports.
The increase in its stake in Copenhagen - at a 40 per cent discount to MAp's June valuation - comes just two weeks before MAp's security holders vote on a buy-out of Macquarie Group's management rights for $345 million.
An independent expert, KPMG Corporate Finance, last week found that the fee paid to Macquarie to buy out its management rights was ''fair and reasonable''. However, the internalisation triggers a change-of-control right that could lead to MAp having to buy a 3 per cent stake of Brussels Airport from another Macquarie-managed fund, GIF2. MAp said the latest two transactions would generate net cash of $120 million, which will take its cash reserves to $900 million. Copenhagen is MAp's biggest asset after its 74 per cent stake in Sydney Airport.
A Royal Bank of Scotland analyst, Luke McNab, said the sale of the stake in Bristol made sense because holding on to it would have unnecessarily tied up management's time on such a small holding. ''Most sellers of assets in the current market would be pretty happy if they could get within 15 per cent of what they valued it at previously,'' he said.
The unlisted Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund owns a 50 per cent interest in Bristol. MAP securities rose 14c to $2.57 yesterday.
New security gates at Bristol Airport September 14 2009
Bristol Airport has introduced new facial recognition gates at border control. This new technologydoes a quick scan of travellers’ faces and compares them to the digital photo held on the chip embedded in the new e-passports. If it all matches up, the automated gates swing open to allow the person through, with no other checks needed.
The system can only be used by UK or European travellers who are over the age of 18 and have one of the new e-passports that come with a chip. Some 17 million of the passports have been doled out so far.
Bristol airport terminal general manager Alison Roberts noted it could make air travel less of a pain. She said in a statement that the “use of new technology can help improve today’s passenger experience, providing a positive first impression to visitors arriving in the UK.”
Bristol Airport is asking people to give their views on its plans to limit noise.
It comes as planners consider a £150-million planning application to expand the airport. This would mean the number of planes taking off and landing each hour would rise by eight, to 13.
The airport has drawn up a Draft Noise Action Plan and is asking local people for their views during the next 16 weeks.
The airport says a rigorous framework for the management and reporting of noise is in place. It also says measures to curb noise from aircraft on the ground and in the air are already in place.
They include restrictions on the use of generators and encouraging airlines to operate quieter aircraft.
New proposals include reviewing where aircraft park and the introduction of a tracker system to record the routes taken by planes using Lulsgate.
Alan Davies, the airport's planning and environment director, said: "We take consultation seriously, and are keen to hear the views of local stakeholders on this plan."
The plan has been drawn up to cover the parishes of Yatton, Congresbury, Cleeve, Wrington, Backwell and Winford.
Hilary Burn, of the Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) campaign, said: "It is about time that the airport recognised the problems caused by noise, but the airport should not be drawing up its own action plan.
"Noise action plans on road and rail operations are drawn up by independent organisations. Why would an airport operator impose constraints on their own operations that could possibly lose them business?"
SBAE is calling for a reduction in the number of night flights, moving to a total ban, and fewer flights early in the morning and late at night .
Ms Burn said: "At first glance, what is on offer is more mitigation from the impacts of noise rather than an actual noise reduction."
Thanks to thisisbristol.co.uk for the story.
Bristol Airport Contract for Duty Free Awarded August 25 2009
World Duty Free (WDF) has been chosen from four contenders to run the outlet, which takes around £57,000 a day, from November 1.
It beat competition from firms including Aelia, Avonmouth firm Harding Brothers and incumbent The Nuance Group to win the seven-and-a-half-year contract, worth £20m a year.
Bristol Airport is spending £3.5m upgrading the existing shop to a "walk-through" boutique for WDF, which will mean passengers will pass through the store to access the departure lounge after going through security.
WDF believes it can raise shop sales by around 15 per cent by directing passengers through its new store, and believes it will rank ninth for turnover when it joins the current 80-strong branch network.
UFO's near Bristol Airport ? August 23 2009
EasyJet plane lost contact with Bristol Airport August 24 2009
The pilots of the Bristol-bound easyJet Airbus A319 were so concerned that they feared they might be intercepted by military aircraft, the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found.
They were also worried that if they deviated from the flight plan and diverted to another airfield this "might be considered a hostile action" which could have lead to "offensive measures being taken against their aircraft".
At one point the plane's transponder signal was lost for about 10 minutes during which time the aircraft was not visible to air traffic control radar at Brest in northern France.
This led to the easyJet plane coming closer to another aircraft than would normally be permitted.
The captain, one of six crew on board the aircraft which was carrying 138 passengers, decided to land as scheduled at Bristol and the plane touched down safely.
Describing the incident as "serious", the AAIB said the potential effect of loss of all three VHF radios was categorised by airworthiness authorities as "major" but, in the current security climate, was judged to be more severe.
The plane was flying from Alicante in Spain on the morning of September 15 2006 and had experienced a fault affecting the number one left electrical generator on the outward Bristol-Alicante flight.
Flying over Nantes in France on the return trip to Bristol, the aircraft's electrical system failed which caused a number of the plane's systems to become degraded or inoperative.
This meant the plane could only be flown manually, all its radios became inoperative and the captain's flight instrument displays went blank.
Attempts to get the electrical system corrected failed and the flight crew were unable to contact air traffic control for the rest of the flight.
The aircraft landed normally at Bristol "with the radios and several other systems still inoperative", the AAIB report said.
The AAIB made 10 further safety recommendations to add to the four it made in an earlier report in December 2006.
Today's report said that the reasons why the electrical system "could not be reconfigured by the flight crew could not be established".
The report said that the number one generator control unit had repeatedly been rejected from service prior to the incident, possibly because of recurrence of the same intermittent fault, and returned to service "without the fault having been found, but still present".
The AAIB also said no effective system was in place at Airbus's repair organisation to identify units repeatedly rejected from service and not found to be faulty or units suffering repetitive faults.
Support for Bristol Airport Expansion August 4 2009
The airport then plans to send the petition to North Somerset Council which is considering Lulsgate's expansion plans.
They include doubling the size of the current terminal, adding multi-storey car parks and the demolition of an old terminal, currently used as administration offices. The plans also involves a new administration building to the right of an expanded terminal and a new runway apron for aircraft.
A string of Bristol business groups and firms have also written to the council in support of the expansion.
Warmley brewery Bath Ales, the Bristol Port Company and GWE Business West are among about 40 firms who have backed the scheme, in correspondence with the council.
Mike Wilkins, group operations director of Bath Ales said: "I recently had to visit a customer in Turnbury, 40 miles south of Glasgow. The price (by plane) was in total £86 compared to nearly £200 to travel by rail, plus a six-hour journey time each way. The time taken was 55 minutes plus an hour to pass through both airports. I checked in online, the planes were clean, reasonably comfortable and the staff all helpful when I needed assistance."
Simon Bird, chief executive of the Bristol Port Company said: "Like the port, the airport provides connectivity to the rest of the world and saves redundant journeys on congested roads to other already over-burdened airports." But the credit crunch has seen the airport scale back its expectations of passenger growth. In the first six months of the year, 2.4 million people used the airport – a fall of more than 500,000 people compared with the same period in 2008.
People travelling through the airport in June dropped 11 per cent – the eighth month in a row passenger numbers have fallen, although a slower fall than previous months. It previously claimed passenger numbers would reach 10 million a year by 2016, but now believes the figure will be reached by 2020 and is delaying its plans accordingly.
Bristol Airport passengers told to stay sober August 4 2009
The Know Your Limits alcohol awareness campaign was launched at Lulsgate for the second year running after the success of last year's scheme.
It is aimed at people departing from Bristol to ensure they know how much alcohol they have drunk at the airport, before they arrive and on their flight so they don't upset fellow passengers.
Earlier this year a man who was drunk was arrested on landing at Bristol and subsequently spent 12 weeks in prison.
PC Andrew Bibbings, of Avon and Somerset police, said: "We do not have a huge problem at Bristol International.
"But we do have a few people who come here and disrupt and spoil the enjoyment of other passengers who are flying out. That is not acceptable.
"We want passengers to come to the airport, enjoy their travelling experience and have a great start to their holiday or travel.
"We have excellent facilities at the airport and would like everyone to enjoy them but we are advising customers to drink sensibly.
"If people drink too much and their behaviour and demeanour starts to affect other passengers or staff at the airport, they will not be flying anywhere and may find themselves arrested, banned from the airline, or both."
The campaign is being run by the airport, the police airport unit and those responsible for bar and food outlets on site.
PC Bibbings said: "We want everyone to travel safely, have a great time and not have to put up with people behaving in a way that could disrupt other travellers or cause a safety hazard in the building or in the air."
Airport spokesman James Gore said: "We want all passengers to enjoy the start of their holidays but anti-social behaviour by a minority can occasionally spoil the experience for everyone."
FlyBe announces it is the top airline at Bristol Airport July 31 2009
Opponents of Bristol Airport expansion still complaining July 29 2009
ANTI-AIRPORT campaigners claim an expansion to Bristol International Airport (BIA) would only result in half the number of new jobs predicted.
The group said that BIA could reliably claim that around 900 direct new jobs would be created by its expansion but say there is insufficient evidence for the remaining 2,600 publicised.
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion group (SBAE) say that BIA is pushing its plans on the basis of largely unsubstantiated jobs figures at the expense of communities and the environment.
They also say that BIA's evidence included jobs and income from a proposed hotel that is not part of BIA's planning application.
SBAE spokesperson Hilary Burn said: "Although there will be some new jobs for the region, the considerable damage to communities, environment and the wider global environment far outweighs the benefits of a relatively insignificant number of jobs.
"BIA's expansion is all about short term gains over long term destruction.
"The mitigation measures offered by the airport are completely inadequate to counteract millions more cars on North Somerset's roads, increased disturbance to local people from aircraft noise, and a more than doubling of CO2 emissions from the airport's flights."
SBAE's analysis of BIA's economic impact report by Roger Tym & Partners can be viewed at www.stopbia.com
Avoid Swine Flu with a private jet from Bristol Airport July 28 2009
Centreline Air Charter, which flies from Bristol Airport to exclusive destinations all over Europe, found itself at the sharp end of the credit crunch.
Until the economic slowdown, 40 per cent of Centreline's income came from companies paying to ferry employees to business meetings.
However, the combination of a reduction in deals done and a general tightening of corporate belts took a huge toll on the firm's order book.
Sales went down eight per cent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, while enquiries plummeted by 25 per cent.
But the company says the recent swine flu pandemic has provided an unlikely source of trade.
Lost business flights have increasingly been replaced by leisure flights chartered by the same senior banking executives for family holidays to elite resorts such Nice, Cannes, Malaga and Sardinia.
Because they do not want to risk exposing loved ones to the risk of contracting swine flu on a crowded scheduled flight, the bankers are now paying out of their own pockets to travel by private jet.
And they have to dig deep – a return trip to Nice on a five-seater luxury jets costs about £11,000.
But Centreline's managing director Phil Brockwell said that with increased media coverage of the pandemic, ever more people are willing to pay to avoid spending half their holiday in quarantine, or even worse, refused entry.
Mr Brockwell said:"We have had a run of bookings and interest from young families and people with medical conditions, particularly asthma.
"Our normal flight patterns on corporate private jet charter would take us to the key financial centres such as Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris, Milan, Edinburgh.
"We are now spending much more of our time flying into Nice, Cannes, Malaga and Sardinia.
" I must say that there are not too many complaints from our pilots regarding the changes to their flight plans."
Nice, if you can afford it.
Bristol International Airport submits its expansion plan July 24 2009
Airport bosses say they are confident that there is long-term demand for more flights from Bristol but idea has met strong opposition form Stop Bristol Airport Expansion group (SBAE).
Today, reporter Pippa Chambers turns the spotlight on the issue.
IF PLANS get the green light, work will begin early next year, according to Bristol International Airports (BIA) bosses.
Site managers claim the expansion will create 3,500 jobs across the region and an extra five to six flights per hour.
Approval would result in massive changes to the site, too, with the airport's main terminal set to double in size.
A new public transport interchange would be created with covered pedestrian access linking to the terminal.
This would sit on top of one of two multi-storey car parks, one with four levels and one with five, with a total capacity for 3,850 cars.
Some 15 wind turbines will be installed, each of which will generate an estimated 10,000kw of electricity every year.
Air bridges and walkways will provide direct access to aircraft, reducing the need for passengers to use buses.
BIA bosses aim to increase annual passenger numbers by 60 per cent to 10million per year by 2019.
Around £1million has been earmarked to improve roads around the airport, focusing on improvements to the A38.
New bus services to Bath and Weston would also be introduced as passenger volumes increase.
BIA says the environmental effects will be mitigated by a range of factors, including quieter and more fuel-efficient aircraft.
It points to a commitment to maintain noise at pre-2006 levels and the capping of night-flight numbers to 4,500 per year.
Noise walls will also be built to shield residents from disturbance.
The new buildings are set to be 35 per cent more energy efficient than required under the current building regulations and 20 per cent of additional energy requirements will come from on-site renewable sources.
An Airport Environmental Improvement Fund will also be set up, with BIA planning to contribute annual funding of £100,000, increasing in line with passenger numbers. This amount will be used to support community projects to improve roads, reduce noise and enhance the local community and environment.An on-site hotel development will be the subject of a separate planning application.
BRISTOL International Airport's chief executive officer, Robert Sinclair, told the Times the expansion will benefit people across the region - and he believes public opinion is on the airport's side.
He said: "Many people from across North Somerset and the South West recognise the benefits an enhanced regional airport will bring - including more jobs, better facilities for passengers, more destinations for leisure travellers, better connections for business and more international tourists to the South West.
"At the same time, we have listened to community concerns about issues such as traffic and noise, and brought forward proposals to tackle these head on with practical measures and significant financial contributions - including £9 million earmarked for public transport and road improvements.
"These proposals are the best way to ensure BIA continues to generate benefits for the people and economy of the South West, while at the same time ensuring the impact on local people and the environment is kept to a minimum.
"I am encouraged by the positive comments the development proposals have generated, with over 1,500 people so far having signed an online petition supporting our planning application."
BIA's arguments for expansion
Improved facilities to provide a better experience for passengers
More travel destinations and frequencies
More jobs
Economic benefits
Better connections for business
Increased inbound tourism
CAMPAIGNERS VIEWS
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) is fighting airport expansion plans because it fears major impact on residents and the environment.
More noise, more traffic, more pollution, and an economic drain on the region - all these factors help explain why the idea should be blocked, according to group spokesman Jeremy Birch.
He said: "It is almost impossible for the public to understand the full implications of these plans as there are over 2,000 pages of documents.
"BIA's plans will have a major impact on the quality of life for residents in the community."
SBAE says mitigation measures proposed by the airport to offset the increased pressure on roads are 'completely inadequate'.
The group also believes money will be lost from the tourism and leisure sectors in the South West.
SBAE figures show that in February 2009, when airport passengers were down by 25 per cent, visitor numbers were up at local attractions.
It says this shows that airport expansion will not lead to an increase in total tourism income in the region and that even if inbound spending increased to £94m per year by 2020, this is dwarfed by the outbound tourism spend.
A six-week public consultation period is now under way following BIA's submission of a planning application to North Somerset Council. It will run until August 17.
Mr Birch added: "It is crucial that people respond to the public consultation so that the council can hear how worried they are."
Redhill resident Tony Watts, aged 56, said: "The roads are already at straining point for large parts of the day in many villages so this will bring gridlock to the squeeze points on local roads.
"It is already perilous for traffic feeding onto the A38.
"While national leaders are meeting in a desperate last ditch effort to restrict the devastating impact of global warming, here in North Somerset we are actually debating whether or not to expand our airport and pump millions of tonnes more CO2 into the atmosphere.
The Winters Lane resident added: "Expanding Bristol Airport will put people in the community through traffic hell in order to bring climate change that will damage everyone's lives.
"There are no winners here - except the airport, of course."
SBAE's arguments against expansion
Noise pollution
Increase in traffic
Loss of greenbelt land
Increase in C02 levels
Decline in the economy"
Thanks to Pippa Chambers.
"Anyone who works in a building society has to be good with numbers, and the deputy chief executive of the Cumberland Building Society picked just the right one at the start of his holiday in the Scilly Isles.
John Leveson arrived at Bristol Airport on Monday to be told on check-in that he was the 50,000th passenger to make the trip between Bristol Airport, and St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly using the Skybus service.
Mr Leveson along with his wife Anne and daughters Emma, seven, and Rachel, six, were given a bottle of Champagne, a certificate, and vouchers for future flights on the Skybus service in honour of the milestone.
He said: “It was a huge surprise.
“My family and I have been to the Isles of Scilly before and were really looking forward to our trip. This is the icing on the cake.
“Our flight from Bristol to St Mary’s was lovely, the views, as always, were spectacular. The welcome from the Chairman and the bottle of Champagne when we landed was fantastic, it looks like the holiday has got off to a great start.”
Skybus has been running services between Bristol and St Mary’s since 1995, and has been running flights to the Scilly Isles from all airports for 25 years.
Andrew May, Chairman of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, parent company of Skybus, met the Levesons, who live in Penrith, off the plane.
He said: “I hope Mr Leveson and his family have a lovely holiday on the islands and we look forward to welcoming them back on Skybus again.” "
Thanks to the newsandstar.co.uk for the story.
Spaniard Francisco Perez Becerra, 39, of Seville, was sentenced to 11 years at Bristol Crown Court for importing 6lb (2.8kg) of the drug, with an estimated street value of £112,000.
The 39-year-old waiter, who flew into Bristol from The Gambia, via Senegal and Brussels, was intercepted by UK Border Agency detection officers at the airport on September 8 last year.
An officer became suspicious about the weight of the trainers during a baggage search and X-rays of the shoes led to the find.
CAMPAIGNERS against the planned expansion of Bristol International Airport say emissions from the proposed expansion will double and are calling for a delay in the final decision, as reported by The Western Mercury today, July 21 2009.
The Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) group say Bristol International Airport's (BIA) carbon footprint could more than double if the airport's expansion plans are allowed to go ahead.
Members of the group are writing to North Somerset Council calling for a delay in any decision until a government report on aviation emissions is released in December.
SBAE spokesman Jeremy Birch said: "BIA resigns all responsibility over aviation emissions despite acting to increase them by adding more flights.
"What is more, the airport's own measures to reduce emissions are pathetic, compared with the huge increases from more flights, more traffic and a larger terminal.
"They say they will generate 1per cent of their electricity from on-site windmills.
"Even if they manage this it will be less than 1per cent of the extra emissions they would cause by expanding."
Campaigners say the 125 per cent increase in emissions as a result of increased flight numbers would make the airport's car