Bristol Airport reports on its 10 years of transformation

A newly published report has highlighted a decade of transformational change at Bristol Airport. The Annual Monitoring Report shows that while passenger numbers have continued to increase, the number of flights in 2018 was only marginally above the 2008 total.

During the same period, the number of destinations served has significantly increased to nearly 130 across 30 countries, connecting people from our region across the globe. This has enabled over 30% more passengers to fly today from their local Airport to visit friends and family, undertake educational trips, travel on business as well as supporting individuals to broaden their experiences including visiting new destinations as well as taking a break or holiday. The Airport now represents the key aviation gateway for visitors to the region for business, education or leisure. The passenger experience has been transformed through a significant investment in new facilities at the Airport which have culminated in Bristol becoming a European leader for its Airport.

At the same time the Airport has actively worked towards improvements in reducing its environmental footprint including halving the CO2 emissions per passenger, reduction in waste, with zero waste going into landfill and waste recycling doubling. Public transport has seen a 5% share increase in passengers use with a million passengers alone using the upgraded A1 Flyer service (between Bristol Airport and the city) each year, and 500 bus services operating to and from the Airport each day.

A phased development programme to meet passenger demand, has taken place over the last ten years and Bristol Airport in 2018 experienced nine consecutive years of growth. This demand is forecast to continue in 2019, with passenger numbers expected to exceed more than nine million for the first time in the Airport’s history. Since 2010 over £225 million has been invested in terminal passenger facilities.

In December 2018 Bristol Airport submitted a planning application to North Somerset Council seeking permission to increase capacity to handle up to 12 million passengers a year by the mid-2020s.

The proposed development includes new infrastructure, improvements to existing terminal and road facilities, and operational changes to ensure the airport can continue to meet demand for air travel to and from the South West of the UK well into the next decade. Annual traffic through the terminal is currently limited to 10 million passengers under the current planning permission.

The proposals represent the first practical step towards an exciting vision to develop the region’s international gateway and working towards becoming a carbon neutral airport.