Bristol Airport access

[Wilts Wanderer]

It’s also noticeable how cramped the air-side layout of the airport is, with the current level of service. Our outbound flight (to Spain) was at the extreme end of the apron parking and the bus that took us there could barely navigate the corners, the road layout was so constrained. The aircraft either side of us were within throwing distance and both were simultaneously loading for departure along with us. How the airport will cope with any expansion at all is a mystery.

 

[AdamWW]

Fair enough. Wonder why NX say only 5? Are some of those connections?

I imagine that's counting through tickets on the A1 to Bristol bus station.

The hodgepodge of direct and indirect National Express and Flixbus services isn't all that useful, particularly for coming back home from the airport you have to allow for delays. (And as the coaches are just calling in at the airport as part of a longer journey no doubt they get delayed too).

The train + bus combination is more awkward than a through coach but there are frequent services and no concerns over missing a booked service.

Something more like the Reading airport bus direct to the centre of Cardiff wouldn't half be useful!

Missed opportunity to stick an airport on an island in the middle of the Bristol Channel midway between Bristol and Cardiff linked by a Severn barrage with road and rail links (bypassing the congested M4 at Newport). Just needs some floppy-haired failed politician to put his name to it!

Funny you should say that. Earlier this year I got chatting to a fellow passenger on the A1 who said he was involved in government policy and was trying out the train+bus combination (conclusion: never again!)

He certainly had lots of facts and figures at his disposal and was seriously advocating an airport in the Bristol Channel, pointing out that it wouldn't need night flight restrictions and could therefore be used intensively at night for freight operations.

I also note that the Vale of Glamorgan Coast Line (for Rhoose - Cardiff Airport via 2 mile bus link) will soon have a half hourly train service operated by the modern FLIRT trains from Swiss company Stadler. These trains have level boarding so ideal for those with cases. The connection with the mainline at Bridgend is ideal for those coming from points west as eliminates the need to go via Cardiff let alone make the much longer journey to Bristol.

Are you sure?

I know that was the plan but I thought it had been abandoned as part of post-Covid cost-cutting, with the hourly service to remain indefinitely.

 

[Pat31]

It’s also noticeable how cramped the air-side layout of the airport is, with the current level of service. Our outbound flight (to Spain) was at the extreme end of the apron parking and the bus that took us there could barely navigate the corners, the road layout was so constrained. The aircraft either side of us were within throwing distance and both were simultaneously loading for departure along with us. How the airport will cope with any expansion at all is a mystery.

I just can't see the 12M+ figure being broken anytime soon without serious investment in all of the following beyond what is currently planned.

• Increasing the footprint of the airport to allow for increased flights and aircraft stored overnight.
• Increased terminal size to allow for extra passengers
• Increased public transport provision, bus only lanes for the majority of the journey on the a38 as bare minimum, Looking to expand to a light rail link.
• Dualling of the A38 up until the south Bristol link road roundabout (Would require a fair amount of CPO's).
• An extra Dual carriageway link from the M5 to avoid through traffic diverting on the A4 or smaller villages, same as above.

The traffic congestion on the A38 at peak times for flights is now farcical and beyond belief that the 8th busiest airport in the UK has no major road link or rail link.

 

[Meerkat]

Maybe they need to reduce the number of flights from Bristol airport.
Environmentally damaging Publicly funded schemes to help an airport export money to foreign economies seems rather unwise.

 

[Annetts key]

I'm not sure the authorities forcing a reduction of existing flights would be a good idea. But I do think that there should be no subsidy, no tax advantages and no government / tax payers money invested in airports or the infrastructure to support them. The same for passenger and freight aircraft.

Instead the airport owners should stump up the bill for providing or improving the transport infrastructure to get passengers and freight to / from the airport from existing suitable transport infrastructure. The airport owners should also contribute to improving existing transport infrastructure.

Where the existing public transport is not present or insufficient, the airport owners should be required to provide it or provide / fund it as part of the permission for operating the airport.

 

[Western Sunset]

Maybe airports should offset their carbon emission levels by providing low-carbon forms of transit systems to their facilities. But then again, we live in the real world...

 

[Meerkat]

I'm not sure the authorities forcing a reduction of existing flights would be a good idea. But I do think that there should be no subsidy, no tax advantages and no government / tax payers money invested in airports or the infrastructure to support them. The same for passenger and freight aircraft.

Instead the airport owners should stump up the bill for providing or improving the transport infrastructure to get passengers and freight to / from the airport from existing suitable transport infrastructure. The airport owners should also contribute to improving existing transport infrastructure.

Where the existing public transport is not present or insufficient, the airport owners should be required to provide it or provide / fund it as part of the permission for operating the airport.

Scheduled flights used by business, or flights that bring tourists in, can be justified in many cases. But subsidising shipping thousands of people off to spend money in the sun isn’t a good use of taxpayers money imo.

 

[John R]

Just to balance things up a bit, don't forget that Bristol Airport will be, by a country mile, the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, and one of the largest in the WECA area. That economic activity employs thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, including pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, maintenance, ancillary, baggage handling, security, retail, etc etc etc. That generates millions for the national coffers in tax and national insurance, I've no doubt the airport's business rates is not a small figure, and of course some of those earnings will end up spent in local retail and hospitality outlets too.

So when you say the local authority (which incidentally is my local authority, so I do have a close and vested interest in the subject) shouldn't spend a penny on facilitating access to the airport, I'd much rather it spent it on that than bus lanes that buses don't use (yes really) and a sea front improvement scheme which everyone hates and is now scheduled to be reversed in part at further cost.

And don't forget that those 12m are using the airport because they want to go somewhere.

P.S. I have no connection with the airport, other than as an occasional user.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Just to balance things up a bit, don't forget that Bristol Airport will be, by a country mile, the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, and one of the largest in the WECA area. That economic activity employs thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, including pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, maintenance, ancillary, baggage handling, security, retail, etc etc etc. That generates millions for the national coffers in tax and national insurance, I've no doubt the airport's business rates is not a small figure, and of course some of those earnings will end up spent in local retail and hospitality outlets too.

So when you say the local authority (which incidentally is my local authority, so I do have a close and vested interest in the subject) shouldn't spend a penny on facilitating access to the airport, I'd much rather it spent it on that than bus lanes that buses don't use (yes really) and a sea front improvement scheme which everyone hates and is now scheduled to be reversed in part at further cost.

And don't forget that those 12m are using the airport because they want to go somewhere.

P.S. I have no connection with the airport, other than as an occasional user.

If they stand to benefit from the expansion, they can pay for it themselves. This happens with other airport expansions in the UK and Ireland, so why should they be exempt?

 

[Annetts key]

We are rather going off topic here. My reason why the tax payer / state should not support the airport is for two reasons. Firstly, it's a commercial operation that makes a significant profit. Secondly, air transport contributes to climate change with no current practical alternative to using fossil fuel to power large commercial passenger aircraft. And apart from some bus services, the airport has mainly concentrated on cars and car parking. The ICE car also not being very good with respect to the environment.

As to it being the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, I don't know. Do you have anything to support this statement?

I do know that large numbers of people from North Somerset commute to Avonmouth, Bristol, North Bristol (South Gloucestershire) or other places within reasonable commuting distance. that's why the M5, A370 and various other roads are car parks from 07:00 in the morning with a repeat in afternoon from around 16:30. Plus the trains normally being very busy during these times. Now, the individual businesses may not have the same number of employees from North Somerset as the airport, but the combined figure may be larger.

Also, there are rather a lot of people in North Somerset who are involved with the tourist trade.

 

[John R]

In answer to the question as to whether it is the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, I don’t have anything to hand, but can you think of an employer or employment centre within the council area that has anything near the same number of employees?

 

[Caaardiff]

In answer to the question as to whether it is the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, I don’t have anything to hand, but can you think of an employer or employment centre within the council area that has anything near the same number of employees?

As well as that, Airports bring people into the country, who spend money. Those 10m using it, isn't just people going on holiday.
Having Airports in a region helps business connectivity.

 

[takno]

As well as that, Airports bring people into the country, who spend money. Those 10m using it, isn't just people going on holiday.
Having Airports in a region helps business connectivity.

If you take a look at the departures list, even at this time of year, or look at how empty the airport gets in the off-season, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate that the vast majority of it is people going on holiday. If it was just incoming visitors, domestic passengers and business flights you could probably run the whole thing from a glorified portacabin like Exeter

 

[Grimsby town]

If you take a look at the departures list, even at this time of year, or look at how empty the airport gets in the off-season, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate that the vast majority of it is people going on holiday. If it was just incoming visitors, domestic passengers and business flights you could probably run the whole thing from a glorified portacabin like Exeter

In 2019 62% of passengers were UK residents travelling abroad for leisure so majority but definitely not a significant majority. Its similar proportion to Birmingham (59%) and a lot lower than East Midlands (80%). I think there's easily enough passengers that aren't beach holiday types for a rail line to work. Any line would likely need public funding but there's definitely more scope for private funding than there is most rail lines. A premium on tickets would be a good way to fund some of the cost.

 

[JKF]

In answer to the question as to whether it is the largest generator of economic activity in North Somerset, I don’t have anything to hand, but can you think of an employer or employment centre within the council area that has anything near the same number of employees?

Royal Portbury Dock? There’s a lot of stuff there, much bigger site than the airport.

 

[Caaardiff]

If you take a look at the departures list, even at this time of year, or look at how empty the airport gets in the off-season, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate that the vast majority of it is people going on holiday. If it was just incoming visitors, domestic passengers and business flights you could probably run the whole thing from a glorified portacabin like Exeter

Id disagree its a vast majority. Out of 32 flights before 1030 today, 18 of those are to non-holiday or non-med destinations. Domestic & Ireland flights and mainland Europe cities where demand is not just outgoing UK passengers like it mainly is with Med holiday flights.

 

[Meerkat]

Id disagree its a vast majority. Out of 32 flights before 1030 today, 18 of those are to non-holiday or non-med destinations. Domestic & Ireland flights and mainland Europe cities where demand is not just outgoing UK passengers like it mainly is with Med holiday flights.

People go on holiday to Ireland and European cities……
Or keep those and bin the holiday flights to reduce the congestion problem.

 

[Caaardiff]

People go on holiday to Ireland and European cities……
Or keep those and bin the holiday flights to reduce the congestion problem.

Obviously they do, but not the entire flight being flown out to a beach.

 

[Envoy]

I just checked railway data and it tells me that Cardiff Central is the 20th busiest station in Britain with 4,415 scheduled services per week (2022/3). (37th most used).

Bristol Temple Meads is the 83rd busiest station in Britain with 2,320 scheduled services per week (2022/3). (40th most used).

So, a reversal to the situation that we have with the respective airports.

 

[The exile]

I just checked railway data and it tells me that Cardiff Central is the 20th busiest station in Britain with 4,415 scheduled services per week (2022/3). (37th most used).

Bristol Temple Meads is the 83rd busiest station in Britain with 2,320 scheduled services per week (2022/3). (40th most used).

So, a reversal to the situation that we have with the respective airports.

Understandable. The Valleys network does rather put the Severn Beach and Weston lines (however busy they are) in the shade!

 

[jayah]

The bus transfer from Bristol Temple Meads is pretty good - every 12-15 minutes through the day and a good luggage rack, although it does function as a local bus through south Bristol so is slower than it could be and is quite expensive.
Given the entire daily flight list is often showable on a single screen, the justification for a rail link is really not there. If Bristol got a light rail/transit system then I could see that being viable to reach out to the airport.

Bristol Airport has around 10 million passengers a year (8th largest in the UK) and 3,500 staff / crew working from the site.

The Airport's own monitoring shows around 70,000 monthly journeys, on the A1 Bristol route and half as much again on the A3 from Weston in addition to whatever National Express and the Stagecoach Falcon bring in. Overall I suspect around 15% public transport share, accounting for the staff travel.

Public and private transport access is pretty bad and IMO they should not be allowed to expand the airport until there is a solution by rail from both east and west. This is the only significant airport for the whole of Devon, Cornwall and South Wales due to the malaise at Cardiff, sinking to 800k a year. Exeter and Newquay are both less than 400k.

The Bristol bus is slow, not because of local journeys since the Airport pricing was restored, but because of the traffic both in central Bristol, suburban Bristol and around the airport itself.

As the crow flies it is about 3 miles to Nailsea station from there it needs some sort of Luton Dart type solution from there, with stops added to all train services.

At the moment they are spending £60 mainly on a large car park, the transport hub is greenwashing.

This will hopefully reduce the number of cars parked in the nearby fields but the airport can't sustainably grow because the single carriageway roads cannot support any more traffic.

 

[jayah]

Although there is talk of increasing the 12m limit, Bristol airport is a bit seasonal even if the limit appears to be equivalent of 1m per month.

July 2024 passengers were 1,158,076
August 2024 passengers were 1,203,832
(average about 38,000 per day)

per CAA table 09 for July and August

https://www.caa.co.uk/Documents/Download/11905/71dc2913-7da9-4f67-9cb7-e0eb6f5b2c94/16687

https://www.caa.co.uk/Documents/Download/11906/7ae45bcc-d0b5-45b1-8726-70f8a4d48cbc/16753

But still virtually no public Transport from some South West Counties like Dorset, Wiltshire or East Somerset

There isn't any public transport from Yatton, about 6 miles away!

 

[Snow1964]

Latest from Bristol 247 news
From the Conservative mayor candidate.

The Tory metro mayor candidate says that trams are the long-term solution to solve Bristol’s transport woes.

Steve Smith was responding to a question on X about his opinion piece in Bristol24/7 supporting the expansion of Bristol Airport.

Answering how he would get people to the airport, Smith said: “Long term the answer is by tram.”

Of course, suggesting popular things without being accountable to actually fund it, is not uncommon from those trying to get votes. Although it does keep idea alive.

Trams are 'long-term answer' to solve Bristol's transport problems

Tory metro mayor candidate Steve Smith is a proponent of trams

www.bristol247.com

 

[JKF]

Also note that ‘long term’ means nobody has to do anything in the near future, just nod through the airport expansion on the basis that it might happen at some point. Developers love this sort of thing, see also the many housing developers in the late noughties who promised schools and other amenities when building large developments only to wind up the project-specific company behind the development as soon as the recession hit and walk away pretending it was nothing to do with them. They need the airport authority to put some cash up front for it.

I’d also note that many travellers to Bristol Airport come from the wider region, South Wales in particular, so without good links to these places it’ll be less attractive for people to hop on to a tram at Temple Meads for a slow crawl up the A38 rather than just coach or taxi it the whole way.

I’d also guess it’s more used by leisure rather than business travellers compared to London airports, which means more luggage.

 

[RFBlakey]

Living in Exeter we use the direct local bus to Exeter St Davids (EXD), or the train from our local station to EXD, and then the train to Weston-super-Mare (WSM). Not had any problems with the Bristol Flyer service from/to WSM which we have never found to be overly busy so perhaps the roughly hourly service is adequate.

 

[takno]

Living in Exeter we use the direct local bus to Exeter St Davids (EXD), or the train from our local station to EXD, and then the train to Weston-super-Mare (WSM). Not had any problems with the Bristol Flyer service from/to WSM which we have never found to be overly busy so perhaps the roughly hourly service is adequate.

I might have to investigate that. My parents are only a couple of miles from the grim little park and ride where the Falcon stops, so that's a little easier than St Davids, but I'm pretty monumentally sick of dealing with Megabus

Also note that ‘long term’ means nobody has to do anything in the near future, just nod through the airport expansion on the basis that it might happen at some point. Developers love this sort of thing, see also the many housing developers in the late noughties who promised schools and other amenities when building large developments only to wind up the project-specific company behind the development as soon as the recession hit and walk away pretending it was nothing to do with them. They need the airport authority to put some cash up front for it.

I’d also note that many travellers to Bristol Airport come from the wider region, South Wales in particular, so without good links to these places it’ll be less attractive for people to hop on to a tram at Temple Meads for a slow crawl up the A38 rather than just coach or taxi it the whole way.

I’d also guess it’s more used by leisure rather than business travellers compared to London airports, which means more luggage.

Bristol Airport would struggle to do a runner in the same way as house developers, since they will want to continue owning the airport. Clearly they will need the money upfront though, since there isn't any cash in the public sector available to spend on this.

Agreed on the wider region though - a fast bus to Taunton station would likely open up the southwest more readily, and direct to Bristol Parkway would potentially be a lot more useful for Wales. The one thing I have no real interest in doing is struggling all the way through central Bristol to get to Temple Meads, since that doesn't provide particularly good connections to anywhere much.

 

[poffle]

One thing I'm curious about with the A1 is why it no longer uses the busway from Long Ashton into Bristol. It was used for a period pre Covid and seemed to be much faster into central Bristol.

 

[JKF]

Living in Exeter we use the direct local bus to Exeter St Davids (EXD), or the train from our local station to EXD, and then the train to Weston-super-Mare (WSM). Not had any problems with the Bristol Flyer service from/to WSM which we have never found to be overly busy so perhaps the roughly hourly service is adequate.

The issue isn’t really the capacity and reliability of public transport as currently provided, but the need to make public transport more attractive to users that would otherwise drive and clog up the roads - there are already frequent traffic jams so a solution is needed to take people out of cars. It needs to be quick and convenient to convince people to switch.

 

[matrix24]

The airport is about 170 metres higher than the nearest bit of railway line, which doesn't make things easier and cheaper. Considering how difficult it's been to open a railway to Portishead that's mainly already there, I don't think you'll be seeing a railway link anytime soon

More likely a light rail link to the main line.

 

[mrmartin]

Yeah in my experience there isn't a huge difference between Cardiff and Bristol airport and the London airports amazingly.

Can take 2 hours in traffic driving to Bristol airport from Cardiff, unless you are doing it very late at night or early morning. Train to paddington then to Gatwick/Heathrow/Luton is not a huge amount more than 2 hours.