Airport planning ‘further expansion’ to exceed 12m passengers a year

Bristol Airport’s chief executive has revealed that further expansion plans could be on the horizon.
Dave Lees, CEO, has exclusively told ITV News West Country that demand to exceed the existing limit of 12 million passengers a year is growing.
The airport is already expanding, with work underway on a second four-level car park for 2,000 vehicles, as well as expanded bus and coach parking with a new drop-off and pick-up area.
Mr Lees said: “We’ll come forward in a timely manner and consult with people, of course, taking views from people as we look to fulfil the demand from passengers in the future.
“We constantly look at trends in air travel and what we’ve been really pleasantly surprised by is that people really do want to continue to travel.
“We’ve seen since the pandemic a real resurgence in terms of people wanting to connect with friends and family across Europe as well as across the world and that will inform our plans as we go forward over the coming years.”
Commenting on congestion on the A38 that borders the airport, Mr Lees added: “We work very closely with North Somerset (Council) as well as he combined authority looking to see how road improvements can be brought forward and the A38 has schemes coming forward complementing the work we’re taking place to enhance the accessibility to the airport.”
More than 100,000 tons of materials are being reused on a site which is being transformed and will be surrounded by a new road network. The first contractors have been preparing foundations for about a year and now more than 100 are on site.
Richard Tidmarsh, Infrastructure Director of contractors Griffiths said: “This is part of the reason why I went into civil engineering. I’ve been in the industry for 28 years and you go to a lot of places and it makes you proud to feel a part of something that’s making a difference.”
A public consultation is imminent, with a detailed planning application due early next year.
It’s a move opponents, including villagers near the site, may dread but airport bosses say expansion will be led by market forces and planning approval while supporting new technologies, like quieter aircraft, to mitigate its impact.
Bristol is the UK’s largest regional airport without a rail link, and so there will be fears expansion could add to congestion on the A38.
This means greater public transport provision is vital if the site is to hit its target of becoming a carbon neutral ground operation by 2030.
Although bus and coach use has more than doubled in the last year, it still only accounts for 16% of journeys, making another car park tempting in practical and financial terms.