Bristol International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Bristol International Airport
nativename =


image-width = 213

---

IATA = BRS
ICAO = EGGD
type = Public
owner =
operator = South West Airports Limited
city-served = Bristol
location =
elevation-f = 622
elevation-m = 190
coordinates = coord|51|22|58|N|02|43|09|W|type:airport
website = [http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ www.bristolairport.co.uk]
metric-rwy = Yes
r1-number = 09/27
r1-length-f = 6,598
r1-length-m = 2,011
r1-surface = Asphalt
footnotes = Source: UK AIP at NATS

Bristol International Airport Airport codes|BRS|EGGD is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. In 2007 it was the ninth busiest airport in the United Kingdom, handling 58,741 air transport movements and 5,926,774 passengers. [ [http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&sglid=3&fld=2007Annual UK Civil Aviation Authority Airports Data - 2007] ]

The airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P432) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction.

History

In 1927 a group of local businessmen raised £6,000 through public subscription to start a flying club at Filton Aerodrome.cite web | url= http://www.airportguides.co.uk/guides/bristol/history.html | title= The History of Bristol Airport | work= The Airport Guides | accessdate= 2007-12-10] By 1929 the club had become a success and it was decided that a farm located in Whitchurch near Bristol would be developed into an airport. In 1930, The Prince George, son of King George V opened Bristol Airport — becoming the third such airport in the United Kingdom. Passenger numbers grew from 935 in 1930 to over 4,000 in 1939.

During World War II, Bristol Airport was the only civil airport still in operation in the UK, meaning all flights usually bound for London were terminated in Bristol. The newly formed British Overseas Airways Corporation were dispersed to Whitchurch from Croydon and Gatwick Airports. They operated on routes to Lisbon, Portugal and to some other neutral nations.

RAF Lulsgate Bottom

In September 1940 No 10 Elementary Fying Training School at Weston super Mare established a Relief Landing Ground on 14 acres at Broadfield Down by the hamlet of Lulsgate Bottom, near Redhill, Somerset. Being high, at 600 feet, the site had a poor weather record, during warm front conditions when it was often covered in low cloud. However, when this occurred the alternate airfields at Filton and Cardiff were clear and operational; and as Lulsgate was clear when the low-lying airfields were obscured by radiation fog in calm weather, it was agreed to open the facility.

In 1941 Fighter Command used the site for an experimental unit, and after requisitioning land from several adjacent farms, contracted Geo. Wimpey & Co to began work on 11 June 1941. The main runway was 3900ft long, and the first aircraft to land was a Nazi Luftwaffe Ju 88 at 06.20 on 24 July 1941. Returning from a raid, it was confused by the RAF electronic countermeasures radio beacon at Lympsham, which was re-radiating the signal from a Luftwaffe homing beacon at Brest, France.

The airfield was declared operational on 15 January 1942, with the Miles Masters, Airspeed Oxfords and Hawker Hurricanes of No. 286 (Ack-ack Cooperation) Squadron becoming resident, in their duties to provide realistic exercises to ground anti-aircraft defences. However, as the site lacked some uncompleted basic facilities, No. 286 moved to RAF Zeals in May, and handed the site back to Flying Training Command. No. 3 Flying Instructor School took up residence, re-training ex-operational bomber crews to teach at Operational Training Units.citeweb|url=http://www.chew76.fsnet.co.uk/lulsgate/lulsgate.html|title=Lulsgate - Bristol Airport|publisher=Chew76|accessdate=2008-07-18]

Lulsgate Bottom Airfield

On the cessation of war activities, and the reduced need for pilot training, the RAF ceased training at the site April 14, 1946, and abandoned it completely from October 1946. From 1948, the site was the home of the Bristol Gliding Club. In 1948 and 1949, the Bristol Motor Cycle and Light Car Club hosted motor races on a 2mile circuit, but due to planning and noise issues moved in 1950 to a site that became known as Castle Combe Circuit.

Bristol Lulsgate Airport

Whitchurch continued to be used after WW2, but the introduction of heavier post-war airliners made a runway extension highly desirable. However, this was difficult, because of the proximity of housing estates. Consequently, a decision was taken to develop a new airport on the site at Lulsgate Bottom Airfield. Sold to the Bristol Corporation in 1955 for £55,000, the gliding club moved to Nympsfield.

The new airport was called Bristol Lulsgate Airport, and was opened in 1957 by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. All of the Whitchurch airline operations and the Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club moved there, which in its first year was used by 33,000 people.Fact|date=August 2008 In 1963 the runway was lengthened and in 1965 extensions were made to the terminal. In 1968 a new 5,000 square foot (460 m²) building was constructed.Fact|date=August 2008 In 1974 the airline "Court Line" collapsed, causing a fall in passenger numbers.

By 1980, 17 charter airlines were operating from the airport. Additions in 1984 included an international departure lounge, duty free shops, a 24-hour air-side bar, an arrivals concourse, and a short-term car park. On 1 April 1987 all employees were transferred from Bristol City Council to Bristol Airport plc.clarifyme The operation and net assets of Bristol Airport were transferred from the City of Bristol and the company commenced trading. Over the next few years business boomed with over 100,000 passengers each month in the summer of 1988. The growth of the airport at this time is attributed to the work of the managing director Les Wilson, who died in a car crash in November 1995.

Bristol International Airport

In March 1997 the airport's name was changed to Bristol International Airport, and in December 1997 51% of the airport company was sold to FirstGroup plc, while the remaining 49% was retained by Bristol City Council. A new terminal building was built in April 1999 and opened in March 2000. In 2000, passenger numbers exceeded two million for the first time.Fact|date=August 2008

The airport was boughtclarifyme by Macquarie Bank and Cintra in January 2001 for £198m. Passenger numbers passed through three million in 2002, largely due to the arrival of the low-cost carrier Go Fly. Continued expansion by EasyJet led to another increase in passengers — to 3.8 million. In May 2005, Continental Airlines introduced a direct flight from Bristol to Newark with Boeing 757 aircraft.

The terminal building does not have jetways, so all aircraft park on the apron and passengers either walk out to their flights, or are carried by bus.

Proposed expansion

Having created plans for an extension, in October 2007 the airport announced that it would delay the planning application until the middle of 2008 to give it time to complete research on the airport's effect on the environment. [cite web | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7054255.stm | title= Airport expansion plans grounded | work= BBC News | date= 20 October 2007 | accessdate= 2007-10-23] This news came just a week after the World Development Movement stated that flights from the airport generate the same amount of CO₂ as the nation of Malawi. [cite web | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7039098.stm | title= Airport CO2 rivals African nation | work= BBC News | date= 11 October 2007 | accessdate= 2007-10-23] Plans for the expansion of the airport have been now completed and are to be submitted to the council for approval in summer 2008.

A coalition to fight the expansion, known as "Stop Bristol Airport Expansion" has been formed by Bristol Friends of the Earth, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and other groups and individuals in North Somerset, Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset.

In early 2008, an opposition to the Stop Bristol Airport Expansion campaign was launched to support the expansion and operations of the airport. Named "BISON" - Bristol International Supporters Group - it is targeted at the travelling public.

2007 resurfacing controversy

On 5 January 2007 many flights were cancelled or diverted, including all EasyJet and XL Airways flights. This was due to braking action on the runway not being the required standard for safe stopping in wet conditions. Virtually all of the operations were moved to Cardiff International Airport by these two airlines. EasyJet moved 60% of its operations to Cardiff during this weekend of disruption.

The problem arose from a new £17 million asphalt runway surface not being sufficiently grooved to allow water run off. Although the new runway was given Civil Aviation Authority clearance on 4 January 2007, there had been a number of incidents over the previous four weeks, with aircraft unable to stop without running over the operating limits of the runway.

A British Airways spokeswoman said it would not operate flights if the runway moisture levels were above a certain level, and the airline cancelled several of their flights. [cite web | title= Flights cancelled in safety row |publisher = BBC News | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6233487.stm | date = 5 January 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-11]

On Sunday 7 January 2007, following further cancellations, Bristol Airport management made the decision to close the runway from 14:30 for work to resolve the problem. The runway remained closed during Monday 8 January. [cite web | title= Safety row disrupts ten airlines |publisher = BBC News | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6236543.stm | date = 6 January 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-11]

Airlines and destinations

cheduled services

The following is a list of scheduled airlines and their destinations. Holiday or charter flights are not listed.

*Aer Arann (Cork)
*Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
*Air Southwest (Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newquay, Plymouth)
*Aurigny Air Services (Guernsey)
*Brussels Airlines (Brussels)
*Continental Airlines (Newark)
*Eastern Airways (Aberdeen)
*EasyJet (Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast-International, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bordeaux [ends 02 November 2008] , Edinburgh, Faro, Funchal, Geneva, Glasgow-International, Grenoble [begins 18 December] , Innsbruck [begins 15 December] , Inverness, Kraków, Lisbon [ends 17 November] , Madrid, Málaga, Milan-Malpensa, Murcia, Newcastle, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pisa, Prague, Rome-Ciampino, Toulouse, Valencia, Venice, Warsaw [ends 3 November] )
*Flybe (Jersey)
*Isles of Scilly Skybus (Isles of Scilly)
*KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
** operated by KLM Cityhopper (Amsterdam)
*Lufthansa
** operated by Eurowings (Frankfurt)
*OLT (Ostfriesische Lufttransport) (Bremen, Hamburg)
*Ryanair (Bergerac, Beziers, Bratislava, Budapest, Dinard, Dublin, Gdańsk [begins 29 October] , Girona, Grenoble [begins 20 December] Katowice, Knock, Marrakech [begins 28 October] , Milan-Bergamo, Pau, Porto [seasonal] , Poznań, Riga, Rzeszów, Salzburg, Shannon, Szczecin [begins 28 October] , Turin, Wroclaw)
*Scandinavian Airlines System (Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda [seasonal] )

Charter services

The following is a partial list of charter airlines and their destinations. As charter flights are mainly intended for holiday traffic they are seasonal and may not operate through the year.
*Air Europa (Palma de Mallorca)
*BH Air (Bourgas, Varna, Sofia)
*Eurocypria Airlines (Heraklion, Larnaca)
*First Choice Airways [Thomson Airways as of 1 May 2009] (Alicante, Arrecife, Bodrum, Bourgas, Cancun, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Heraklion, Ibiza, Izmir, Kefalonia, Larnaca, Las Palmas, Mahon, Málaga, Monastir, Naples, Orlando-Sanford, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Reus, Rhodes, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South, Verona, Zakynthos)
*KoralBlue Airlines (Sharm el-Sheikh)
*Onur Air (Dalaman [starts May] )
*Thomas Cook Airlines (Antalya, Arrecife, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kos, Larnaca, Las Palmas, Mahon, Monastir, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Reus, Rhodes, Tenerife-South, Zakynthos)
*Thomsonfly [Thomson Airways as of 1 May 2009] (Thessaloniki)

Mail services

*Miniliner (Newcastle)
*Titan Airways (Edinburgh)

Transport connections

Bristol International Airport is located on the A38, convert|8|mi|km|0 south of Bristol city centre. The airport is signposted from the M5, from junction 22 when approaching from the south and junction 18 when approaching from the north. Neither gives quick access to the airport, a fact which is recognised by the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study. [cite web | url= http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/upload/bia_surface_access_strategy.pdf | publisher= Bristol International Airport | title= Surface Access Strategy 2006 to 2001 | format= PDF| date= September 2006 | accessdate= 2008-03-31] A number of solutions have been proposed, including a new link road between the A38 and the A371 but nothing has been approved.

The Bristol International Flyer bus service operates from Bristol calling at Bristol Temple Meads railway station, Bristol Bus station and Clifton. The service takes 30 minutes from the city centre and can be booked as part of a Rail journey changing between train and bus at Bristol Temple Meads. First Group operates an hourly bus service from Weston-super-Mare, service number 121. All 3 services are operated by First Group.

General aviation

Bristol Airport is a general aviation (GA) centre. In 2006 the GA terminal was relocated from the north side next to the control tower, to a purpose-built facility on the south east corner of the field. There are two GA organisations based at Bristol. All GA handling for visiting aircraft is managed by Bristol Flying Centre, which also provides pilot training and engineering services. Bristol & Wessex Aeroplane Club provides pilot training on both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

ee also

*List of UK airfields
*List of airlines
*List of aviation topics
*List of years in aviation

References

External links

* [http://www.bristolairport.co.uk Official website]
* [http://www.biagrouponline.co.uk Bristol International Supporters Group Online (B.I.S.O.N.)]
* [http://www.stopbia.com Stop Bristol Airport Expansion alliance website (SBAE)]