It is a nonsense. The passenger will be perplexed enough as it is with some airports allowing more than one cabin bag and others not, without the added confusion of some airlines allowing only one cabin bag even at airports where they could allow two.
As for Bristol Airport, the new security area is part of a larger amelioration of the terminal building. The new CEO stated last year that he was determined to reduce the security queues and so extra lanes and stations are being added (to give a total of nine), and internal work is being carried out to increase the airside area and reduce the landside area of the building.
The terminal was opened eight years ago and when the airport master plan was published in October 2005 it stated, “The terminal building is increasingly experiencing congestion and is already operating at or near its capacity at peak periods”. The plan continued, “We estimate the terminal can continue to function until 2009 when passenger numbers are forecast to exceed 6mppa”,
With the new Ryanair base, it is anticipated that 6 million will be exceeded significantly in 2008 - the CEO, in the airport consultative committee minutes on the airport website, has accepted the airport will get ahead of its projected annual passenger figures in the next twelve months,
However, the £100 million expansion plans are already two years behind the original schedule and are now being reviewed before planning applications are submitted. BRS is faced with a well-organised anti-expansion lobby and it is anticipated that the planning applications will result in a planning enquiry which will further delay matters.
The airport has therefore embarked on a multi-million pounds ‘makeover’ on parts of the terminal infrastructure that do not require planning consent in a bid to try to find more room for passengers’ needs, especially those waiting to depart.