In the latest airport consultative committee meeting minutes to be posted on the airport's website the CEO admits that the number of flights now operating from the airport causes logistical problems at certain times in finding sufficient buses.
He goes to on to say that the proposed walkway to the western apron will remove this problem BUT, of course, those following airport events know the local authority has said the walkway requires full planning consent which, unless the airport successfully appeals the decision, will mean the walkway will not appear for a long while, if at all.
Being a user of the airport for many years, the odd long delay awaiting to be bussed to the terminal is nothing new although in general the operation usually works quickly and smoothly, in my experience anyway. Perhaps I've been lucky......who knows?
As for the immigration, like any airport, they are in the hands of the government department concerned as to staffing. When I arrived late one evening a few weeks ago I think there were four desks manned, with a couple of other people (I believe airport or Servisair employees) directing people to the next available desk. In fairness, it took about ten minutes to clear immigration (five or six other easyJet and Ryanair flights had arrived within a few minutes of ours) which meant the wait at the carousel for our bags was no more than a couple of minutes.
Gone are the days at Bristol when it was only necessary to hold out a British passport to be waved through on the nod.
As for the departure areas being congested, the terminal was originally designed for 3.5 million annually, was extended a bit by permitted development to the point where in its master plan the airport reckons it can handle around 6 million or so. We have reached that point now.
Have they now finished converting part of the landside to airside? This should give a bit more space to departing passengers.
The airport does indeed want to double the terminal size but it is two years behind the timescale originally set out in its master plan, mainly because it has to tread so warily in the face of the anti-expansionists who must be the best organised of any UK regional airport's opponents.
The local authority is not helpful, as can be seen by its perverse decision to rule the walkway as not permitted evelopment, despite its own professional advisers believing it is.
So it looks as though passengers will have to endure a crowded airport at certain times of the day for a while longer.