Infrastructure
At the recent airport consultative committee meeting Robert Sinclair, the CEO, told members that the construction of three new aircraft stands (on the western apron) was due for completion in April.
He also said that work on the expanded passenger security search area was proceeding.
There will also be a new immigration channel to provide additional capacity.
It had previously been reported that enhancements will be made to gate 10, one of the pre-boarding gates along the western walkway, to provide an area to meet the needs of business travellers, including seating and wifi. Previously the western walkway was limited in facilities that could be provided as it had been constructed under General Permitted Development, but the major planning consents obtained last year have removed these restrictions.
The trade press has reported this week that a locally-based engineering consultancy has been awarded the civil and structural engineering contract for the first stage of the major expansion; this contract relates to the western extension of the existing terminal building. The expansion plans call for an eventual doubling of the current terminal's size together with other major infrastructure enhancements such as multi-story car parks, walkways and piers, public transport interchange and an office block, as well as an airport hotel.
Planning and development – Bristol Airport
Airport Flyer
The airport announced this week that the timetable for the Bristol Airport Flyer is to be expanded to provide a 24-hour service. The 12-strong fleet of specially adapted and liveried Volvo buses is operated by First Bristol on behalf of the airport and runs between the airport and the main rail station at Temple Meads, central area hotels and the country bus and coach station. It currently carries about ten per cent of the airport's passenger numbers and features through ticketing with the rail companies, National Express and local area buses.
The present timetable provides a ten-minute frequency in both directions from around 0600 until 2030 with 20-minute frequencies between 2030 and midnight. There is no service between 0050 and 0305 at the moment but from April there will be 11 journeys leaving the airport between midnight and 0600 and a broadly similar number in the reverse direction.
Passenger numbers
At the recent airport consultative committee meeting the airport CEO said he anticipates a rise of 2-3 per cent in passenger numbers in 2012. He pointed out the increasing seasonality of passenger traffic patterns at the airport with September 2011 being the best ever September whereas November's passenger figures were similar to those in November 2004.
The 318,000 passengers in January 2012 means numbers were down 3.5 per cent on the previous January.
After its impressive rise in passenger numbers from 2.124 mppa in 2000 to 6.229 mppa in 2008, the airport regressed to 5.615 in 2009 followed by small rises in the following two years to 5.723 in 2010 and 5.768 in 2011.
That said, it has fared better than many regional airports in holding on to the bulk of its passenger numbers through the recession.
The airport's 5.768 million passenger total in 2011 was achieved using over 20 per cent fewer flights than were needed to handle 5.710 million passengers in 2006.