Bristol-5

[Bristol_Traveller]

I may be months behind the ball here, but I just noticed that the last BRS-KEF flight on WOW is on 27OCT, and there's nothing else planned in right through 2017/2018.

So, is this the final goodbye?

Looking at some of their fares, they weren't that amazing unless you were genuinely planning to travel with just the clothes you were stood up in and a purse, and didn't want to eat for hours. (And on West Coast flights, wanted a 16 hour overnight in KEF).

EI seems to be offering the best value TATL fares ex-BRS this Winter, with the advantage of pre-clearance in DUB. Skyteam (KL/DL) are next most expensive, but surprisingly *A (BM/LH/SN/UA) aren't prohibitively expensive - they're just the most expensive. (Generalised across a range of US destinations and dates).

[marko1]

Sadly it is a goodbye from wow. I dont think they were ever really committed were they ?

[Bristol_Traveller]

If commitment means not putting BRS to the bottom of the pile when having tech issues with aircraft, judging by their delay record, no - no they were not committed to BRS at all.

[Bristol_Traveller]

Just on the subject of TATL fares, SN have been offering GBP263 to NYC via BRU - the BRU-NYC can be on either SN or UA.

Given those fares, WOW would have been pretty unattractive as an option.

[yeo valley]

seems rather quiet on news etc from BRS these days.

[MerchantVenturer]

Nothing spectacularly eye-catching at the moment yeo valley, but the solid progress of recent years continues.

- August CAA passenger figures will probably show 900,000 passengers in a calendar month for the first time in the airport’s history (addendum: CAA stats for August just published showing that BRS handled 905,050 passengers in the month with the rolling 12-month total 8,095,866, up 10.9% on this time last year)

- Rolling 12-month total should be around 8.1 million when August figures released, with year-end expected to be between 8.2 and 8.3 million, a gain of two million in three years

- easyJet early summer 2018 schedule seems to continue the trend of recent years of an extra based aircraft with the timetable showing a requirement for 15 in early June

- Thomas Cook apparently adding a third based Airbus in summer 2018 with TUI continuing with the three based Boeings of recent summers (2 x 757 and 1 x 738) plus a B787 for four days each week

- Latest infrastructure to be completed is the £2.5 million Silver Zone reception building on the south side with the Silver Zone car park extended massively earlier this year

- The airport’s first multi-storey car park which will be on the north side will see construction commence shortly

- One new aircraft parking stand to be built over the winter to add to the three new ones opened earlier this year

- Many rumours persisting that the old terminal building will be demolished next year to make way for more aircraft parking stands

- A £600,000 review of surface connectivity was launched recently funded in the main by the airport and in part by the local authority

- On the minus side WOW is leaving the airport very shortly and doesn’t appear intent on coming back

- Still waiting to know who will replace Robert Sinclair as CEO with the latter off to London City very soon

- The airport is to commence a major review of its master plan shortly that will involve the public, local business as well as airlines and other partners. At the present rate of increase the airport’s planning cap of 10 mppa will be reached within the next few years so ways of accommodating that might feature. As the airport is a major employer in North Somerset it’s likely the local authority will look sympathetically on raising the limit, albeit the usual suspects will object so litigation might again be in the wind (as it was with the airport’s major expansion application a few years ago).

However, despite the tens of millions spent in recent years expanding the terminal in so many directions and ways there are still periods when the passenger experience through the airport is extremely poor because of the numbers involved. That is something else that the airport ought to consider seriously in its review of the way ahead.

[MerchantVenturer]

Qatar Airways chief's faith in Cardiff Airport service - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41469143)

Earlier this week Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker provided an interesting insight into his airline’s decision to opt for CWL rather than BRS.

He said he resisted “very strong arguments” from his planning team that there would not be enough passengers for a CWL daily service. He believes he will be proved right in opting for CWL instead of BRS. He says that Wales is a “huge developing state” and he stressed the importance of connecting the people of Wales and the South West with the rest of the world.

Mr Al Baker said he had been under “immense pressure” from ministers, diplomats and Cardiff Airport to operate from Wales. He didn’t make it clear whether they were Welsh Government ministers or Westminster ministers, although given the Welsh government’s understandable involvement in the process it was probably their ministers in the main, albeit the Westminster government’s Welsh Secretary might well have played a part too.

The CEO concluded, "We had competition between Wales and Bristol and Wales won.” That suggests to me that he saw things as between a city region and an entire country.

The CWL CEO Deb Barber said that there is a market of 1.4 million people in Wales and the ‘West Region’ who fly to the Middle East from other airports.

From his comments Mr Al Baker included the South West market as part of his calculations, perhaps a vital part. Ms Barber uses the term ‘West Region’ which is synonymous with West of England and usually taken to mean Greater Bristol and its hinterland - an area roughly analogous with the former county of Avon together with nearby bits of west Wiltshire and nearby bits of the now emasculated counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire.

I imagine that the West of England is the area of England that Qatar and CWL will target intensively.

[Centre cities]

Qatar Airways chief's faith in Cardiff Airport service - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41469143)

I imagine that the West of England is the area of England that Qatar and CWL will target intensively.

An interesting post.

I would think that the majority of traffic will be connecting.

If Bristol was to secure something similar to Turkish airlines for connecting traffic, attracting traffic over the Severn Bridge may become more difficult.

[kfsimpson]

The forthcoming abolition of the bridge toll will remove one of the disincentives for SW England residents of using CWL. However, I am unconvinced that CWL will be a major player when BHX is only 45 miles further distant, with a much wider range of choices of connecting airlines and daily rotations. If the connections via the QR flight from CWL fit, perhaps, but generally, no. Turkish at BRS would be lovely but it is unlikely to happen because of BHX.

[Callum Paterson]

Qatar frequently boast/ highlight how many "capital" cities they serve, worldwide.

One wonders if Cardiff's capital status played a part in Qatar's decision. Tick another capital city box.

[Bristol_Traveller]

From a quick look at flight schedules, it looks like BRS-BRU is transferring to be operated by BM from 29OCT, and codeshared to SN. Flight numbers are changing to BM200x and SN443x.

That's a bit of a blow, because then it officially removes the last Star Alliance member from BRS, and with it the ability to earn/spend FF miles.

It's possible I've misread it though.

[Severn]

Not all hope lost BT...

(Taken from ch-aviation)
bmi regional set to assume two Brussels Airlines' routes

With the onset of the Winter 2017/18 season, bmi regional (BM) will begin servicing two Belgium-UK/Germany routes that are currently operated for Brussels Airlines (SN) on a wet-lease basis.

ch-aviation analysis of schedule data shows that effective October 29, the UK regional carrier will start operating 6x weekly flights from Brussels National to each of Bristol Int'l and Nuremberg under its own flight codes and numbers and using its own ERJ-145s. Brussels Airlines will continue to codeshare on the services. Overall, bmi regional will operate up to four daily services between Brussels and Bristol in cooperation with its Belgian partner given three remaining ERJ-145 operated services will continue to operate under Brussels Airlines flight numbers as a wet-lease.

[Bristol_Traveller]

I don't understand that ch-aviation report?

All flights on the BRS-BRU route are transferring to be operated by BM. As BM is not part of Star Alliance, it won't be possible to earn or spend miles. There's no other Star Alliance airlines at BRS.

So no more *A redemption flights from BRS, I'll have to go to LHR or BHX :sad:

[cornishsimon]

Can't spend on star but surely if it's operated by BM with star codeshares you just book the codeshare and continue to earn ?

[Bristol_Traveller]

No, because the "operating airline" (BM) is outside Star Alliance, you can't earn or burn, or have benefits, even if you're booking on a codeshare ("marketing airline"). It's different from Oneworld, where the "marketing airline" is relevant for earn/burn.

So BRS is officially disconnected from the Star network from 29OCT. BM and LH have a very limited bilateral agreement to allow LH*G status to use the lounges at FRA and MUC when travelling to BRS on a LH (220) plated ticket using the codeshare flight numbers.

[Jerry123]

Where too?

[cornishsimon]

Thanks for the info BT. Didn’t realize that about star.

Where do you mainly fly ? Perhaps it’s time to start looking for other options away from star.

EI for example offer decent onward connections ex BRS onward from Dublin and BA now offer through tickets via FGW from either parkway or TempleM. There’s also the decent KLM connections via AMS

[MerchantVenturer]

Three new TUI routes for Winter 18/19....

Boa Vista on Fridays beginning November 18 and will operate alongside the existing year-round Sal route that will move to Wednesdays next year with the B787 taking over from the B757.

Keflavik on Wednesdays and Sundays beginning November 18. Currently easyJet operates a 2/3 x weekly winter KEF route although WOW will cease its service from tomorrow.

Marrakech on Tuesdays beginning November 18. easyJet appears to have axed its own RAK route at the end of summer 17.

Hurghada will also be new for winter 18/19 operating on Mondays - it will actually begin on 5 March and operate through next summer as well. Thomas Cook is also starting a Hurghada route next May on Tuesdays - currently it is showing summer only.

[Bristol_Traveller]

@cornishsimon

I'm mainly disappointed about benefits withdrawal and not being to redeem awards from BRS, but otherwise interlined ticketing between BM and LH (Group) will mean I can keep flying from BRS.

(Admittedly, would be fairly happy if someone could persuade TG, SQ and SK to also do codeshare / interline with BM, but I have a hunch the deal with LH precludes that).

[TartinTon]

BM and SK already have an interline deal but no codeshare as yet....I don't think there's anything precluding deals with anyone although LH might be a bit touchy if BM included MUC/FRA flying as part of the deal

[Bristol_Traveller]

I see the airport's social media person/team have jumped on Facebook's new poll feature (aka Twitter's poll feature) to ask which long haul route people would like to see next from BRS, with options of NYC or BOS.

As long as it isn't a Point 2 Point route operated by an LCC, which leaves me at a US gateway with no onward connection possibilities, I don't mind.

[MerchantVenturer]

A few items have cropped up vis-a-vis BRS this week.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan sells 30% stake in BRS

https://www.otpp.com/news/article/-/article/780836

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), the sole owners of BRS, has announced an agreement whereby it will sell 30% of its stake to Australian investors: New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp) (15%) and Sunsuper Superannuation Fund (Sunsuper) (15%).

BRS to be partially slot coordinated

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2017/10/new-designation-provides-greater-control-of-night-flights

The Department for Transport has approved Bristol Airport’s request to be designated as ‘partially coordinated’ under the EC and UK Airport Slot Allocation Regulations. The airport will be raised to level 3 status but only between 2300 and 0700 from the last week in March to the last week in October. At other times it will remain at level 2.

The move is intended to give the airport greater control over its night flight movements and noise quota count limits. Some local people are fearful that this will actually mean more night flights with the movements and noise quota count both exceeded.

There will be more based aircraft at BRS next summer which is likely to lead to more flights during the noise quota count period (2330-0600).

New BRS master plan consultation

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2017/11/bristol-airport-to-seek-views-on-future

BRS will publish a consultation document later this month and will begin seeking views of communities, stakeholders and the general public on how to meet demand over the next 30 years. Following these consultations a new draft master plan will be published which will be subject of further consultation next spring.

Long haul

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2017/11/bristol-airport-targets-more-long-haul-after-successful-summer

BRS is seeking more long haul flights following TUI’s return this summer to Florida and Cancun with Punta Cana joining the programme next summer. They want more long haul east and west and are also talking with existing carriers about ways of increasing frequency to major hubs.

The possibility of Wales gaining an APD advantage still weighs heavily with the airport management as can be seen from a comment in the linked press release.

Summer 2018

Next summer’s timetables show the need for an additional based easyJet Airbus (the 15th), an additional based TUI aircraft plus a part-based B787 and an additional based Thomas Cook aircraft.

The total based complement would be:

easyJet - 15 Airbuses (319 and 320)
Ryanair - 4 Boeing 737-800s
TUI - 2 Boeing 757s, 2 Boeing 737-800s and a part-based Boeing 787
Thomas Cook - 2 A 321s and an A 320 (probably third party)
bmi regional - 5/6 E 135s/145s

In addition a KLM Cityhopper E190 night stops. There won’t be much free space around the aprons during the early hours.

Multi-storey car park

Preparatory work is under way on the new car park on the north side.

[Jerry123]

I see the airport's social media person/team have jumped on Facebook's new poll feature (aka Twitter's poll feature) to ask which long haul route people would like to see next from BRS, with options of NYC or BOS.

As long as it isn't a Point 2 Point route operated by an LCC, which leaves me at a US gateway with no onward connection possibilities, I don't mind.
Considering the US3 is effectively concentrating on LHR MAN and Scotland then a LCC is the most probable option.

[HarrytheDog]

So press release today stating that US direct flight/s hoping to be announced in next two years...what is everyones guess? Norweigian?

[Severn]

I saw an article from a Swindon publication released today that said they hope to be able to name a carrier for direct flights within the next two years.
Where did you see this release saying next two weeks?

[HarrytheDog]

Apologies Severn, same article, misread it...can’t imagine a full service carrier, would think Norwegian or Primera would be most likely.

[MerchantVenturer]

Direct US flights will return to Bristol Airport, it says, as blueprint for further growth is launched | Bristol Business News (http://www.bristol-business.net/direct-us-flights-will-return-to-bristol-airport-it-says-as-work-starts-on-blueprint-for-further-growth/)

Probably this which is based on recent BRS press releases although in none could I find the airport giving a timeline for a NYC return. This article mentions two years.

[callum3242]

Georgian Rugby Team are flying in next week on an A320. Guess's on our Bristol Airport Spotting Facebook group, are that it will be an Azerbaijan Airlines.

Friday 17 Nov
Arr: 5008 from TBS at 11:20

Sunday 19 Nov
Dep: 5009 to TBS at 22:00

You can also see the Bristol Airport Spotting website for any spotting needs, including 'On-Ground' aircraft, mayflys, arrivals and departures, weather and much more.

[Lon12]

According to some strong rumors, Ryanair is going to move (again) Bristol-Castellon to Valencia airport.

coming soon...

[marko1]

Any other new routes from Ryanair ?

[Lon12]

Confirmed...

New (restart) Valencia-Bristol route from March 2018

2 weekly (Monday and Friday)

Castellon has been cancelled.

[Plane.Silly]

Wondering if Castellon's subsidies to Ryanair are wearing out or if Ryanair can make more money outright to VLC?

[HarrytheDog]

Would anybody in the know be able to advise whether BRS could take a 787-10 in the future? Just reading another thread where EK has confirmed order of 45 787-10s, this could open up several more destinations for the airline, BRS may be in sights if the 787-10 can get in and out?

[GrahamK]

Would anybody in the know be able to advise whether BRS could take a 787-10 in the future? Just reading another thread where EK has confirmed order of 45 787-10s, this could open up several more destinations for the airline, BRS may be in sights if the 787-10 can get in and out?

Very unlikely with a decent payload

[skyloone]

An extra 200 metre starter extension / overrun area would open up options but parking issues remain too.

[EK77WNCL]

I'd have thought BRS would be pretty much a given if Emirates change some orders into the 789. The 78J might be just that little bit short on performance, but don't quote me on that, I may be wrong. I understand parking is probably the main issue.

Has a 777 ever been to Bristol? You could get a 777 300ER out of Bristol to Dubai with relative ease, but (again I may be mistaken) I understand that it might just be too big for manoeuvring on the ground at BRS.

[heading 125]

A 777 you are joking of course. 767 landing a few years ago had a very interesting landing on 09. I guess as long as you can use the road for take off and landing outside the airfield you should be ok.

[EK77WNCL]

A 777 would have no issues at BRS. They are immense performers, better than the 767.

Regular service might bring up some issues, but triples operate from sub 7,000ft runways every day. It would seem to me that the aprons and taxiways at Bristol present more of an issue than the runway

[Severn]

Bristol is currently approved for Code E aircraft operations. The approval is limited to B787-8, B787-9, and A330-300.

A 777 you are joking of course. 767 landing a few years ago had a very interesting landing on 09. I guess as long as you can use the road for take off and landing outside the airfield you should be ok.

Heading 125 - What is your obsession with Bristol and 09? I know CWL has a longer and flatter runway, and yes, there was a hard landing with a First Choice 767 using Bristols Runway 09, however the investigation summarised that not only the runway profile, but nuisance GPWS alerts and the meteorological conditions may have influenced the hard landing. Why do you continuously bring it up? It happened over 7 years ago... can we move on now please?

Since 2010 First Choice/Thomson, now TUI have not moved their longhaul flights out of BRS (except for taking a break during the economic downturn), and this year the B787-8 operated to both Florida and Mexico. They clearly aren't concerned? In fact, next year TUI are doubling the the 787 flights and will base a B787-8 at Bristol for 4 days a week with new flights to Cape Verde and the Dominican Republic on top of the Florida and Mexico flights.

[MerchantVenturer]

There were other matters that had a bearing on the AAIB report's final conclusion too, Severn.

For example, the flight crew could have locked the inertia reels of their shoulder harnesses, but did not. Had the shoulder harnesses been locked, it is possible that the degree to which they were thrown forward would have been reduced, and in the commander’s case, any consequent movement of the control column would have been lessened (verbatim from the AAIB report).

Another example is that there was a history of damage to B767s following hard nose-gear touchdowns and Boeing had produced training and awareness material on the subject but the operator was not aware and consequently the information had not been made available to the flight crew.

This is the full AAIB report and hopefully lessons have been learned - the usual comment in any sphere when things have gone wrong but in this case let's hope it is true and that the lessons have been acted on. TUI seems happy to commit its 787s to operating from the runway and it goes without saying that such an airline would take no known risks with its passengers and crews.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422eb45ed915d137100005d/Boeing_767-324_G-OOBK_05-12.pdf

On another topic, BRS has begun its in-depth examination of its master plan today, looking ahead over the next 30 years. There will be all sorts of consultations with partners, local authorities and local communities as well as the public at large with various events taking place around the region where the public will have the chance to meet airport managers and have their say. Following this a draft master plan will be prepared which will go out to further consultation.

The new annual passenger projections are: 12 million in 2025; 15 million in 2035; 19 million in 2045. The current 12-monthly throughput is just under 8.2 million.

Nothing seems to have been ruled out including building a brand new terminal to replace the current one that opened in 2000 and has been almost continually expanded since. Actually, that's not quite true because they say 'an extended runway is not currently in our plans, with the existing A38 expected to remain a well-defined eastern boundary'.

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2017/11/bristol-airport-seeks-public-views-as-it-plans-for-the-future

[highwideandugly]

Here goes..thinking outside the box..and the SE...Would an extra 350 mts plus RESA for Luton,Bristol,Liverpool,Newcastle and Edinburgh/Glasgow not be a whole lot cheaper than the Billions proposed for Heathrow..and actually spread the load around? Or is that toooo simplistic?

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Spending a fraction of the HS2 money re-opening Filton would be extremely sensiblevand beneficial and thus discounted.

[Plane.Silly]

@Highwideandugly

That would indeed be the logical solution, but unfortunately it's too much of a political hot potato. I'll let everyone make up their own minds on that, but my 'at-a-glance' take on it: It makes sense to add millions of extra seats across the Uk and make better use of these infrastructures rather than concentrate it all on 1 airport. On the other hand, airlines, particularly long haul, won't want to spread demand across more bases/destinations in close proximity, as it dilutes their yields, compared to focus on a couple and being able to charge an arm and leg. THey would prefer the expansion at LHR (and a couple others).

Try telling the politicians all this though and see how far you get...

[MerchantVenturer]

Here goes..thinking outside the box..and the SE...Would an extra 350 mts plus RESA for Luton,Bristol,Liverpool,Newcastle and Edinburgh/Glasgow not be a whole lot cheaper than the Billions proposed for Heathrow..and actually spread the load around? Or is that toooo simplistic?

The existing master plan, prepared in 2005, says this about the runway issue.

Option 1 – do nothing
From the analysis above it is clear that it is likely that a significant proportion of any long haul demand could be handled without the need for a runway extension. However, it is not possible to make precise estimates with any degree of accuracy over such a long time frame. This option carries some risk, but the timescales are such that this risk can be reassessed in subsequent revisions of the Master Plan if necessary.

Option 2 – extend the runway by 140m
This is assessed as the maximum extension that can be accommodated within the existing airport land, without the need for airport control of Felton Common. Nevertheless the A38 would need to be lowered into a tunnel for a length of 150m. The instrument landing system for runway 09 would need to be relocated to just inside airport land at the boundary with the Common. If the existing landing threshold is retained for runway 27 there would be no need to relocate the existing approach light array. There is a possibility that some regrading of the Common may be needed to maintain satisfactory clearances from obstacle limitation surfaces.

Option 3 – extend the runway by 389m
This has been assessed as the maximum extension that can be accommodated within the existing airport land. The end of the runway clear and graded area would then be at the boundary with Felton Common. The ILS localiser and, potentially approach lighting as well, would need to relocated on to the Common and a 240m by 150m area of the Common would need to come into airport control. It may be necessary to regrade parts of the Common.

Option 4 – extend the runway by 239m with a 150m starter strip
A starter strip is a length of aircraft pavement that can be used by aircraft at the start of their take off run, but not for landing purposes. This option would add 389m to the runway 27 take off run, but only about 150m to the runway 09 take off run. This therefore means that runway 09 has performance penalties compared with runway 27. However the need to encroach on to Felton Common is avoided.

Option 5 – extend the runway further, with further encroachment onto the Common.

Our overall conclusion is that the improvement in performance that might be achieved by extending the runway is relatively small in comparison with the costs and the potential environmental impact. Our preferred option at this stage is therefore the 'do nothing' option.

Spending a fraction of the HS2 money re-opening Filton would be extremely sensiblevand beneficial and thus discounted.

Unfortunately, that now seems an impossibility.

Plans approved for more than 2,500 homes on Filton Airfield - Bristol Post (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/plans-approved-more-2500-homes-656163)

Incidentally, I’m not aware of any news of a new CEO to replace Robert Sinclair who has moved to London City Airport as CEO. It might be thought by some that it’s not the most propitious time to embark on a major look at BRS’s future with no CEO in place.

[yeo valley]

Spending a fraction of the HS2 money re-opening Filton would be extremely sensiblevand beneficial and thus discounted.

To open Filton as an airport you would need to fill in holes that has been dug in runway and chainsaw for apron trees and under growth as was shown on the tv the other week when they showed the hanger they have put the concorde into.No prob with length but every thing else ummm.

[Heathrow Harry]

Boy - re-open Filton - with all those 16000++ good people in Stoke Gifford right under the approach

Not a hope in hell.

[MerchantVenturer]

The people who will be living in the 2,500 homes to be built on the Filton site might have something to say about aircraft taking off and landing up and down their streets too.

[Heathrow Harry]

Pah - they shoudl have known that they risked that when they bought on an old airfield

Send in the bailiffs!

[MerchantVenturer]

New timings for most of the routes compared with summer 17, with Malaga increased to 2 x weekly which facilitates the E190 positioning in and out at the beginning and end of the Saturday programme.

Saturday
BA7340 AGP 0105 BRS 0245
BA7023 BRS 0615 PMI 0940
BA7022 PMI 1025 BRS 1155
BA7016 FLR 1105 BRS 1225
BA7021 BRS 1245 AGP 1625
BA7017 BRS 1310 FLR 1625
BA7020 AGP 1715 BRS 1900
BA7019 BRS 1945 IBZ 2310
BA7018 IBZ 2355 BRS 0120 (Sun)

Sunday
BA7021 BRS 0625 AGP 1005

As summer 17, all flights on E190 except Florence which remains E170.

[yeo valley]

Went to the presentation in the week when it was in Weston.4 big drawings of the different plans. 1 involves moving winters lane again as they in talks with the golf club as to buying it and also the row of houses along down side road.none of the plans are set in concrete as they said bits from each plan might be used. Its worth going along and there is a feedback forn to fill out and free post back to them.Also they give you a book with all the details about the plans which makes good reading.

[j636]

Easyjet add Seville and Genoa

[MerchantVenturer]

Genoa and Seville now in the easyJet booking system both 2 x weekly from 2 June, both on Tue and Sat.

I make that 65 easyJet routes from BRS, albeit some are seasonal.

Ryanair operated Seville for three summers between 2009 and 2011 but I can't remember Genoa ever previously being operated as a regular route. Seville and Bristol are Airbus centres so there might be some passenger traffic as a result of that.

The easyJet timetable requires 15 based aircraft next summer (one more than in 2017), with part of August requiring 16 as things stand.

[Bristol_Traveller]

The airport has tweeted out this evening

Due to technical problems with airfield equipment required in low visibility, inbound flights are currently being delayed or diverted. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused today and we will keep you updated when we have any further information.

And sure enough, the departures and arrivals boards are looking messy. ILS down?

[Captain_Caveman]

ILS on runway 27 is u/s !

[Fire and brimstone]

Part of the masterplan - offices being relocated into new terminal / part of new development closer to the new tower.

When?

News on the street is 'early in 2018'.

Arrival of portacabins will be the first we get to hear?

Anyone 'in the know'?

Merry Christmas one and all!

:ok:

[Bristol_Traveller]

As reported over on the bmi thread, BM to start BRS-GOT on their usual slightly esoteric scheduling.

BRS-GOT 13:40 - 16:50 14
GOT-BRS 14:40 - 16:00 2
GOT-BRS 11:40 - 13:00 5

https://www.flybmi.com/press-release/bmi-launches-new-route-bristol-gothenburg

"Fares on the route start from £99 one way." - that'll be for the first ten seats sold.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

EGGD currently closed in LVPs. Aircraft off runway. Airport rumour BMI aircraft.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Eggd 221150z auto 25004kt 0200 r27/0400 fg vv/// 10/10 q1035

[fjencl]

Updates: Flights at Bristol Airport delayed after plane leaves runway - Bristol Post (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/updates-flights-bristol-airport-delayed-965796)

[fjencl]

Updates: Flights at Bristol Airport delayed after plane leaves runway - Bristol Post (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/updates-flights-bristol-airport-delayed-965796)

[Heathrow Harry]

The Embraer RJ145 belonging to BMI Regional is understood to have left the runway whilst taxiing after landing from Frankfurt at 11:36am.
Bristol Airport said none of the 25 passengers on-board flight BM1822 were injured and they were bussed to the terminal from the aircraft.
The airport warned there may be delays as the aircraft is recovered to a parking area.

[hoss183]

Great, one dolt takes a liking to grass over taxiway and 30 flights cancelled.
I'm due to fly into BRS later, any updates much appreciated.

[ericlday]

Notam ..... B) FROM: 17/12/22 13:34C) TO: 17/12/22 18:00

E) AD CLOSED DUE INCIDENT

[parkfell]

AAIB on their way

[proprpm]

NOTAM'ed closed to 1900

[Herod]

Great, one dolt takes a liking to grass over taxiway and 30 flights cancelled.

Hey Hoss, can you possibly spare a cupful of your own perfection for us mere mortals?

[MerchantVenturer]

Looking at the BRS website the current situation re affected flights is thus:

Departures: 34 left prior to the incident; 28 have been cancelled; 22 are showing 'next information'; 2 are showing 'check-in closes'; 1 is showing 'final boarding'; 1 is showing no information.

Arrivals: everything seemed to have arrived normally prior to the incident. After that 20 aircraft are shown as diverted; 26 cancelled; the remainder 'next information' or blank.

A lot of people will have had their Christmas plans ruined.

[1066]

Shame that the US Navy don't run the flight deck, sorry RW at BRS. Its not much bigger than a large carrier! Perhaps EZY and FR could fund the hull cost of the 145 after it's been pushed over the side.

OK I know that its got to stay where it is now that the AAIB are on the way but you have to feel for the number all those that have been inconvenienced with little chance left to retrieve their Christmas plans.
1066

[ericlday]

Latest Notam.... B) FROM: 17/12/22 17:23C) TO: 17/12/22 21:00

E) AD CLOSED DUE INCIDENT

[ericlday]

And it continues......latest Notam...... B) FROM: 17/12/22 17:23C) TO: 17/12/22 21:00

E) AD CLOSED DUE INCIDENT

[SMT Member]

If all this is 'just' a matter of having left the paved bit of a taxiway in LVP conditions, presumably getting the kite grass stuck in the process, surely it'd be possible to throughly record the incident scene by camera, sketch and notes, do a few measurements and get the thing moved within a couple of hours?

[Heathrow Harry]

"surely it'd be possible to thoroughly record the incident scene by camera, sketch and notes,"

WHAT and not inconvenience several thousand people 2 days before Christmas.....

After all the report will probably run to at least two sides of A4

[masonic-air]

Waiting patiently in the terminal for the 145 crew to just pop in and explain why are Christmas plans have just been trashed from going off-roading! It’s mayhem here and no idea if flights will occur or cancelled. Still the bars are still open - bless!!

[A4]

If this was just a nose gear in the mud.....why is the airport still closed till 21:00? I thought they’d removed the aircraft much earlier. You’d think that with it being “frantic Friday” they’d pull out the stops to get things moving ASAP.

A4

[ciderman]

Feel sorry for the crew but, come on chaps! 8 hours to shift a commuter jet? Why are the AAIB involved? This is an incident, not an accident. Jobsworth?

[birmingham]

"surely it'd be possible to thoroughly record the incident scene by camera, sketch and notes,"

WHAT and not inconvenience several thousand people 2 days before Christmas.....

After all the report will probably run to at least two sides of A4

Sure if that is what it is. BRS has form though. They had problems with braking efficiency on this runway which resulted in an AAIB report in 2009. Hopefully long since sorted and unrelated to today's events. While it needs
to be reported I can't see why a minor taxiway excursion would require an AAIB field investigation requiring the a/c to be left in situ. Will have to wait and see.

[scifi]

The next possibility is that AAIB will arrive, by car, and say they want it left in position until early morning light, when they can take photographs of the skid marks.
.

[MerchantVenturer]

Just seen Nigel Scott, BRS business development director, (BRS currently has no CEO) on the local tv news. He said they can't move the aircraft until the AAIB investigators arrive to inspect it in situ and this is taking longer than expected.

The tv people said they've been told the earliest the airport will re-open is 9pm this evening.

[WindSheer]

For me, a low speed issue such as this with no injuries is not a major incident.
AAIB are not required to hold the recover process up. Why? Because 1000's of people are being disrupted unnecessarily. BRS will have competent managers to capture evidence post incident, BMI will have their process for capturing pilot reports and A/C data etc. All this can be reviewed by AAIB.

All the passengers, BRS and the airline are getting caught in the middle of ridiculous over regulation here!

Edit - Looking for a job. I have worked with their counterparts the RAIB. For an incident such as this, there is nothing that won't be covered through analysis of all the above I mentioned plus interviews with the pilots, cabin crew and atc. I appreciate everyone has a role to carry out, but there will be thousands of travel plans at stake here. Get those people moving!

[birmingham]

Whilst I have sympathy for those whose travel plans have been disrupted, the fact that AAIB are interested suggests that there may be more to it than at first appears. Given that a relatively small aircraft, with a crew viewpoint quite close to the ground, was unable to stay on the pavement in LVP it might be reasonable to investigate whether there is some aspect of the airport that is deficient.

In my experience, an event in which there are no injuries and which has easily explained causes and contributory factors, is quickly released by the AAIB Inspector.

Do we know if the A/C had fully decelerated prior to the excursion?

[hoss183]

Well my flight into BRS now delayed until 18:30 tomorrow.
Thanks EJ for showing it on-time again, after showing delayed, which lured me to the airport. Whats the point of an app on peoples phones if you post the wrong information.
But yes there must be more to this if AAIB want to inspect.... or a massive jobsworth over-reaction...

[Good Business Sense]

Same with roads/motorway accidents etc these days - seems to have started 15-20 years ago ... you know motorways etc being closed for 20+ hours with literally hundreds of thousands, possible on occasions in the Midlands, millions of people being affected.

[Tom Cundall]

Come on, zero wind, no ice or snow. It'll have to be a damn good excuse for me to retract that.

200m vis and possibly a 40 ton aircraft sunk up to the gear door in wet mud? Have you seen how long it takes to shift a lorry stuck in the mud on the side of the road?

[Willy Miller]

"Guessing it will be a long time since the front wheel has buckled so it will be very hard for you to move the plane

4:56 PM - Dec 22, 2017"

[The Ancient Geek]

A bit of perspective - A lot of people are working their backsides off getting passengers bussed to EMA, CFW and others to meet their diverted incoming flights and get away a few hours late. Everyone is working hard to minimise disruption but capacity is limited on one of the busiest days of the year.

Getting the aircraft out of the mud is probably going to need airbags and other specialist kit which will need to be trucked in from somewhere else, it is going to take time to sort out.

Sods law [1] applies, it had to happen on the worst possible day.

[1] Murphy was an optimist.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

http://a68.tinypic.com/zxuuf7.jpg

The whole aircraft is several meters off the runway.

WWW

[gearlever]

Bristol = Middle of the world:*

[RVR800]

All this pontification...
It may be prudent to let AAIB do their work. It's likely we don't know the full picture.

[jackharr]

I hope they release the Cockpit Voice Recorder in due course.

You are allowed one guess as to the xxxx word in: "Oh xxxx".

Spare a thought for the pilots. It might be more than just Christmas that is disrupted for them.

Jack

[Above The Clouds]

The runway will be closed to further traffic because of the fog and therefore LVP's are in force, with the aircraft having only just vacated the runway its most likely still within the ILS Cat II protected area.

Had it happened with better weather conditions and a safe margin existed for departing aircraft I am sure ATC would have continued airport ops once everything was deemed safe.

Only my best guess but lets give everyone the benefit of doubt, at least its not a major incident/accident only a few delays.

[1066]

WWW
Thanks for the photo. First one we've seen.
Is it off the end having failed to make a complete 90 turn to vacate 27?
Caught out on the rollout by the lowering vis going up the hill to the 09 threshold?
DR had a similar problem some years ago but kept it on the harder stopway. Much easier to recover.
1066

[manrow]

Bristol = Middle of the world:*

Absolutely right gearlever!

And the airfield being owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan does not suggest there is a competent management in place to organise things for an event like this.

This is not the first time that Bristol Airport has been found lacking in terms of appropriate equipment to keep an airfield open for the level of aircraft movements now being seen daily.

[Helen49]

It is sad, indeed pathetic to read so many whinging comments on this accident. Notwithstanding the inconvenience caused to so many, it is not the ‘jobsworths’ causing the problems but the practicalities associated with accidents such as this and which lay people have little or no knowledge.

It may appear to be ‘simple taxying’ accident but the AAIB need to establish the cause, including the root causes which may be myriad.

Removing an aircraft from unpaved surfaces, whilst causing minimum damage to the aircraft, is not a simple task and requires specialist equipment and personnel not normally available at regional airports and maybe not even available locally.

Aviation is so safe in 2017 only because it has learned from thorough investigation of accidents in the past. As seasoned professionals, the AAIB [who probably also wish to be at home on a Christmas Friday] will only have refused to allow movement of the aircraft for a good reason.

Similarly the Bristol Airport Authority will have no wish to cause inconvenience to their customers.

H49

[beamer]

I am cheerfully reminded of George Kennedy in the first Airport movie - stick a cigar in your mouth and gun it out !

[FlyingApe]

Well said Helen49.

No one on here has a clue as to the exact nature of the incident, cause or anything else. Then hoss183 (https://www.pprune.org/members/451875-hoss183) rocks up with his "Dolt" comment. Wow. He must he an expert in accident investigation. I certainly hope he's not a pilot, with CRM skills like that !

Makes you wander who the "Dolt" actually is. No ?

Lets just be thankful no one was injured.

[moosepig]

Now 2300 earliest reopening.

[MerchantVenturer]

Note on BRS website now saying runway won't re-open until 2300 at the earliest, meaning the runway will have been shut for nearly 12 hours, assuming it opens at 2300 which is the latest 'guestimate'.

Not unreasonably, there are many people asking why it's taking so long.

[barry lloyd]

A bit of perspective - A lot of people are working their backsides off getting passengers bussed to EMA, CFW and others to meet their diverted incoming flights and get away a few hours late. Everyone is working hard to minimise disruption but capacity is limited on one of the busiest days of the year.

Getting the aircraft out of the mud is probably going to need airbags and other specialist kit which will need to be trucked in from somewhere else, it is going to take time to sort out.

Sods law [1] applies, it had to happen on the worst possible day.

[1] Murphy was an optimist.

While we are on the subject of accuracy, the code CFW does not exist. If you meant Cardiff, it's CWL.

[Bristol_Traveller]

I saw a still from ITV WestCountry Tonight, and it appears the aircraft has completely left the taxiway, and is substantially into the grassed area - all the wheels are on the grass, and I assume it's sinking down moderately quickly, which is going to make "pulling" it out awkward.

If it's as far into the grass as it appears from the still image, then it didn't just slide off the edge at low speed.

[Bristol_Traveller]

Still not accepting flights at 23:20.

TUI have held over CWL for about 40 minutes but diverted to BHX. FR and KL still flying tight circles over the airfield, but have been for 20 minutes or so now.

[The Ancient Geek]

Ooops - a tyop.
KLM1057, RYR86YB and TUI245 currently circling over head so it looks like they could be opening soon.

[paperHanger]

Surely the reason for this departure from the tarmac is obvious?

The new generation of pilots is very good at following a magenta line ... but not a yellow one ;)

[Bristol_Traveller]

KL1057 was the first aircraft to land, just after 00:00 on Saturday morning.

It'll be a tough recovery over the weekend particularly for Easyjet, who must have aircraft and crew all over the place, and a huge number of displaced passengers.

[The Ancient Geek]

KLM1057 landed just before midnight with RYR86YB close behind and RYR88GE a few miles out.

[Falcon666]

Several EasyJet's are repositioning as I write from BHX so delays tomorrow might not be as bad as you think

[Pitchpoller]

the airfield being owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan does not suggest there is a competent management in place to organise things for an event like this.

They could at least invest in some Canadianly polite signage, such as: "Please keep off the grass, eh".

[oceancrosser]

Any ERJ145s in this position should be removed by a bulldozer. Awful things to fly in...

[Bristol_Traveller]

There seems to be a flotilla of EZY aircraft moving in at the moment from EXT / STN / BHX, plus EDI arrived in late. I think I've counted 11 in, and it looks like they need 13 off tomorrow morning. It looks like there might be three frames at BOH (OE-IJG, G-EZBU, G-EZUK).

Still a lot of displaced pax from Friday to deal with today though.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

That was no taxi incident after landing.

WWW

[crewmeal]

I've said it time and time again BRS should have been at Filton not the farm where it is now.

[fireflybob]

While we are on the subject of accuracy, the code CFW does not exist

Not in IATA code but it's actually Cardiff Train Station so fairly close!

[Harry Wayfarers]

Any pics of the offending Embraer Pocket Rocket?

[hoss183]

I've said it time and time again BRS should have been at Filton not the farm where it is now.

With you on that, a ridiculous state of affairs developing an airport on a foggy hill thats hard to get to by road, when a longer runway was up for grabs next to the M4/M5 interchange.

[Heathrow Harry]

But much more convenient for the builders of shops and houses and Business Parks -

Filton also would have had noise issues

[Heathrow Harry]

Bristol Airport ✔ @BristolAirport (https://twitter.com/BristolAirport) Following the earlier incident, the aircraft has now been moved and the airport is now open and fully operational. We are working with the airlines to resume the flight schedule as soon as possible but ongoing knock-on delays to flights may be experienced over the weekend.
11:47 pm 22nd Dec

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/arrivals-and-departures/departures

Shows steady stream of departures with few cancellations

[TheOddOne]

With you on that, a ridiculous state of affairs developing an airport on a foggy hill thats hard to get to by road, when a longer runway was up for grabs next to the M4/M5 interchange.

Agreed. I've been told that the reason that Filton wasn't selected was because there was a corner of a hangar that would have infringed the ILS and the owners refused to knock it down - something to do with the Brabazon having been built in it. Just one of any number of scandals that should have been sorted out by a forward-looking government, which was lacking at the time. Now it's too late, so we have to work with what we've got. Similar to the vacillation over expansion at London Airport.

[manrow]

With you on that, a ridiculous state of affairs developing an airport on a foggy hill that's hard to get to by road, when a longer runway was up for grabs next to the M4/M5 interchange.

I agree, it also has a rail line running through, but you need to blame the residents of Chipping Sodbury who waged a vigorous campaign years ago, to prevent Filton obtaining planning permission for change of use to a civil airport. They knew the airport was there when they bought their houses etc. etc.

[Heathrow Harry]

Yeah but it wasn't going to be a major domestic airport - it was a company facility....

[Heathrow Harry]

https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/603422-bristol-closed-jet-off-runway-2.html

post 29 shows it well off the tarmac and dug in......

[ExXB]

It’s about time the CAA began enforcing the “rerouting and care” provisions of Regulation 261. Passengers need a lot more than an offer of a refund when this type of **** happens. It’s a cost of doing business, if you don’t like it just go and invest in bitcoin, or something equally safe.

Shambles, nothing but a shambles.

[Heathrow Harry]

trouble is when you run every airline so that every airframe is in use and you have 45-60 minute turnarounds PLUS your software does it's damnedest to fill every seat every time there just isn't much slack in the system to handle this sort of problem

Personally if I'm going somewhere where I HAVE to be there I always add a day at the start just in case.................

[A and C]

I doubt that there is one person above who has ever recovered a heavy aircraft from soft ground, it usualy entails getting together lots of perforated steel planking, long steel cables, usualy two tugs and visiting parts of the Aircraft mantanance manual that you have never seen before. All that before you start digging ramps behind the wheels to drag the Aircraft out.

I was lucky in the fact that when I last got involved with an incident like this we just had to deal with the practical engineering aspects of moving the Aircraft, no doubt the guys who had to get this Aircraft off the grass also had to be dealing with the hiderance of elf & safety experts who’s Aircraft knowlage extends to being able to recognise one from their office window.

[caaardiff]

It’s about time the CAA began enforcing the “rerouting and care” provisions of Regulation 261. Passengers need a lot more than an offer of a refund when this type of **** happens. It’s a cost of doing business, if you don’t like it just go and invest in bitcoin, or something equally safe.

Shambles, nothing but a shambles.

What exactly was a shambles?

What if there's no options? The Airlines and Airport staff aren't magicians.

Hotel/Accomodation wise, it would take forever to book these for the hundreds/thousands of people that needed them and get them there. The easiest provision is book your own hotel (If you have the money to do so) and claim it back from the Airlines. This is what happened yesterday.
As for flights, all flights are going to be busy. A number of flights were rescheduled for today by BE, BM, FR and EZY. The operational challenges of getting those flights sorted at short notice are complex. Getting the slots, the crews, if there's actually an aircraft available to do those.

From how I see it, the Airlines were tied by info from BRS. BRS were tied by info from the AAIB. In this situation, safety is priority. The AAIB obviously felt the need to investigate. Yes it certainly shouldn't have taken that long, but I don't think BRS should be blamed for the circumstances. It's just before Christmas at the busiest time of year. No Management or Operational teams would sit back and just let yesterday happen. The information just simply wasn't there to give. I've been on the front line in these situations, much smaller disruption too, and I can say that if the information is there, the staff on the ground will tell it. Well done to all the teams working yesterday. No doubt it wasn't an easy day! :D

[VS-Toga]

Wow, so many armchair experts here AAIB might just log on and solve the issues by reading this thread.

I doff my peaked cap of flight deck humility to all of you experts.

[ssflyer]

Is there a list of the diversions and where they ended up. BR website and FT aren't much help

[GotTheTshirt]

A & C I agree with you but also being involved in a few of these escapades what happened to the Hover platforms with airbags that I was involved with MANY years ago.
We quickly moved a couple of aircraft ( including a TSR2!) fairly quickly and with no damage.

[culzean12]

I think the point ExXB was making is that it’s the customer that picks up the bill in these circumstances. Having to make alternative travel arrangements with different carrier to different airport to arrive later than planned, with the additional costs not covered by EU261 in these circumstances. In my case easyJet offer a refund of the cancelled flight or the option of taking the next available flight (dec 26...). So it’s down to me to cover the £120 delta for the fare to Exeter, plus the bus to Bristol and I fully expect I’ll be expected to pay an extra £28 to cover the extra day in the long stay car park. Someone is responsible for Bristol airports closure for 11 hours yesterday, but it’s not the customer.

[Monkeytennis12345]

I agree, it's certainly not the customer who is responsible, but it also isn't easyJet and all the other airlines who found their fleet scattered over half of England.
You can blame the airline responsible ....but until the AAIB makes its report (eventually !) I think that everyone will be 'p*ssing in the wind', unfortunately.
I really hope that everyone disrupted manages to get away for Xmas.
Having worked in the industry for over 30 years, I've seen the worst kind of disruption and it's always more painful over the holidays.

[INKJET]

Nobody died.....

A family member was caught up in the chaos, now flying from SOU to France tomorrow, yes refund from EZY no hassle, wonder how FR passengers are doing with always getting better?

Nicest story was the local farmer cum car park owner, picked them up after flight canx, no sorry can’t accept your money you’ve only been here for 4 hours ( you pay when you get back) hope you have a lovely Xmas and maybe you’ll book with us again next time, a true gent

As for the Embraer well it’s a cat2 aircraft,no auto land,no reverse thrust,no auto brakes and would be around 17t max at landing with 25 passengers.

With an aft C o G they can understeer rather easily in my experience, let’s see what the AAIB come up, yes xmas screwed up for a lot of folks but nothing like loss of a loved one, :mad: happens

[dboy]

I am very astonished what i read here. An inccident occured and the only thing i am reading is about the pax their holiday is ruined?

Some ppl really need to understand their place in life.

[snchater]

And people working in the commercial aviation industry need to remember that it is passengers who ultimately pay their wages.

[culzean12]

Some ppl really need to understand their place in life.

My apologies if my post upset you. It was certainly not my intention. Out.

[23c]

In reply to INKJET, this aircraft is ex HOP and does have thrust reversers, perhaps one failed to deploy correctly? That would help explain the AAIB interest.

[dboy]

@culzean

No problems mate. Was not specifically aiming you.

[Harry Wayfarers]

And I recall, I think, that Emerald's paved surface excursion in GCI was the final straw causing the CAA to pull their ticket.

[INKJET]

23c I know some airframes acquired from other airline had T/R fitted but for commonality they used to either wired shut or not permitted to be used, maybe this has changed?

If I recall the original order was placed without T/R fitted because of the problems that bmi had with the F100 which required a tail spar inspection if they were used in anger?

So the 145’s turned up and it was quickly discovered that removing the T/R units saved 125kgs a side this left the CoG so far forward that on the business hand baggage route they had to carry 220 - 330 KG’s of building site blocks, these stayed on 24/7 so with light loads if was often tail heavy.

I’m sure the AAIB will drill down quickly to what happened

[23c]

Thanks INKJET for the info, I knew there was a weight penalty with the thrust reversers but did not know about the ballast issue. As all the original UK registered E145's were delivered without thrust reversers I just speculated that this may be a factor in this incident.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

This wasn’t an incident. It was a crash on landing.

[tubby linton]

According to their twitter feed, BRS are experienckng problems again this evening, and the airfield is closed.

[Bristol_Traveller]

Runway lighting problems caused diversion of Tui inbound to BHX and the night KL arrival was cancelled.

Did the Emby trip over a lead on its way onto the grass?

[yeo valley]

Was there or is there any picyures of the emby on the grass.Seasons greetings to all on this thread.

[regularpassenger]

Link to Bristol Post Article (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/airplane-caused-cancellations-delays-arrival-971761)

[Harry Wayfarers]

Passenger pictures show airplane which skidded off runway at Bristol Airport and caused cancellations and delays to flights



They only speak American in Bristol?

[Ivor Fynn]

Jay,

He has in all probability done more than you. The information that WWW has posted is good and we may all do well to wait for the AAIB to complete their investigation, that said, in the private forums there is a little more information and what WWW has posted in all likely hood is correct.

[Heathrow Harry]

Well I expect a few passengers are swearing they'll never use the place again

[tubby linton]

The Ontario Teachers Pension Fund may have to spend some money on their asset.

[Mike Flynn]

Ivor Fynn

In which case I bow to his superior knowledge.

My experience goes back to the days of Robertsons Aviation who maintained my aircraft at Lulsgate in the 1980's.

WWW must have connections with my base at CWL or maybe Swansea in those days.

Whatever it is not good form to prejudge another pilots mishap.

[Pizza Express]

I would say he has probably done a couple of thousand more than I have maybe about 4000 or so would be my guess!

[crackling jet]

I agree, it also has a rail line running through, but you need to blame the residents of Chipping Sodbury who waged a vigorous campaign years ago, to prevent Filton obtaining planning permission for change of use to a civil airport. They knew the airport was there when they bought their houses etc. etc.

When Bristol city Council were looking to replace Whitchurch due to size constraints they approached The Bristol Aeroplane Company to relocate to Filton and were told that they could not mix a manufacturing plant with a commercial airport and refused Bristol City's request, that's why it went to Lulsgate.

I personally believe it should have gone to Weston Super Mare, plenty of space, but foggy at times.

[yeo valley]

There was talk years ago that the runway at Weston super mare would be used for mail and freight flights. They could have extended the runway at the northern end with no problems as it was open countryside. It could not be done now as a new road built right down the middle which the road not open yet, but a lot of building with houses and industry off of the runway.

[Deep and fast]

The bmi ballast barrows were the E135s.
There also could have been an issue with the nose wheel tiller, insufficient downward pressure and the nose wheel steering inop happens if turning the handle.
The reversers were fitted on a couple of leased machines but were neither trained for or use mandated as the brake wear was considered higher. Carbon brake wear more when cold and reverser use reduced warm up.

Either way, i will be interested to note the findings. The crew have been hammered on duty hours lately by all accounts...thanks to EASA:mad:

[MerchantVenturer]

TUI will be restarting Tunisia (Enfidha) from May this year from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. BRS will have a weekly Tuesday rotation commencing 1 May.

In summer 2018 TUI will have 2 x B 757, 2 x B 738 (+ 1 from 2017) based with 1 x B 788 part-based for four days each week. There is still a need for at least three non-based or third party aircraft to fulfil the remainder of the timetable.

Thomas Cook is adding a third based aircraft (an A 320 likely to be third party) to join its 2 x A321s and easyJet is introducing its customary annual additional based aircraft (the 15th), with a 16th needed for August according to the timetables.

From speaking with airport management at a recent master plan consultation drop-in event it seems that 2018 ought to see circa 8.7 million passengers. This will be a smaller increase (about 450,000) than the last three years that have seen annual passenger numbers rise from 6.3 million to over 8.2 million this year.

The management people to whom I spoke are adamant that there is no need for a runway extension and that it will not feature in the new master plan consultation. Only time will tell whether this turns out to be a wise decision.

[tubby linton]

The owners are probably wary after the runway extension at BHX which has proved to be problematic, and unnecessary.

[MerchantVenturer]

An easyJet A320 neo is currently operating out of BRS.

G-UZHC operated GLA-BRS yesterday afternoon having flown LGW-GLA and was swapped with a BRS 320 that had operated BRS-GLA.

The aircraft then operated BRS-CDG-BRS yesterday evening and BRS-AMS-BRS this morning. Currently it's on its way back from the Canaries operating BRS-TFS-BRS.

[Welshtraveller]

I am travelling on the Monday flight from Bristol to Madeira next month with Easyjet. I have checked in and been allocated seats 30D and 30E. On the Easyjet website the seat map shows these seats as not existing. I rang Easyjet and they said not to worry as they are using a larger aircraft but I am not convinced.

I read the A319 has 156 seats and the A320 has two versions with 180 seats and 186 seats. Looks like only the A320 186 seat version has 30D and 30E seating. Is this correct? Can I find out the exact aircraft type in advance? Don’t want to be denied boarding due to an over booked flight. Thanks for any help.

[marko1]

Could it be on the new a320neo that's been there this week ?

[Welshtraveller]

Thanks Marko1

[hoss183]

AAIB February bulletins are out, and no mention of the BMI accident investigation. There's obviously more to it than a simple excursion .

[EastMids]

Dave Less (MD at Southampton) to become the new CEO at Bristol according to a press release from AGS Airports.

[MerchantVenturer]

I think you might have made a typo. It's Dave Lees and he will take up his position on 1 August this year.

[Musket90]

David Lees I believe is ex BAA from years gone by as is Janis Kong, the interim CEO. Maybe they know each other from the past.

[Wycombe]

Fair to say this guy hasn't exactly set the world on fire at SOU (plenty of mostly negative opinion over on the SOU thread). General view seems to be that he has presided over years of under-investment and missed opportunities.

[MerchantVenturer]

Janis Kong is the chairman of Bristol Airport in normal times albeit she is standing in as interim CEO at present. Presumably she had some input in the search for a new CEO.

[MerchantVenturer]

CAA stats show that BRS handled 8,234,086 terminal passengers in the year, up 8.3% on 2016.

2018 is expected to see a smaller increase both in numbers and in percentage terms than recent years but should still take the airport well past 8.5 mppa.

Most of the growth will be concentrated on easyJet (15 based aircraft with a 16th for peak summer - was 14 in summer 2017); TUI (2 x B757s and 2 x B738s based - an increase of one B738 over summer 2017); Thomas Cook (2 x A321s and 1 x A320 based, an increase of 1 x A320 over summer 2017).

Ryanair has today announced a new route for next winter - Seville at 2 x weekly. They operated this route in summer 2010 and summer 2011. A few weeks ago easyJet also announced they would be flying to Seville at 2 x weekly from 2 June but their announcement spoke only of a summer route.

Even with the Airbus connection between Bristol and Seville two airlines on the route might be too much.

Ryanair also announced today that their Valencia route would continue through next winter at 2 x weekly. Previously it was summer-only and was in fact switched to Castellon in 2015 but returns to Valencia next month.

[fanrailuk]

Bristol (BRS) > Shannon (SNN) to return. Starts 17th May this year with Ryanair (FR) at twice weekly Monday & Thursday.

https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-launches-2-new-shannon-routes-to-bristol-liverpool/?market=ie

[cwlwatcher]

Shannon...another pointless service going to fail. its in the middle of nowhere just like Knock

[caaardiff]

Yet Knock continues to be operated 3x weekly during the summer.

[marko1]

And it has for many many years too. Shannon was one of bristols original Ryanair routes before we had a base. It was very popular and was only dropped following a dispute between Shannon and Ryanair. I'm sure it will be very successful.

[MerchantVenturer]

NOC-BRS has been operating every summer season since 2008 - some years 3 x weekly, others 4 x weekly.

Ryanair operated SNN-BRS from late 2005 until 2009 before ceasing it for the reasons Marko points out.

In its four full years of service from 2006 Ryanair's SNN-BRS carried 97,000, 97,000, 85,000 and 81,000 passengers respectively - courtesy of CAA stats. I imagine these passengers didn't consider the route to be pointless.

[Blakedean]

Shannon...another pointless service going to fail. its in the middle of nowhere just like Knock

Aren’t most airports in ‘the middle of nowhere’.

[cwlwatcher]

But that was 2006.....that was the celtic tiger. alot changes in 12 years. Ryanair shouldve utilized the aircraft to go to Frankfurt not some place in the back end of ireland with 10 flights a day

[AerRyan]

Was always a very successful route, culled by Aer Lingus back in 2015 when Ryanair forced them to close their base.

Shannon, by the way is basically Limerick City airport, just not by name (it's closer to Limerick than Aldergrove is to Belfast) and also very near Galway. I'm sure the reason for the begrudging is all in your username ;)

[Callum Paterson]

Shannon...another pointless service going to fail. its in the middle of nowhere just like Knock

You just described Cardiff's one and only long haul route.

[MerchantVenturer]

But that was 2006.....that was the celtic tiger. alot changes in 12 years. Ryanair shouldve utilized the aircraft to go to Frankfurt not some place in the back end of ireland with 10 flights a day

You mentioned Knock. BRS-NOC was a year-round route, initially at 4 x weekly then 3 x weekly, from the inception of FR's BRS base in the winter of 2007/2008. Prior to that the airline operated Dublin, Shannon and Girona from BRS using aircraft from other bases.

In summer 2011 BRS-NOC became a summer-only route as experience showed that there was insufficient demand in winter, and has remained summer-only ever since. The annual loads have been fairly consistent since 2011- see below. We don't know the yields of course but Ryanair has maintained the route for all this time. It has dropped some routes at BRS in the past with consistent monthly load factors of over 90%, so it can only be presumed the airline is happy with BRS-NOC.

These are the annual passenger figures from 2008 until 2017 in thousands:
41, 33, 30, 26, 29, 28, 22, 28, 29, 27.

In 2006 BRS-DUB handled 363,000 passengers. This dropped to a low of 268,000 in 2010 mainly because of the major recession, but since then has climbed steadily to just under 430,00 in 2017.

These figures suggest there has been no noticeable falling off in passenger demand between BRS and the Republic of Ireland since the days of the Celtic Tiger. It remains to be seen if BRS-SNN is the odd one out. History suggests it won't be but only time will tell of course.

Addendum

I forgot to mention BRS-ORK (Aer Lingus Regional in its various coats). In 2006 the Cork route handled just under 30,000 passengers but has climbed steadily ever since to reach over 43,000 in 2017. Further evidence to suggest that loads between Lulsgate and the Republic of Ireland have not been adversely affected by any diminishment of the Celtic Tiger. All above passenger stats courtesy of CAA.

[cwlwatcher]

You just described Cardiff's one and only long haul route.
Cardiff to Doha , Brigetown and montenegro bay have great potential

[cwlwatcher]

MerchantVenturer

ok but whats special about shannon, knock ect ect? nothing. even cardiff to cork has bad loads. these places are rubbish. bit like skegness

[Callum Paterson]

cwlwatcher

Of course they do. Just as Shannon would have great potential, had it been added from Cardiff and not Bristol?
The level of fantasy centred around CWL is laughable. If you keep telling yourself that CWL is a major long haul hub you might actually start to believe it.

While those of us living on planet earth can see Qatar are reducing Cardiff's one and only long haul route before it has ever started.

Ps, let us all know how you get on in Montenegro Bay. I've heard great things.

[cwlwatcher]

Cardiff has lots of potential for long haul route. your new yorks, bostons ect. look at shannon they have LOADS. ive had this argument before. (yes i am kind of anti irish) :d

[cwlwatcher]

Bristol to Reykavick failed...

[cwlwatcher]

But back to the original argument..frankfurt or munich wouldve been better for brs than snn

[Callum Paterson]

And as has been pointed out to you before, Shannon and Cardiff are two completely different markets. If you fail to accept that then it proves you are the delusional fantasist that that you appear to be.

Anyway, let's get back to discussing Bristol. Take the fantasy chat back to the CWL thread.

[Heathrow Harry]

Shannon may be in the middle of nowhere but you can pre-clear there for the USA - much faster than going to LHR or Brium and standing in a line for 2 hours on arrival stateside

[MerchantVenturer]

Bristol to Reykavick failed...
It failed with WOW but not with easyJet which continues to operate the route. WOW’s problem was was two fold:

First, they were competing with easyJet on point to point where there is probably not a big enough market for two airlines to Keflavik. easyJet was always likely to come out top on point to point because of its prominence in the UK.

Second, WOW's transatlantic connectivity via Keflavik was often found to be no cheaper than using EIR or KLM via DUB or AMS from BRS when all the add-ons were taken into account. Furthermore, they were particularly unreliable at BRS with many delays of up to eight hours or more leading to missed connections at KEF.

But back to the original argument..frankfurt or munich wouldve been better for brs than snn

It’s not as straightforward as that from the BRS perspective and certainly not from the point of view of many passengers. bmi regional operates BRS-FRA 3 x daily and BRS-MUC 2 x daily. Both routes are Lufthansa code shares and are well patronised.

If Ryanair began a BRS-FRA or BRS-MUC route (Ryanair only operates from Dublin to Munich so a BRS route would be highly unlikely) or both, they might not even be daily and would only be point to point. It would undoubtedly affect bmir's routes to these German cities from BRS as the point to point element would almost certainly be reduced. This might lead to a reduction of the bmir schedule or at worst the axing of the route or routes.

As I mentioned in an earlier post the DUB, ORK and NOC routes are well used from BRS and there is no reason to believe that SNN will not enjoy similar patronage. You might not think the provincial Irish routes are worth much and of course you are entitled to that opinion. Clearly it’s not shared by the airlines or the many passengers or they would not be using these services.

[marko1]

So far new routes this year include Shannon , cologne , Gothenburg , genoa , Valencia , seville , enfidha ,Hurghada and punta Cana with Montego Bay for April next year plus extra flights from to the likes of Bilbao , Malaga , nice , Pisa , Copenhagen and many more. Not bad is it ?

[Standard Noise]

Shannon................its in the middle of nowhere......

And therein lies the rub, it's miles away from the nonsense of modern life. Lovely part of the world.

[canberra97]

Cardiff to Doha , Brigetown and montenegro bay have great potential

I'm assuming you meant MONTEGO BAY in Jamaica rather than MONTENEGRO BAY as in the country which hasn't a bay of that name.

I think that Cancun would probably work better from Cardiff than MONTEGO BAY which has seen a decline in bookings over the last year and especially regarding the recent events shown on TV with troops on the streets of MONTEGO Bay, the reputation of Jamaica being a relaxing and prestigious long haul destination is slowly diminishing as their are other countries offering the same but in a more safer environment.

[Severn]

New scheduled routes from BRS for Winter 17 onwards

Cologne - 4x weekly, RYR - Started November 17
Stockholm - 2x weekly, EZY - Started November 17
Athens - 2x weekly, EZY - Started November 17

Gothenburg - 2x weekly, BMR - Started January 18

Shannon - 2x weekly, RYR - Starts May 18
Genoa - 2x weekly, EZY - Starts June 18
Seville - 2x weekly, EZY - Starts June 18

Seville - 2x weekly, RYR - Starts November 18


New regular charter flights from BRS for Winter 17 onwards

Hurghada - 1x weekly, TUI - Starts March 18 (Will also be new route for TCX)
Punta Cana - 1x weekly, TUI - Starts April 18 (New Route for BRS)

Burgas - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (Currently served by BH Air and TUI)
Enfidha - 1x weekly, TUI - Starts May 18 (New route this year)
Girona - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (Currently served by Ryanair and TUI)
Hurghada - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (Will also be new route for TUI)
Kos - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (Currently served by TUI)
Paphos - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (Currently served by easyJet and TUI)
Preveza - 1x weekly, TCX - Starts May 18 (New Route for BRS)
Skiathos - 1x weekly, TUI - Starts May 18 (Currently served by TCX)
Verona - 1x weekly, TUI (operated by NEOS) - Starts May 18 (New route this year)

Marrakesh - 1x weekly, TUI - Starts November 18 (New route this year)
Keflavik - 2x weekly, TUI - Starts November 18 (Currently served by EZY)

[MerchantVenturer]

Thanks for the list, Severn. Having said that WOW had pulled out of Keflavik partly because there was not enough room for two point to point airlines on the route I'd forgotten that TUI is to start its own service next winter. Presumably easyJet will continue next winter too.

[cwlwatcher]

SNN is a resumption and Seville isnt even bookable, not huge tbh

[MerchantVenturer]

Seville is bookable with easyJet. It's not bookable with Ryanair yet because it doesn't begin until the winter and nothing from BRS is bookable yet for that season. Ryanair's TFS route from CWL is not yet bookable for next winter either.

[bycrewlgw]

Sevilla is bookable just done some random dates in July.

[cwlwatcher]

Shannon axed from october knock going year around

[AerRyan]

I'm sure it's been axed a week after it's been announced ;)

It's seasonal.

[marko1]

Yes Shannon is released as a summer route. Knock returns as a year round service.

[Blakedean]

Cardiff has lots of potential for long haul route. your new yorks, bostons ect. look at shannon they have LOADS. ive had this argument before. (yes i am kind of anti irish) :d

Are you still in school with that childish attitude or just ignorant with your lack of knowledge about the west of Ireland & it’s inbound US tourism? & hard luck at the weekend, you tried hard but ultimately weren’t good enough ;)

[MerchantVenturer]

Yet to be officially announced but the Ryanair booking engine shows four new routes for next winter:

Limoges 2 x weekly - has been summer only for much of the past decade
Valencia 2 x weekly - previously summer only and was switched to Castellon in 2015, but returns to Valencia for summer 2018
Seville 2 x weekly - new route, previously operated in summer 2010 and 2011
Knock 3 x weekly - was year-round until 2011 but summer-only since then

In addition Alicante increases from 5 x weekly in winter 17/18 to 6 x weekly and Venice MP increases from 4 x weekly in winter 17/18 to daily (if easyJet maintains its Venice MP schedule of winter 17/18 there will be 14 flights per week across both airlines in winter 18/19 which might be a touch ambitious).

On the debit side Arrecife reduces to 3 x weekly in winter 18/19 from 4 x weekly in winter 17/18.

The above addtions are all bookable for winter 18/19 except Limoges and Valencia that currently show booking availability only until 17 December.

If all of the above is confirmed winter 18/19 will see 24 routes and 88 weekly rotations.This would be a continuation of Ryanair's winter growth at BRS over recent years with winter 15/16 operating 15 routes and 55 weekly rotations; winter 16/17 19 routes and 69 weekly rotations; winter 17/18 20 routes and 76 weekly rotations.

The summer offering has seen very modest growth over the same period in terms of the number of flights, with one or two routes disappearing to be replaced by others.

[canberra97]

Are you still in school with that childish attitude or just ignorant with your lack of knowledge about the west of Ireland & it’s inbound US tourism? & hard luck at the weekend, you tried hard but ultimately weren’t good enough ;)

My feelings exactly after previously reading his post!

Some posters really show their immaturity don't they :-)

[MerchantVenturer]

52 of the airport's scheduled 79 departures today were cancelled and 53 of the 79 arrivals were also cancelled (Thursday).

Nothing departed after about 1400 following airlines' operational decisions but inbounds continued to land until around 1800. A TUI B757 from Arrecife due in at 1845 diverted to MAN after circing overhead BRS for about 40 minutes.

Of tomorrow's 85 scheduled departures 34 have already been cancelled.

[MerchantVenturer]

The BRS runway re-opened around 1200 today (Friday). However, most of today's 85 departures and 85 arrivals have been cancelled by the airlines as a precautiionary measure.

A few have operated or are not yet shown as cancelled:

Ryanair from to Cologne and Alicante operating - both inbounds already arrived
Thomas Cook to Tenerife operating - has departed
TUI to Tenerife showing 'checkin'
bmi regional to Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Brussels and Aberdeen showing 'checkin' (these are the afternoon departures; the earlier rotations on these routes and other bmi regional routes were cancelled)
Blue Islands/Flybe to Jersey showing 'checkin'

Surrounding roads are still difficult and all bus services to and from the airport have been taken off the road by their operators because of road conditions.

Addendum

bmi regional flights to FRA, MUC and DUS now cancelled as is the Blue Islands/Flybe flight to JER. The TUI to TFS is showing 'final boarding' so it looks as though it will operate.

[callum3242]

Great job by the airport for keeping the runway open to allow the flights which are operating to operate safely.

Some airports are closed until 6am tomorrow at the earliest.

[MerchantVenturer]

BRS was not amongst the first group of airports in the CAA's January stats so still awaiting those.

The airport's own figures show that 480,231 terminal passengers used the airport in January, up 2.8% on its own figures for January 2017. The airport doesn't provide rolling 12-month totals based on its own figures.

However, for some reason BRS does not include all passengers in its monthly and annual figures - under 2s are one example - with the result that its monthly and annual passnger numbers are less than the CAA's, even though the CAA gets its own figures from the airport. I've asked BRS more than once in the past why they do this but have never received a logical answer - not logical to me anyway. Cynics might suggest it would mean their current 10 mppa passenger cap is that bit further away but I don't think that's the reason.

The airport's stats page carries this note: Due to differences in the way some flights are recorded, Bristol Airport figures may contain small variances when compared to those reported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Depends what is meant by small. In 2017 the CAA recorded the airport handling 8.234 million terminal passengers whilst BRS made it 8.137 million (97,000 fewer).

Based on a 2.8% rise on the CAA stats for January 2017 they would show around 487,000 terminal passengers for January 2018 with a rolling 12-month total of 8.247 million.

[Jersey32D]

Having a look at the seat bookings on ryanairs news routes. valencia starting at the end of the month only 36 seats taken, shannon starting in may only 9 seats reserved

That just indicates the number of pax who've chosen advanced seat selection. Not booked totals.

[Severn]

so bristol airport fiddling with statistics? scandalous

What ARE you on about?

MerchantVenturer very clearly stated that because BRS don't count passengers under 2 years old, their numbers are therefore FEWER than the CAAs figures.... How have you therefore decided that this means BRS is fiddling the numbers...?!

Can you just head back to the Cardiff thread please?

[yeo valley]

so bristol airport fiddling with statistics? scandalous

I'm sure the mods don't want comments that you have just posted. I hope you have proof in what you say ,if no proof then why say things like you have written. I' do hope the mods keep a good eye on what you write in youre posts and do the correct thing in banning you from posting in these forums. with slander comments against who ever has landed the poster in court and cost them lots of money. So be carefull what you write in future,i would suggest you stay on the cwl thread ,perhaps that way you will keep yr posts less slanderous.

[LGS6753]

I wonder how accurately airports account for passengers/crew of executive aircraft. And what about flying clubs - I'm sure they don't indicate for every departure/arrival whether there are 1,2 or 3 persons on board.

[MerchantVenturer]

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2018/3/bmi-expands-its-bristol-paris-service

bmi is to increase its BRS-CDG route to 3 x daily Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from May.

easyJet has not increased its once daily service on the route for a number of years despite regularly selling out, so perhaps an opportune time for bmi.

[LGS6753]

Slot allocations for S18 now published by ACL:

https://www.acl-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Start-of-Season-Report-BRS-S18.pdf

[BHX5DME]

Bristol seats for S18

1. easyjet = 3,661,182 (up 337,620 on S17)
2. Ryanair = 1,423,926 (up 32,458 on S17)
3. Tui = 648,804 (up 143,452 on S17)
4. Thomas Cook = 427,440 (up 101,520 on S17)
5. BMIR = 224,674 (up 28,892 on S17)
6. KLM = 166,776 (down 4,928 on S17)
7. Aer Lingus = 125,568 (down 8,006 on S17)
8. Eastern = 43,400 (down 116 on S17)
9. FlyBe = 33,456 (up 4,644 on S17)
10. Auringey = 31,248 (up 2,736 on S17)

Total 6,887,325 (up 494,159 on S17)

Decent % increase for Bristol in 2018

[andrew1968]

TUI UK have to today announced further expansion at BRS for Summer 2019

Highlights:-
Longhaul - Cancun becomes twice weekly.
Short/Mid Haul - Marrakech becomes year round, Halkidiki returns, extra frequencies to Antalya and Kefalonia.
Also additional cruise flight to Naples

Longhaul for Summer 19 will be as follows:
Cancun - Twice Weekly
Orlando - Once Weekly
Punta Cana - Once Weekly
The above requires a based 787 4 days a week, should Cape Verde remain a 787 route as per Summer 18, then a 787 will need to be based 5 days a week.

[andrew1968]

CAA Stats for February 2018 published......

Feb Pax 517,201 up 5.6%

Rolling 12 months Pax 8,274,458 up 7.2%

Feb Atm 4,246 up 2.9%

Rolling 12 months Atm's 64,016 up 3.3%

http://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/...t_data_2018_02/Airport_Statistics_Summary.pdf

[crackling jet]

Swiss air disaster 45 years today, Invicta vanguard G-AXOP BRS-BSL.


God Bless em all

[airworld]

CUN Twice a week! Tech stop MAN Twice a week! PAX unaware Twice a week !!!!!!!
TUI UK have to today announced further expansion at BRS for Summer 2019

Highlights:-
Longhaul - Cancun becomes twice weekly.
Short/Mid Haul - Marrakech becomes year round, Halkidiki returns, extra frequencies to Antalya and Kefalonia.
Also additional cruise flight to Naples

Longhaul for Summer 19 will be as follows:
Cancun - Twice Weekly
Orlando - Once Weekly
Punta Cana - Once Weekly
The above requires a based 787 4 days a week, should Cape Verde remain a 787 route as per Summer 18, then a 787 will need to be based 5 days a week.

[marko1]

CUN Twice a week! Tech stop MAN Twice a week! PAX unaware Twice a week !!!!!!!

And where do u get that information from ? As far as I am aware a technical stop was only required 3 or 4 times last summer due to weather conditions. The cancun service is scheduled as non stop twice a week.

[caaardiff]

CUN Twice a week! Tech stop MAN Twice a week! PAX unaware Twice a week !!!!!!!

It's not planned to go via MAN so pax wouldn't be aware until the figures are calculated prior to take off. The weather conditions either at BRS or en route is usually the deciding factor. Unfortunate, but not that common.

[MerchantVenturer]

easyJet is continuing its winter expansion at BRS of recent years (Bordeaux and Bilbao became year-round from last winter) with both Catania and Naples extended into the winter season for the first time, both at 2 x weekly. Seville which begins in June at 2 x weekly will operate through the winter at 3 x weekly with Nice also operating right through the winter instead of taking its mid-season break. Prague is increased to daily in November and December, 5 x weekly in January. easyJet is yet to release February and March timetable.

The remainder of the schedule seems broadly similar to last winter, albeit a few routes do have additional weekly rotations.

Seville will be up against Ryanair’s new route that starts this winter at 2 x weekly and easyJet will operate Venice at 4 x weekly again but increased to 5/6 x weekly for most of December and early January against Ryanair’s daily Venice (in summer 2018 easyJet operates daily to Venice for most of the season with Ryanair 4 x weekly).

I posted the apparent Ryanair winter 18/19 programme per the booking engine some weeks ago, although as far as I know it is yet to be announced officially. As with easyJet, Ryanair has been significantly increasing its winter offering at BRS in recent years.

[shamrock7seal]

Is there really enough demand to warrant such huge capacity at BRS? It seems relentless - where is BRS’s saturation point? At this rate they will be overtaking BHX!

I’d like to see better global connections from BRS like Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, Emirates to Dubai (787-8 or 9 has no issue with BRS runway length as far as I know) becasue further expansion into European sun and city routes seems overkill.

There can hardly be any short haul leakage to London airports anymore from the BRS catchment

[PDXCWL45]

Is there really enough demand to warrant such huge capacity at BRS? It seems relentless - where is BRS’s saturation point? At this rate they will be overtaking BHX!

I’d like to see better global connections from BRS like Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, Emirates to Dubai (787-8 or 9 has no issue with BRS runway length as far as I know) becasue further expansion into European sun and city routes seems overkill.

There can hardly be any short haul leakage to London airports anymore from the BRS catchment

Easyjet must feel there is as they continue to expand and Easyjet aren't exactly a reckless airline. Emirates don't have the aircraft to operate from Bristol and Etihad are cutting routes with Qatar in the area can't see either being interested. Turkish is an interesting one but surely if they were going to operate from Bristol they'd have started by now?
Bristols long haul hopes lies with TUI.

[bycrewlgw]

Easyjet must feel there is as they continue to expand and Easyjet aren't exactly a reckless airline. Emirates don't have the aircraft to operate from Bristol and Etihad are cutting routes with Qatar in the area can't see either being interested. Turkish is an interesting one but surely if they were going to operate from Bristol they'd have started by now?
Bristols long haul hopes lies with TUI.

Will EK be able to use the 787-10 at BRS even with a reduced load? Not sure if they’d want to dilute BHX and LHR though. Interesting though that EK don’t offer connections to BrS like they do to CWL via GLA

[caaardiff]

Will EK be able to use the 787-10 at BRS even with a reduced load? Not sure if they’d want to dilute BHX and LHR though. Interesting though that EK don’t offer connections to BrS like they do to CWL via GLA

The 787-100 is 38ft longer than the -800, but with the same wingspan. So on the ground shouldn't be an issue. Apparently EK's will seat between 240-330 passengers, where TUI's -800's seat 300.
I guess it's all dependant on weight and performance. Bearing in mind EK would probably want some kind of cargo operation.

There aren't many flights EK could codeshare on at BRS. They don't tend to tie up with KL/AF, which only leaves BM and EI as a scheduled carrier as FR, EZY etc don't do codeshares.

[PDXCWL45]

Will EK be able to use the 787-10 at BRS even with a reduced load? Not sure if they’d want to dilute BHX and LHR though. Interesting though that EK don’t offer connections to BrS like they do to CWL via GLA
I doubt they can i think BRS can handle the 787 9 and thats the biggest it can handle. I'm sure someone would know more than me though.
The lack of connections may be because the main airline is Easyjet and not one like Flybe or BMI.

[marko1]

I believe there is still significant leakage from Bristol to the london airports for short haul and there is clearly many more destinations that can be served. Who would have thought 10 years ago that brs would have 4 weekly Basel service or 5 weekly Lisbon ? There clearly is demand and probably the question now is the choice of flight time , airline and airfare now. As for long haul scheduled I doubt it's a high priority now that Cardiff has Qatar plus the decision not to plan a runway extension probably makes the above discussion all a bit academic .

[SWBKCB]

aren't EK putting first class suites in the 787-10's? If so, doubt they'd be used to open new routes.

[tpm]

Increased frequencies to European destinations is exactly what is needed in my opinion. Many cities are served only 2 times a week, that's not good enough for business travel really.

[marko1]

Increased frequencies to European destinations is exactly what is needed in my opinion. Many cities are served only 2 times a week, that's not good enough for business travel really.

The question is though is with who ? Air France , Swiss and sas have all been , tried then left again . So really we have to work with who we have already and encourage them to keep growing. I think bmi could be doing a lot more in my opinion and I think easyJet will boost frequencies going forward rather than add a lot more new routes.

[ATNotts]

Is there really enough demand to warrant such huge capacity at BRS? It seems relentless - where is BRS’s saturation point? At this rate they will be overtaking BHX!

If I recall correctly Bristol and it's catchment area is rather more affluent, if a deal smaller population wise than BHX, so the growth and some of the destinations it has are perhaps not so surprising.

It is a crying shame that the location of Bristol's airport makes it hard to get to by road and rail, if it was better located (say at Filton) then I think it would be getting very close to catching and overtaking BHX, and also attracting more full service airlines catering for the business traveler.

BHX should be eternally thankful for those politicians that ensure BRS is where it is.

[Rutan16]

TPM totally agreed.

A dozen more 738 or 32x weekly movements across the European Mediterranean North Africa and those Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic Islands will generate more revenue in the shops carparks and indeed in airport fees paid than a daily 788 to anywhere.

And that doesn’t even need any more based aircraft.

This fascination with long haul routes by media, politicians and some enthusiasts alike completely missed the point that aviation is about making money and not fantasy distant and perhaps glamorous destinations on some departure board.

Bristol is doing remarkably well at the moment and fortifying indeed expanding the range of short haul routes is a priority of the business imho.

As for legacies well remember they are typically looking at 30 to 40 % transfer traffic over their hubs, whilst the flexible fares carriers model busts that with far more point to point routes to places people and particularly tourists actually want to go to.

Again concentrating focus on this flexible fares carriers bring with it real choice and depth rather than three flights to Paris a day taking away the potential revenue.

Like it or not I am afraid a significant section of Bristol’s potential catchment to the east of the city region in particular, can be driven away with extreme ease to Heathrow and Gatwick being just a few hours away and leisure travellers are fickle when those so called deals offered via the consolidators today are on the table.

Peoples buying profiles have changed beyond belief these days, customers might look at Easy or Ryan’s web sites, and the likes of Trivago Expedia and then just possibly the legacies.

Of course British Airways branding remains robust but leads you to where again- Slough Maidenhead and Splethorne regional !

[Welshtraveller]

Is the Ryanair flight to Seville operating in April 19? Flights are out until 29/3/19.


If the flight is operating in April when will they release the flights?


Thanks.

[Fly757X]

Is the Ryanair flight to Seville operating in April 19? Flights are out until 29/3/19.


If the flight is operating in April when will they release the flights?


Thanks.

Ryanair tend to release their flights in the last month of the preceding summer season. So around late September to mid October would be when they're released.

[Welshtraveller]

Thanks Fly757X. Do you know if the Ryanair Seville flight is going to operate in April?


Thanks.

[snn20]

Anyone know how the shannon bookings are doing? Thanks

[Fly757X]

Thanks Fly757X. Do you know if the Ryanair Seville flight is going to operate in April?


Thanks.

Not a clue sorry. Not from around those parts but I would assume so. :ok:

[MerchantVenturer]

I guess it might depend how they battle out Seville with easyJet that is also operating through next winter. In fact, easyJet begins its Seville in June but its summer 19 schedules (ie end of March onwards) won't be out for a few months either.

[MerchantVenturer]

Is there really enough demand to warrant such huge capacity at BRS? It seems relentless - where is BRS’s saturation point? At this rate they will be overtaking BHX!

There can hardly be any short haul leakage to London airports anymore from the BRS catchment

The airport is currently consulting publicly as it prepares its new master plan to take the airport into the 2030s and 2040s.

The airport projects between 15 and 20 mppa by the 2040s, 12 mppa as early as 2025. It recognises that this will not be possible within the current physical boundaries which means there would have to be some form of dilution of the surrounding Green Belt to allow the physical size of the airport to grow. There will be environmental and other protests but in 2007 the airport managed to have part of the airport site taken out of the Green Belt and placed in a Green Belt Inset so there is already some sort of precedent. Before that though it must persuade the local authority to either abolish or raise the current 10 mppa limit which is part of its planning consents.

https://www.bristolairportfuture.com/planning-for-the-future

https://www.bristolairportfuture.com/design-considerations

The last CAA passenger survey (2016) shows that 3.246 million passengers with origin or final destination in the South West used LHR, 6.8% of that airport’s passenger numbers, with the figures for Gatwick being 2.474 million, 6.4%. Only the South East and the East of England had more at both LHR and LGW.

No doubt many of these passengers were long haul but the BRS management believes there is still a large number of short haul South West passengers using the main London airports that could be captured.

https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CAA/Content/Standard_Content/Data_and_analysis/Datasets/Passenger_survey/CAA%20Passenger%20Survey%20Report%202016.pdf

If I recall correctly Bristol and it's catchment area is rather more affluent, if a deal smaller population wise than BHX, so the growth and some of the destinations it has are perhaps not so surprising.

It is a crying shame that the location of Bristol's airport makes it hard to get to by road and rail, if it was better located (say at Filton) then I think it would be getting very close to catching and overtaking BHX, and also attracting more full service airlines catering for the business traveler.

BHX should be eternally thankful for those politicians that ensure BRS is where it is.
The Bristol region is an extremely affluent area but it also has within it some of the most deprived wards in the country. Bristol is also well placed at a national motorway and rail ‘crossroads’, with the position of its airport roughly midway between South Wales and the further South West of England, all of which provides a critical mass that allows the economy of scale that has attracted the relatively few airlines that serve the airport.

Only last year the previous CEO (the new one will not take up post until later this year) said publicly that the airport’s preferred method of growth is with existing airlines, which really means easyJet, Ryanair, TUI and Thomas Cook, with KLM, Aer Lingus Regional and bmi regional through its LH and SN links feeding the hubs. The airport would not overlay capacity on top of existing capacity for the sake of it; there had to be a ‘demonstrable need’ that didn’t create an environment where existing carriers found they didn’t have a sustainable business model.

TPM totally agreed.
A dozen more 738 or 32x weekly movements across the European Mediterranean North Africa and those Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic Islands will generate more revenue in the shops carparks and indeed in airport fees paid than a daily 788 to anywhere.

And that doesn’t even need any more based aircraft.

This fascination with long haul routes by media, politicians and some enthusiasts alike completely missed the point that aviation is about making money and not fantasy distant and perhaps glamorous destinations on some departure board.

Bristol is doing remarkably well at the moment and fortifying indeed expanding the range of short haul routes is a priority of the business imho.

As for legacies well remember they are typically looking at 30 to 40 % transfer traffic over their hubs, whilst the flexible fares carriers model busts that with far more point to point routes to places people and particularly tourists actually want to go to.

Again concentrating focus on this flexible fares carriers bring with it real choice and depth rather than three flights to Paris a day taking away the potential revenue.

Like it or not I am afraid a significant section of Bristol’s potential catchment to the east of the city region in particular, can be driven away with extreme ease to Heathrow and Gatwick being just a few hours away and leisure travellers are fickle when those so called deals offered via the consolidators today are on the table.


BRS will always be primarily a short haul airport, not least because of the limitations of its runway which, as has already been pointed out, is not being considered for an extension in the new master plan consultation. On another aviation website my alter ego made your point about extra short haul flights generating more ancillary airport revenue than one long haul flight which aids airport company directors to fulfil their primary duty which is to serve their shareholders.

BRS’s current master plan published in 2006 accepts that there was limited demand for direct long haul flights from the catchment - four routes were suggested then; one to the ME and the others to the USA - but that long haul charter routes might find a more receptive clientele, and this is how it is turning out. With the ‘no runway extension’ decision still holding sway it must be presumed that the airport believes the situation has not changed much.

Qatar was probably the only realistic option for a ME3 carrier, given that its B787-8s ought to have had no problem using the current BRS runway to Doha, but for whatever reason (and there are persistent rumours that the decision not to use the airport was not wholly commercially based) they chose not to.

My long haul flying days as a passenger are largely over (flying for me has lost much of its lustre anyway), but my wife and I do fly to Australia every year to visit close family there. I thought that the Qatar service from CWL would save me using the London airports. However, the timings, days of operation and one or two other matters were not ideally suited to us and the specialist long haul travel specialist that we use came up with a too-good-to-refuse-deal to Oz from Heathrow with our usual carrier, Emirates.

Had Qatar been operating instead from BRS, our closest airport, on the same basis as it’s operating from CWL, our decision would have been the same which reinforces your point about the relative ease of reaching LHR from much of the BRS catchment, especially when it comes to long haul. I’d think twice about going to LHR for short haul but clearly many people from the South West still do.

[bravoromeosierra]

https://s9.postimg.cc/8ubnjhihr/21_F45155-_A0_BB-446_B-_B214-2_A2345_A89_F6_E.jpg

For those that haven’t been up to BRS for a while, the new multi-story carpark is taking shape. Took me by surprise!

Despite the valid points made above, as we head into the upcoming weekend I’m sure there’ll be some (myself included) who look over the channel and feel a little envy at Cardiff’s newest customer. All we can do is wish them luck, you never know... dodgy weather might bring them this side of the channel one day... Although predictably it’d probably be to BHX!

[MerchantVenturer]

There always seems to be something new being built at BRS. It's been like that for 20 years and there is more to come. Currently, the latest aircraft stand is also nearing completion and a large buiding is taking shape on the South Side which I understand is the new fire station.

On another topic, easyJet announced the remainder of its winter 18/19 schedules this week. The network will remain as I posted at #221 in this thread with the addition of Venice being increased to daily in February and March which will compete with Ryanair's daily service, and Madrid will operate 8 x weekly in February and March - double daily on Thursdays which will also be the case on a number of Thursdays in December.

[nonemmet]

Construction of the multi story car park has been cut fine:


3. The car park hereby approved shall only be used between 1st May and 31st October in any year and at no other times. Reason: Very Special Circumstances have been provided to justify development in the Green Belt and that the need for this car park only arises during peak seasonal demands. It is therefore appropriate to reduce its impact at other times in accordance with Policies CS5 and CS6 of the Core Strategy and Policies DM10 and DM12 of the Sites and Policies Plan Part 1.

4. Notwithstanding the requirements of condition 3 the use of the car park hereby approved shall cease from 31st October 2017 unless Multi-Storey Car Parking comprising 984 spaces has been constructed and the 984 car parking spaces are made available for use in accordance with plans and details to have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Reason: Development of Green Belt car parking shall be commensurate with the development of other airport car parking not in the Green Belt in accordance with policy CS6 of the Core Strategy and DM12 of the Sites and Policies Plan.

[MerchantVenturer]

The original planning consents called for the MSCP to be completed before the extension to the Silver Zone surface car park could be put in place. However, the airport, conscious that summer 2017 was going to be very busy and the MSCP would not be finished (not even started), persuaded the local authority to allow the Silver Zone extension to be built first, and it opened for summer 2017, but with the conditions you have highlighted above.

[MerchantVenturer]

There is a post today in another airport forum on PPRuNe where a poster expressed the view that BRS is mainly a sun routes airport. Like most small regional airports it has its fair share but there is also a decent spread of non-sun routes, some to important business centres. BRS serves 15 European capital cities plus Edinburgh and Belfast in the UK. A press release issued last year asserted that over two million of easyJet's customers at BRS are business travellers.

BRS relies heavily on easyJet (especially) and Ryanair for its scheduled service programme and between them they account for nearly three-quarters of the airport's eight million annual passenger total. Some of the short-haul business-type routes could do with increased frequency from a passenger's perspective. The airport said recently that it is speaking with airlines with a view to 'increasing flexibility for business passengers'. easyJet has been increasing frequency on some routes in recent years including operating more and more year-round.

The airport lacks long-haul direct scheduled connectivity but does feed into hubs at Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Dublin and Brussels. Given its limited runway, lack of freight facilities and the presence of LHR not a million miles away the absence of scheduled long-haul might not be rectified for quite a while.

Recently my alter ego on another aviation website compiled the BRS summer programme for 2018 which I have copied below.

Austria
Vienna: easyJet (2 x weekly);
Innsbruck: Flybe (1 x weekly)

Balearic Islands
Ibiza: easyJet (4 x weekly); TUI Air (4 x weekly); Ryanair (3 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly); British Airways CityFlyer (1 x weekly)
Mahon: easyJet (4 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly)
Palma: easyJet (17 x weekly, up to 3 x daily); Ryanair (10 x weekly, up to 2 x daily); TUI Air (5 x weekly, up to 2 x daily); Thomas Cook Air (3 x weekly); British Airways CityFlyer (1 x weekly)

Belgium
Brussels: bmi regional (17 x weekly, up to 3 x daily)

Bulgaria
Burgas: TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly); BH Air (1 x weekly)

Canary Islands
Fuerteventura: easyJet (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Gran Canaria: Ryanair (2 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Lanzarote: Ryanair (3 x weekly); easyJet (2 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly)
Tenerife: easyJet (4 x weekly); Ryanair (3 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly)

Cape Verde
Sal: TUI Air (1 x weekly)

Croatia
Dubrovnik: easyJet (2 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly)
Pula: easyJet (2 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly)
Split: easyJet (5 x weekly)

Cyprus
Larnaca: TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly)
Paphos: easyJet (3 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)

Czech Republic
Prague: easyJet (6 x weekly)

Denmark
Copenhagen: easyJet (4 x weekly)

Dominican Republic
Punta Cana: TUI (1 x weekly)

Egypt
Hurghada: TUI Air (1 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)

France
Bergerac: Ryanair (2 x weekly)
Beziers: Ryanair (3 x weekly)
Bordeaux: easyJet (5 x weekly)
La Rochelle: easyJet (2x weekly)
Limoges: Ryanair (2 x weekly)
Marseille: easyJet (3 x weekly)
Nantes: easyJet (3 x weekly)
Nice: easyJet (10 x weekly, up to 2 x daily)
Paris CDG: bmi regional (14 x weekly, up to 3 x daily); easyJet (7 x weekly)
Toulouse: easyJet (7 x weekly)

Germany
Berlin Schoenfeld: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Cologne: Ryanair (4 x weekly)
Dusseldorf: bmi regional (6 x weekly)
Frankfurt: bmi regional (18 x weekly, up to 3 x daily)
Hamburg: bmi regional (6 x weekly)
Munich: bmi regional (13 x weekly, up to 2 x daily)

Greece
Athens: easyJet (2 x weekly)
Corfu: easyJet (3 x weekly); TUI Air (3 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (2 x weekly)
Crete-Heraklion: easyJet (2 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Crete-Chania: Ryanair (2 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Kefalonia: easyJet (2 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Kos: TUI Air (2 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Preveza: Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Rhodes: TUI Air (3 x weekly, up to 2 x daily); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Santorini: TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Skiathos: TUI Air (1 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Zakynthos: Thomas Cook Air (4 x weekly); TUI Air (3 x weekly); easyJet (1 x weekly)

Gibraltar
Gibraltar: easyJet (3 x weekly)

Hungary
Budapest: Ryanair (3 x weekly)

Italy
Bologna: Ryanair (2 x weekly)
Catania: easyJet (2 x weekly)
Florence: British Airways CityFlyer (1 x weekly)
Genoa: easyJet (2 x weekly)
Milan Bergamo: Ryanair (3 x weekly)
Milan Malpensa: bmi regional (2 x weekly)
Naples: easyJet (3 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly)
Pisa: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Rome Fiumicino: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Venice Marco Polo: easyJet (7 x weekly); Ryanair (4 x weekly)
Verona: TUI Air (1 x weekly)

Lithuania
Kaunas: Ryanair (3 x weekly)

Madeira
Funchal: easyJet (2 x weekly)

Malta
Malta: Ryanair (3 x weekly); Air Malta (1 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)

Mexico
Cancun: TUI Air (1 x weekly)

Netherlands
Amsterdam: KLM Cityhopper (28 x weekly, 4 x daily); easyJet (12 x weekly, up to 2 x daily)

Poland
Gdansk: Ryanair (3 x weekly)
Katowice: Wizz Air (3 x weekly)
Krakow: easyJet (4 x weekly); Ryanair (3x weekly)
Poznan: Ryanair (2 x weekly)
Rzeszow: Ryanair (2 x weekly)
Warsaw Modlin: Ryanair (4 x weekly)
Wroclaw: Ryanair (2 x weekly)

Portugal
Faro: easyJet (16 weekly, up to 3 x daily); Ryanair (7 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Lisbon: easyJet (5 x weekly)
Porto: easyJet (3 x weekly)

Romania
Bucharest: Ryanair (2 x weekly)

Sardinia
Olbia: easyJet (3 x weekly); bmi regional (1 x weekly)

Spain Mainland
Alicante: easyJet (14 x weekly, 2 x daily); Ryanair (10 x weekly, up to 2 x daily); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Almeria: Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Barcelona: easyJet (14 x weekly, 2 x daily)
Bilbao: easyJet (3 x weekly)
Girona: Ryanair (5 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly); Thomas Cook Air (1 x weekly)
Madrid: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Malaga: easyJet (16 x weekly, up to 3 x daily); Ryanair (8 x weekly, up to 2 x daily); TUI Air (2 x weekly); British Airways CityFlyer (2 x weekly)
Murcia: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Reus: Ryanair (1 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Seville: easyJet (2 x weekly)
Valencia: Ryanair (2 x weekly)

Sweden
Gothenburg: bmi regional (2 x weekly)
Stockholm Arlanda: easyJet (2 x weekly)

Switzerland
Geneva: easyJet (10 x weekly, up to 2 x daily)
Basel: easyJet (4 x weekly)

Tunisia
Enfidha: TUI Air (1 x weekly)

Turkey
Antalya: Thomas Cook Air (5 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Bodrum: easyJet (3 x weekly); TUI Air (1 x weekly)
Dalaman: Thomas Cook Air (6 x weekly); easyJet (3 x weekly); TUI Air (2 x weekly)

USA
Orlando Sanford: TUI Air (1 x weekly)

UK and Republic of Ireland
Newcastle: easyJet (14 x weekly, up to 3 x daily)
Isle of Man: easyJet (2 x weekly)
Guernsey: Aurigny (7 x weekly)
Jersey: Blue Islands, as Flybe franchise partner (9 x weekly, up to 2 x daily)
Belfast International: easyJet (17 x weekly, up to 3 x daily)
Aberdeen: bmi regional (5 x weekly)
Edinburgh: easyJet (25 x weekly, up to 5 x daily)
Glasgow: easyJet (22 x weekly, up to 4 x daily)
Inverness: easyJet (7 x weekly)
Cork: Aer Lingus Regional (7 x weekly)
Dublin: Aer Lingus Regional (21 x weekly, up to 4 x daily); Ryanair (20 x weekly, up to 3 x daily)
Knock: Ryanair (3 x weekly)
Shannon: Ryanair (2 x weekly)

[MerchantVenturer]

Cape Verde (Sal) will be operated by a B787-9 (G-TUIJ) today, instead of a B787-8. This will be the first time a 9 series has operated from BRS.

[cwlwatcher]

new route to snn begins on thursday

[BAladdy]

BA Cityflyers weekly service to IBZ will end on 30th June. The weekly service was planned to operate through until early November.

[yeo valley]

BA Cityflyers weekly service to IBZ will end on 30th June. The weekly service was planned to operate through until early November.

Has there been any reason given of the ending of the route midway through season.

[BAladdy]

Has there been any reason given of the ending of the route midway through season.BRS-IBZ was the worst performing route of the four operated last summer... From what I can gather the number of forward bookings on the route for this year are considerably down on those from last year.,. So they have decided to drop the route.... BACF plan to continue to offer 2 flights to and from AGP and a weekly PMI service using a E90 and FLR weekly using a E70. Below are details of the schedule changes from BRS

Ibiza

BA7019 BRS 19:45 IBZ 23:05 E90 6 (Ends 30JUN18)

BA7018 IBZ 23:45 BRS 01:10 E90 6 (Ends 30JUN18)

Florence

BA7017 BRS 13:10 FLR 16:25 E70 ​​​​​​​6 (Ends 03NOV18)
​​​​​​​
BA7016 FLR 11:05 BRS 12:25 E70 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​6 (Ends 03NOV18)

Malaga

BA7021 BRS 06:25 AGP 10:05 E90 ​​​​​​​7 (Until 04NOV18)
BA7021 BRS 12:45 AGP 16:25 E90 ​​​​​​​6 (Until 30JUN18)
BA7021 BRS 15:00 AGP 18:40 E90 ​​​​​​​6 (07JUL18-03NOV18)
​​​​​​​
BA7340 AGP 01:05 BRS 02:45 E90 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​5 (Until 02NOV18)
BA7020 AGP 17:20 BRS 19:00 E90 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​6 (Until 30JUN18)
BA7020 AGP 19:25 BRS 21:10 E90 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​6 (07JUL18-03NOV18)

Palma

BA7023 BRS 06:00 PMI 09:00 E90 ​​​​​​​6 (Ends 30JUN18)
BA7023 BRS 08:35 PMI 12:10 E90 ​​​​​​​6 (07JUL18-03NOV18)

BA7022 PMI 09:45 BRS 11:25 E90 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​6 (Ends 30JUN18)
BA7022 PMI 12:45 BRS 14:15 E90 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​6 (07JUL18-03NOV18)

[MerchantVenturer]

BHX-IBZ was dropped after last summer and was never shown as operating in summer 18. Seems slightly odd that if BRS-IBZ was the worst performing they didn't drop that as well after last summer instead of putting it on sale for this summer, then axing it part way through the season.

[crackling jet]

BHX-IBZ was dropped after last summer and was never shown as operating in summer 18. Seems slightly odd that if BRS-IBZ was the worst performing they didn't drop that as well after last summer instead of putting it on sale for this summer, then axing it part way through the season.

Things gone a little quiet !!, can't even find BRS on the thread. Oh new airport development brochure out, looks very impressive

[MerchantVenturer]

Airport passenger numbers continue to grow inexorably, but like the city itself the airport tends to operate under the radar in a national sense for much of the time. With an additional TUI based aircraft (number 4), an additional Thomas Cook based aircraft (number 3), an additional easyJet based aircraft (number 15) plus TUI's 'part based' B787 for 4 days each week this summer, not to mention the usual raft of new routes that come along every year, 'supporters' of many small airports would consider things to be extremely buoyant. This year is likely to see a rise of 'only' around 400,000 passengers though, taking the annual total to the region of 8.6 million.

Compared with 2017 (up 630,000), 2016 (up 823,000) and even 2015 (up 448,000) this might be seen as a slight disappointment by some followers, hence perhaps the lack of posts in this thread. BRS's passenger numbers cannot continue to rise at the rate of recent years. Apart from anything else, a breather is probably needed to enable facilities to catch up with the demand, albeit the airport has been a perpetual bulding site for most of the last 20 years and continues to be so as infrastructure continues to be developed.

I know that you are aware of all this but others who have a passing interest in the airport might not be. Yet again this week I was as good as called a liar when I told someone that BRS is easily the busiest English regional airport after Manchester and Birmingham. Even Grayling, the transport minister, admitted he hadn't realised how busy the airport was when he visited Lulsgate last year.

[Callum Paterson]

Indeed, it won't be long before little Bristol is busier than Glasgow, which is in a steep state of decline.

[crackling jet]

With regard to new routes, I would love to see an easyjet route to Moscow. not football related, just that I would love to see it after all those years in the forces keeping them out, just nice to go and see it before Putin gets Trumps wall contractor in to build a new wall across Europe !!

And don't fancy running (or parking) the gauntlet of the M4/M25 to get to a SE airport to catch the flight.

[Callum Paterson]

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a Moscow route...

[MerchantVenturer]

Dave Lees, BRS's new CEO, joined the airport this week. He was previously MD at Southampton Airport. BRS's previous CEO, Robert Sinclair, went to London City Airport in a similar capacity last October.