Bristol Airport (BRS)

Bristol Airport was originally opened in 1930 in what is now known as the old terminal. Due to rising passenger numbers and the state of the old terminal, a new terminal was opened in 2000, which was designed to carry 3.5 million passengers a year. Bristol International airport is rapidly becoming the largest airport in the South West with 4.5 million passengers travelling through it in 2004. As I only live 15 minutes from the airport I use it most ...
...***Getting There***

Bristol Airport is not actually located in Bristol but 8 miles outside in North Somerset. It is well signposted from both the M5 and M4 and is situated on the A38 in Lulsgate.

If you are not travelling by car you can use the Bristol International Flyer, which is a direct coach service from Bristol bus station and Bristol Temple Meads railway station to the airport. It departs every 20 minutes and ... more

Bristol Airport was originally opened in 1930 in what is now known as the old terminal. Due to rising passenger numbers and the state of the old terminal, a new terminal was opened in 2000, which was designed to carry 3.5 million passengers a year. Bristol International airport is rapidly becoming the largest airport in the South West with 4.5 million passengers travelling through it in 2004. As I only live 15 minutes from the airport I use it most times I fly and so I thought I would share my experiences

***Getting There***

Bristol Airport is not actually located in Bristol but 8 miles outside in North Somerset. It is well signposted from both the M5 and M4 and is situated on the A38 in Lulsgate.

If you are not travelling by car you can use the Bristol International Flyer, which is a direct coach service from Bristol bus station and Bristol Temple Meads railway station to the airport. It departs every 20 minutes and operates from 5am to 11pm. A return costs £7 for an adult and £4 for a child.

***Car Parking***

The airport offers both short stay and long stay car parking but it is one of the most expensive I have come across. Luckily for me, living near the airport means I can get someone to drop and pick me up which eradicates parking charges (not if Bristol had there way but more about this later).

Long Stay:

For up to seven days parking is in the long stay car park near the terminal building. This costs £39 for 5-8 days but the longer you book in advance the cheaper it gets so is well worth considering. If you book it more than 28 days in advance it is reduced by £10 and this can be done via there website

If you are away for more than seven days you have to park in the silverzone car park, which is located down the road on the other side of the runway to the terminal. They do operate a shuttle bus to take you to the terminal. Parking here cost £69 for 13-15 days but again is reduced to £49 if booked 28 days in advance.

Short stay

This car park is located next to the terminal building and costs £2 for an hour.

Passenger Pick up

A couple of years ago you were able to drop people off and pick them up from the lay-by, which runs along the front of the terminal. However the airport has now stopped this due to numerous people flaunting the rules and parking there whilst they go on holiday can you believe it! So now you are only able to drop off outside the terminal. So they have created a passenger pick up car park to the left as you come out of arrivals, which is free for 10 minutes, and then they start to charge you. What a con!

***ROUTES***

You can fly to over 90 destinations direct from Bristol and this is ever increasing.

As of May 2005, you can now fly direct to Newark airport, New York with Continental Airlines from Bristol. A ticket on this daily scheduled service costs between £300-400 and can be booked through the continental airlines website.

The main carrier operating out of Bristol is Easy Jet the low cost airline, which flies to 23 destinations from Bristol. These include:

-Alicante
-Amsterdam
-Barcelona
-Belfast
-Berlin Schoenefield
-Budapest
-Edinburgh
-Faro
-Geneva
-Glasgow
-Inverness
-Madrid
-Mahon (Menorca)
-Malaga
-Mercia
-Newcastle
-Nice
-Palma
-Pisa
-Prague
-Rome
-Valencia
-Venice Marco Polo

Other scheduled flight operators include KML, Ryan Air, British Airways and Excel.

You can also fly to most holiday destinations in Europe including Spain, Greece, Turkey, Finland, France and Italy on charter services by well known carriers such as My Travel, Thomson and First Choice Airways

***Layout***

Due to the terminal only being 5 years old, Bristol Airport seems to follow the trend in terms of new terminals. As you look at it, it consists of a large rectangular building, predominantly made of glass, which gives it a light airy feel. Check in is situated on the ground floor, as is arrivals. You have to go up a set of escalators to reach the gate to go through to departures and above this is the mezzanine level where most of the food outlets are based. The departure lounge is thus situated on the 1st floor but you don't really realise this, as the runway is level with this floor. It only has the one runway which lies parallel to the terminal.

***Check In***

As you walk into the terminal building you are confronted with a long row of check in desks. The number of desks has recently been expanded due to an extension. You will find scheduled services such as Continental Airlines and Easy Jet to the right of the check in desks and most charter flights now check in, in the new extension to the left.

I have found the check in staff to be generally friendly and efficient although on my recent trip to Zante the girl was very sullen and obviously didn't want to be there but is was 6am in the morning so you can't really blame her.

Most of the airlines and tour operators have their customer service booths situated opposite the check in desks if you have any problems with your flight or need to pick up your ticket.

***Departures***

As you go through to departures and pass through the security checks every passenger has there photo taken but you don't realise as the camera is above and takes a still shot as they check your passport and boarding card. The departure lounge is split into two areas by some shops and the executive lounge. There is a fair amount of seating but in busy periods it does get full and this is one area I feel the airport could improve as with ever increasing passenger numbers this is only going to get worse. The gates are all situated in one row so they are not hard to find and you won't have to walk very far to reach your gate. When they call a flight it can get a bit manic as the queue for the flight weaves back through the seats.

***Arrivals***

Until recently Bristol only had 2 baggage carousels, which meant if a few flights arrived at the same time it could get pretty busy. However due to another extension they have added another two making it a lot better. Situated in arrivals are a number of pay phones and also a travelex if you want to change any of your currency back. Once you have collected your luggage it is a short walk through customs and into the arrivals area.

***Facilities***

Landside

For those not in the know this refers to the public side of the terminal which can be accessed by anyone not just those flying. This area includes the ground floor, the first floor and the Mezzanine area.

Food and Drink: There are numerous food and drink outlets dotted around the landside area but most are located on the Mezzanine floor. Here you will find the Food Village, a self-service café, which serves breakfasts and main meals but also sandwiches, snacks and drinks. There is also a Burger King and the Brunel Bar, which is the only place you can smoke landside in the terminal. Downstairs on the ground floor in the new extension you will find a Subway and located just outside the arrivals gate is a café called Delice De France (I should know, I used to work there). This serves fresh coffee, light snacks and pastries. As you would expect at an airport food and drink is more expensive than you would pay elsewhere.

Shops: Situated on the ground floor there is a newsagents selling papers and drinks. On the 1st floor you will find a WH Smiths, a Dorothy Perkins (for those last essentials), a games arcade, Claires Accessories and a Travelex to exchange your money. A handy tip you may like to know is that none of the shops in the airport stock chewing gum due to the fact they don't want it stuck all over the airport so if you need this for you flight you will have to purchase it elsewhere.

Taxis: Airport Carz is the designated taxi company for the airport and they have a desk situated in the arrivals hall. You can pre book your taxi by phone or on the internet and there fleet consists of a considerable number of silver 6 seater taxis so there is plenty of room for you and your luggage. I know my parents have used them when they have returned late at night and found them to be slightly more expensive than using another taxi company but they pick you up right outside arrivals so it is extremely convenient.

Airside

This refers to the area once you are through the departure gate.

Food and Drink: Although the departure lounge is the not the biggest you will every pass through there is a variety of places to purchase food and drink. On the mezzanine level you will find Brioche which serves coffee's and sandwiches. Also there is a new sports bar just opened which has sky TV and another small bar called Bar Des Voyageurs. Apart from that situated at the other end of departures there is another small café.

Shops: As usual in most departure lounges you will find the duty free shop which has all the normal perfumes, makeup, alcohol and cigarettes. This is a fairly large shop but it can get busy when departures is full. There is also another WH Smith, Tie Rack, Cotton Traders, Chocolate Box and Travelex.

Toilets

There are plenty of toilets situated around the airport, which I have always found to be clean, and in good working order. They also have baby changing facilities.

***Overall***

Bristol International airport may not have the greatest array of facilities such as you would find at Gatwick or Heathrow but the convenience of using the airport outweighs this for me. You don't have to walk for miles along travelling escalators to reach your departure gate, as you have to do at other airports and there is really no excuse for missing your flight. It is compact and another terminal may well be needed in the near future if passenger predictions of 8-9 million passengers by 2015 occur. Even now the terminal carries more passengers than for which it was designed meaning in summer the departure lounge can get very busy. More and more routes are being added from the airport every year, which can only be a good thing for me as it gives you so many options (even though I do live under the flight path so sometimes get woken at 5am in the morning). I've always found the airport to be very clean and have had no complaints so far. So if you ever get the opportunity to fly from here I would highly recommend it.

Here are some web addresses you may find useful:

www.bristolairport.co.uk - airport website
www.easyjet.com
www.continental.com - continental airlines
www.airportcarz.com - taxi firm
 

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