Infrastructure, Construction & Developments

[TheLocalYokel]

Travelators

I note that in the BRS Twitter feed someone is asking about travelators.

The walk to the gates at the far end of the western walkway is around 400 metres and there is no doubt that some physically challenged/elderly people, not to mention families with very young children, can find the walk difficult. I know that in extreme cases assistance can be pre-booked in the form of wheelchairs but I'm really talking about people who perhaps haven't reached that stage.

Travelators are expensive but with the airport's ever increasing passenger numbers I wonder when serious consideration will be given to installing them.

 

[Ornsack]

I seem to remember that the walkways were built in a way that didn't permit the addition of travelators? I may be wrong?

Wonder if the width of the walkways are too thin? Or if the floors are too thin/weak to hold them being that they're not on ground level?

Seems weird that they weren't considered in the first place, but then I suppose they were built at a certain cost. They slightly resemble a tin shed!

 

[forest1979]

I made some comments on my last visit to the airport that I felt the walkways were done on the cheap. They felt that way in comparison to other airports.

 

[Tinkerman]

If the walkways have been constructed without travelators then it would be incredibly difficult to retrofit them in a way that allows travelators to be added at a later date, especially since they are raised.

It's not that it's impossible to do, it's the large amount of cost that would have to occur to increase the member sizes of the supporting steels or perhaps constructing a floating steel deck below the current floor level to support the travelators. All very expensive in the scheme of things.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

If the walkways have been constructed without travelators then it would be incredibly difficult to retrofit them in a way that allows travelators to be added at a later date, especially since they are raised.

It's not that it's impossible to do, it's the large amount of cost that would have to occur to increase the member sizes of the supporting steels or perhaps constructing a floating steel deck below the current floor level to support the travelators. All very expensive in the scheme of things.

The western walkway was constructed under General Permitted Development regulations which did not/do not (the regulations have been amended since the BRS development but remain essentially the same) require formal planning consent. In BRS's case the floor area of the terminal was (at the time) at maximum dimensions allowed under its then planning consents, hence the walkway structure could not be constructed in a way that would add to that floor area.

It was therefore built as a fairly basic corridor to the various gates at that end of the apron. When the airport gained planning approval two or three years later for its major extension plans they could have revisited the walkway (they still could) to turn it into a more appealing part of the terminal.

Presumably the judgement at present is that the cost would not justify the results and that includes installing a travelator.

 

[kraktoa]

The silver zone parking operates under a system where you book parking online. You park near the reception area, note your parking bay and hand the car keys to reception. They will log the key in the system and hand you a receipt. When you are on holiday your car will be moved to a different area. When you return at the end of the holiday they hand you your key at reception with a note telling you where your car is now parked. Usually it is moved back closer to the reception. So it must be quite a finely tuned operation with number of steps in the process.

People seem to dislike handing their keys in and someone else moving their car. Complaints of damage and extra mileage have been made regularly.

There is a huge amount of construction on going. The reception area is soon going to be a massive building, almost like an office block. I wondered why such a big building when at any time they have just 2 people on reception desks.

An employee mentioned that there are going to be shops and a food court in there. Really. Its a car park. Who wants to shop or eat after a holiday. People just want to go home. Is it just money money money.....The rumour is that if they reduce the number of buses plying the route they could make passengers wait in the food court area for longer and harrassed parents will be forced to spend in the shops especially if they have travelled far and kids are hungry. Its a nice ploy but a bit under hand i think.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I don't use the airport as much as I used to but when I do I always use the Long Stay on the North side (if I take the car). It might be a bit more expensive than the Silver Zone and can often result in a long walk from the west end of the park to the terminal. Neither I nor my wife mind a walk and we don't hang around for the buses that tour the Long Stay.

We don't use Silver Zone for two reasons:

Don't like the idea of someone else moving the car around.

Often the queues for the Silver Zone bus outside the terminal are extremely long (although I don't use the airport so much to fly I'm still there regularly catching a bus into the countryside for my walking trips so I can see what's going on in that regard). Furthermore, when the bus does put in an appearance (they seem to have more than one on this 'route') I've seen some people unable to get on such are the numbers, even with the long 'bendy-buses'.

Now that the Silver Zone parking area has been greatly extended this year, and with ever increasing passenger numbers at the airport, it stands to reason that more people will be using Silver Zone so the bus queues will be even longer.

Are there two buses normally rostered for the Silver Zone route? Whatever the number, they will have to put on another vehicle unless the 'dirty tricks' stories turn out to be reality rather than conspiracy theories.

 

[superking]

Do they run mini busses round the long stay car park north side,as If they don't I thought they did once upon a time.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Buses still operate around the Long Stay car park on the North side. As I said in my previous post my wife I don't bother waiting for one even when we have to park at the extreme end. They've been full size buses for several years, like the ones that operate to the Silver Zone, albeit at least one of the Silver Zone buses is a long 'bendy bus'.

 

[kraktoa]

Saw on twitter an announcement that Bristol has introduced its first aviramp. There are no stairs in the ramp. Just a multi level sloped walkway.

 

[Jerry]

I'm surprised they didn't have them already. Are they not common in the UK?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Saw on twitter an announcement that Bristol has introduced its first aviramp. There are no stairs in the ramp. Just a multi level sloped walkway.

I'm surprised they didn't have them already. Are they not common in the UK?

I've never used one anywhere. Can't even remember seeing one.

Some of the aviramps look a bit cumbersome. See below link.

https://www.aviramp.com

 

[superking]

I have never seen 1 let alone use 1. Been through at least 20 airports in USA and not even seen any out there either.

 

[superking]

Thinking about these travleators,any ASDA supermarket with a multi story attached to store use these travelators to get shopping trollies to top floor.The nearest 1 to you LY is Longwell green.They can get a little slippy when wet thou.

 

[Jerry]

I've never used one anywhere. Can't even remember seeing one.

Some of the aviramps look a bit cumbersome. See below link.


https://www.aviramp.com

CWL has 1 at least. Everytime I've seen it it's been used for the morning TOM flight or parked near stand 7. I think as well the Champions League final teams may have been pictured using it when they arrived.
I always thought that they were pretty common.

 

[kraktoa]

Are we sure that the avi ramp that BRS have started using are mechanised. I thought they were just slopes that passengers have to use leg power to walk up.

Can someone confirm.

 

[Jerry]

Are we sure that the avi ramp that BRS have started using are mechanised. I thought they were just slopes that passengers have to use leg power to walk up.

Can someone confirm.

Looks like all their Avi ramps with the exception of the Lite version which is for ATRs and Q400s are all mechanised and height adjustable.

 

[Marko1]

What on earth is it ? Can't we just go up steps like normal and those who can't go up in one of those trucks. Looks awful

 

[Jerry]

What on earth is it ? Can't we just go up steps like normal and those who can't go up in one of those trucks. Looks awful

It's supposed to be essentially a mobile jetbridge and is designed to make it easier to board aircraft especially for the less mobile.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

What on earth is it ? Can't we just go up steps like normal and those who can't go up in one of those trucks. Looks awful

I agree. I was more polite and used the word cumbersome.

About 15 years ago my wife broke her leg when we were on holiday in Austria. The insurance paid for her to have three seats on the aircraft back to the UK in order to keep her leg up (steady!!).

They used an ambulift at Salzburg that put her at the front of the cabin but the three seats allocated were at the rear so she had to hop the entire length of the XL B738 and repeat the performance when we arrived at BRS. I'm not sure that an aviramp would have helped her any more unless they had one attached to both the aircraft entrances, but going uphill and downhill on crutches isn't easy.