Bristol Airport - General Thread

[kraktoa]

Who remembers the one off round the world trip organised by Thomas Cook i think circa 2005 from MAN i think. Many of my work colleagues did it.

For the astonishing sum of £2500 (inc hotels) this 2 week journey included Man-Lax-south american 2 destinations-sydney-papua new guinea-south africa-new delhi-dubai-Lon.

Same plane same crew all the way.i may have got some of destinations wrong but the spread was more or less same. All hotels were half board. All transfers included except excursions.

Why did they not continue that brill venture.

 

[Jerry]

Probably because it didn't make any money I'd have thought.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

TUI do a similar thing every year for American Tourists. It's not sold by TUI, but it's operated by one of their 757s and crew. It certainly isn' cheap and it's very much only wealthy people that travel on it. Given the involvement TUI have with I'm sure they would've done their own if they thought there was a market for it.
Given the prices of some resort holidays, £2500 is an absolute bargain!

 

[Marko1]

We have just returned from Paris this week and it's the first time I have flown from brs since the extensions have been completed. The new silver zone reception centre I was very impressed with as was the transfer to the terminal. The new security control area was in my opinion very impressive - far superior to the one at cdg terminal 2d and the staff were very polite. My two sons loved the outside cafe area - kept them occupied till it went dark watching arriving aircraft then we had the fortune of boarding from gate 9 ? - nice short walk . The flight out was on an a320 - a few empty seats despite it showing sold out - I wonder whether it was the 186 seat version ? Nice new seats plenty of leg room. Flight took just over 45 mins with a lovely view of a lit up Eiffel Tower on approach.

On return we landed a little late into Bristol just as a few others flights had landed. Despite the long 400 m walk I must say I'm impressed with the availability of wheelchairs and pushchairs along the walk way - perhaps they listened to me when I wrote about it many moons ago when me and my wife had to carry out two young sons - neither could walk far - the entire length !!

Passport control - excellent - lovely reception area - no queue at all - friendly border force staff - then our cases were already going around the carousel belt - result !! Finally a call in m&s for some supplies then a short wait for the silver zone bus then back home.

I have to say I was very very impressed although I think it's time for a few more eateries - perhaps a weatherspoons maybe ?

Well done Bristol - as you all know I'm very supportive - could not find one fault .

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thanks for that, Marko. Sounds like a positive experience.

I've been on easyJet flights that have been shown as sold out on the website before I've travelled where there have been a few empty seats on the flight - no doubt some 'no-shows'. easyJet does overbook to try to counter this and there have been one or two reports lately where people have been 'bumped' from a flight because the anticipated no-shows did not match the overbooking.

I imagine no-shows are more likely on routes that carry a lot of business travellers.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...off-easyjet-flight-overbooked-denied-boarding

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BRS has scored highly again in the latest Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey as the below press release shows. It has been getting high marks for a year or two now which is in stark contrast to the regular complaints from passengers on social media sites and on Skytrax.

I'm always slightly dubious about this sort of thing but the airport's performance over recent years as measured by the ASQ's methodology suggests consistency in a positive manner.

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...-ranks-highly-in-customer-satisfaction-survey

Bristol Airport Ranks Highly in Customer Satisfaction Survey
Created: 8th Nov 2017

Bristol Airport gains the top spot for staff courtesy in the ASQ Survey in UK airports, an international airport passenger experience benchmarking programme, run by Airports Council International.

The programme measures passenger satisfaction at leading UK airports, as well as airports from over 80 countries. The latest results (July – September) rank Bristol Airport number one for staff courtesy, terminal cleanliness, comfort of gate and wait areas as well as for leisure passengers.

Airport Service Quality (ASQ) is the industry standard for airports across the world. Airports taking part in the ASQ survey handle a total of 7.6 billion passengers between them – more than half of all annual air journeys.

As well as measuring overall customer satisfaction, ASQ rates airports against more than 34 different indicators, covering all parts of the passenger process, from check-in on departure to baggage reclaim when returning home. Overall satisfaction is also split by journey purpose, enabling airports to assess how well they meet the needs of business and leisure passengers.

Bristol Airport’s success was achieved in a record-breaking year with over 8 million passengers forecast in 2017.

Tom McEwen, Customer Service Delivery Manager at Bristol Airport, said:
“We are delighted to continue to receive such strong feedback from our passengers and to have achieved this in a record breaking year. We are not complacent and continue to invest in the passenger experience and develop world leading facilities. Work is currently underway to enhance car parking at the Airport creating the first on-site multi storey car park, situated in close proximity to the terminal, which will be open for Summer 2018.”

Having invested more than £160 million in new infrastructure and facilities since 2010, Bristol Airport is well positioned to serve passengers across the South West of the UK, and also provides a gateway to the region for international visitors.

Throughout 2017, Bristol Airport will be celebrating 60 years at its current site. As well as looking back on a rich aviation history, work will begin on an updated Master Plan which will consider how best to meet growing demand for air travel to and from the South West and South Wales over the next two decades. The views of customers, employees, neighbours and others stakeholders will be vital in helping to shape the Airport’s vision for the future.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Another busy festive period. BRS press release.

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...d-media-centre/2017/12/christmas-getaway-2017

Christmas Getaway 2017
Created: 20th Dec 2017

Over 190,000 passengers will be travelling through Bristol Airport during the Christmas period (22 December 2017 until 1 January 2018 inclusive) a 5% increase on passenger numbers compared to the same two week period last year.

This passenger number has been boosted by a number of airlines adding additional flights to their schedule over the Christmas period to meet passenger demand, destinations include Copenhagen, Venice –Marco Polo, Gibraltar and Krackow. The ski destinations remain a popular choice for passengers during the winter season, with resorts reporting excellent skiing conditions. Winter sun destinations with the Canary Islands and Rome continue to be popular.

For the first time Stockholm, Cologne and Athens being added to the network for the Christmas period further extends choice to passengers this holiday period.

Bristol Airport will remain open on Christmas Day for a limited number of scheduled and charter flights. A total of four departing and four arriving flights will be operating on Christmas Day, with over 150 staff working on site across all departments.

During the busy Christmas holiday period passengers are advised to allow extra journey time to the Airport and to arrive at check-in at least a minimum of 2 hours prior to scheduled departure time. If travelling with presents passengers are asked to keep them unwrapped and check with the airline if wanting to take Christmas crackers away, as many airlines refuse to carry crackers on board the aircraft.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/people-still-pointing-lasers-bristol-958281

The CAA reports that there were 18 instances of people pointing lasers at aircraft near Bristol Airport in 2016.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/your-airport-magazine

Your Airport magazine for winter 17/18 now available on BRS website to download at above link.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/what-its-like-inside-bristol-1051934

This is the article the Bristol Post has come up with following their day with air traffic controllers at BRS last week. I know it's for a general readership but I find the article a bit underwhelming.

 

[rollo]

Seen what you mean, reads liked it was written by a 10 year old for a 5 year old a bit like the old Janet and John books if anyone remembers them.

 

[kraktoa]

There was mention of the BristolAirport app a while ago.

Is it the one written by a fella named John? Is it officially authorised by BRS?

The arrivals info on the app. Is it just obtained from the airport website or is it from ATC or flight radar or some other source. Reason i ask is will this app give more uptodate info on cancelled flights or arriving flights which the airport is unable to put on its website as happened on 23 dec

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There was mention of the BristolAirport app a while ago.

Is it the one written by a fella named John? Is it officially authorised by BRS?

The arrivals info on the app. Is it just obtained from the airport website or is it from ATC or flight radar or some other source. Reason i ask is will this app give more uptodate info on cancelled flights or arriving flights which the airport is unable to put on its website as happened on 23 dec

I've not heard of that. I'd be very interested if anyone does have some details.

 

[alphagolf]

I've not heard of that. I'd be very interested if anyone does have some details.

Just checked the apple app store and yes there is an app called Bristol Airport, having looked at the arrivals page and for instance the EZY448 from Belfast Int, the app suggests it landed at 21.42, FR24 suggests it landed at 21.44, the Bristol Airport website arrivals page shows expected at 21.43 and landed. However the airport flight information never shows a Landed at "time" so I am not sure where this Bristol Airport App in getting its flight info from.

I will throw this open to anyone who can determine the source

 

[kraktoa]

I heard on the grapevine that the source is ATC.

Is that even possible?

 

[alphagolf]

I heard on the grapevine that the source is ATC.

Is that even possible?

Not sure on that one, but it is definitely not from the airport Flight Info or FR24 as again there are anomalies today.

 

[Kingshat]

ATC does not provide departure or landing information other than to Bristol Airport; thus the App must be using FR24 or some other ADS-B based platform.

 

[Severn]

The Enter Air B738 (SP-ENP) which is based at Bristol throughout the week will be operating two trips to Rome FCO today.
This mornings flight was ENT601 BRS-FCO, which returned to BRS as ENT601P.
It departs this afternoon as ENT603 and back this evening as 603P.
This will be for the Six Nations Rugby where England play Italy in Rome on Sunday.
The usual EZY flight to FCO also operates today with an A320.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The Enter Air B738 (SP-ENP) which is based at Bristol throughout the week will be operating two trips to Rome FCO today.
This mornings flight was ENT601 BRS-FCO, which returned to BRS as ENT601P.
It departs this afternoon as ENT603 and back this evening as 603P.
This will be for the Six Nations Rugby where England play Italy in Rome on Sunday.
The usual EZY flight to FCO also operates today with an A320.

There seems to be quite a lot of rugby flights to Rome from regional airports for Sunday's Italy v England match. I can't remember so many on previous occasions.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...and-media-centre/2018/2/autism-friendly-award

It's always pleasing to see airports doing good work like this.

BRS Press Release

Bristol Airport gains Autism Friendly Award
Created: 1st Feb 2018

Bristol Airport gains Autism Friendly Award after joint project with OCS Group to improve assistance for passengers with hidden disabilities

Bristol Airport has been named an Autism Friendly airport by the National Autistic Society following work with OCS Group to ensure the airport offers a friendly environment for autistic passengers along with support services that target the accessibility needs of the passengers and their families.

The Autism Friendly Award recognises the success of Bristol Airport and OCS Group in providing assistance that improves the experience at the airport for autistic passengers, their families and caregivers. Bristol Airport and OCS Group have worked together to ensure clear information is available about the airport, how to plan their journey and how to access assistance at the terminal.

Michael Connolly, regional training and standards manager for OCS Group’s Aviation and Gateways Business, has worked on a range of initiatives to improve the service to disabled people at UK airports, including projects at Bristol Airport to improve the experience for passengers with hidden disabilities, such as autism. In 2017, the UK’s Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health named Michael Connolly as the sector champion for disability issues in air transport.

“OCS Group is the largest provider of assistance to persons with reduced mobility (PRM) in the UK and Ireland, and helps over one million passengers at nine airports each year” said Michael Connolly of OCS Group. “That level of experience means we understand that travelling through a busy airport can be a challenging experience for autistic passengers and families. This award is recognition of our focus on delivering an efficient and sensitive service that responds to the individual needs of all disabled passengers, including those with autism.”