Bristol: General Airport News, Updates & Discussion

[Jerry]

You seemed to have picked one of the better times to transit BRS and your gate was not one of those 400 metres away at the end of the western walkway that people somtimes complain about.

The timing of the flight to Madrid was pretty good in that it doesn't arrive too late but it also i think means you are more likely to eat on the plane than when you get to Madrid, it was also nice for me not to have to get up at 3 am for an early morning flight.
I was lucky with the gate in that i didn't have a long walk which was really good though i think karma made up for that at Madrid today!
A lot of the picture that i had in my mind about BRS has been formed by the way many people speak about it versus Cardiff online, so it was good that i was able to get the chance to see for myself what it was like.
Overall i had a good experience at BRS and it seems a very good airport though food was a bit pricey at the Brunel bar!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...edia-centre/2019/5/asq-results-quarter-1-2019

BRS press release today re excellent performance ASQ customer satisfaction survey. The airport always seems to score highly in the ASQ surveys. Well done and congratulations to those concerned.


Bristol Airport scores highly in customer satisfaction survey
Created: 2nd May 2019

Bristol Airport gains high customer rankings achieving best ever scores for three areas including overall satisfaction, business passenger satisfaction and the arrivals passport process in ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Survey in UK airports.

The survey is an international airport passenger experience benchmarking programme and is the only international survey measuring passengers’ satisfaction while they are at the airport. The programme measures passenger satisfaction at leading UK airports, as well as airports from over 80 countries. The latest results (quarter 1: January – March 2019) also ranks Bristol Airport highly for business and executive lounges, and cleanliness of terminal as well as for ambience.

ASQ is the industry standard for airports across the world for monitoring airport customer experience. Airports taking part in the ASQ survey handle a total of 7.7 billion passengers between them – more than half of all annual air journeys.

As well as measuring overall customer satisfaction, ASQ rates airports against 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.

Tom McEwen, Customer Service Delivery Manager at Bristol Airport, said:

“We are delighted with this strong and positive feedback from our passengers and is recognition of the continuing hard work by the teams in gaining this result. We are not complacent and continue to invest in the passenger experience and develop world leading facilities. Improving passenger facilities is a key focus for us and this year alone we are investing over £60 million, these projects include a new car rental facility, airline building and newly refurbished special assistance area.”

Having invested more than £225 million in new infrastructure and facilities since 2010, Bristol Airport is well positioned to serve passengers across the South West of the UK and provides a gateway to the region for international visitors.

In 2018, Bristol Airport handled over 8.6 million passengers and is forecast to handle more than 9 million passengers per annum in 2019.

 

[superking]

I will ask this question again.
On a Thursday morning, the first wave of departures looks rather busy. From 5am to6.30 am there is 3TC aircraft and 3 TUI aircraft plus various other aircraft from other airlines.Why I ask with that many close togeather departing the terinalmust be bursting at the seams.I have heard nothing about it and wondered if any one else had,and if any one in the know how it goes with so many departures togeather in a short time.
,

 

[alphagolf]

Airhelp Survey
Bristol Airport is ranked as the top UK airport in a worldwide survey by Airhelp.

Bristol is ranked at 70th, Heathrow 73rd, Birmingham 78th.........

The article is a survey about to best and worst Airlines and Airports around the world. So to be ranked as the top UK airport should be something to be proud off.

Article posted in Dailymail........

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/...tar-Airways-named-best-Thomas-Cook-worst.html

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airhelp Survey
Bristol Airport is ranked as the top UK airport in a worldwide survey by Airhelp.

Bristol is ranked at 70th, Heathrow 73rd, Birmingham 78th.........

The article is a survey about to best and worst Airlines and Airports around the world. So to be ranked as the top UK airport should be something to be proud off.

Article posted in Dailymail........

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/...tar-Airways-named-best-Thomas-Cook-worst.html

Although I tend to regard all such surveys as this with caution, there is no doubt that BRS has fared well in a number of them in recent years so the trend must say something. For example, it always scores highly in the ASQ surveys - see #1,225 above for the latest ASQ results.

The front line staff must take much of the credit.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I will ask this question again.
On a Thursday morning, the first wave of departures looks rather busy. From 5am to6.30 am there is 3TC aircraft and 3 TUI aircraft plus various other aircraft from other airlines.Why I ask with that many close togeather departing the terinalmust be bursting at the seams.I have heard nothing about it and wondered if any one else had,and if any one in the know how it goes with so many departures togeather in a short time.
,

In summer, and of course we are yet to reach the peak summer period, there have been 30+ departures before 0800 for a few years. Although the loss of flybmi will cut the number a bit, this morning for example saw 25 departures before 0800. Then in the next 80 minutes there were only four. This does not include the Airbus and BAE corporate shuttles although their passengers depart from the south side.

Tomorrow there are 26 departures before 0800 but the TUI and TCX departures are spread out more: TUI 0515, 0700, 0715, with the B787 leaving at 1020 for Sanford (the fourth based narrow-bodied TUI aircraft should be commencing its work later this month); TCX 0625; 0700; 0730

I suppose the reason for the frenetic start to each day is aircraft utilisation. Most of BRS's flights are operated by home-based aircraft of the various airlines and the airlines want to get as much work out of them each day as possible. There will also be a question of negotiating timings on the various routes with the slot co-ordinating authorities.

My wife and I try to steer clear of very early starts nowadays. The last time we had one at BRS was about three years ago and that was in early December when the rush is less than in summer. We have got a 7.30 start at the end of the summer though so we will be in a position to see if anything has changed with regard to terminal crowding since we last passed through in summer at that time of day.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...tre/2019/5/new-paper-cup-recycling-initiative

Airport press release.

Bristol Airport introduces new paper cup recycling initiative
Created: 9th May 2019

Nearly a tonne of paper cups has been recycled as a result of a new process introduced at Bristol Airport in March. This is the equivalent of 54,500 standard size coffee cups which, if placed end to end would stretch for nearly 6km – which is nearly the length of 57 football pitches or three times the length of Bristol Airport’s runway!

Working in collaboration with catering partners and waste management provider, SWRnewstar, the Airport has introduced the scheme to ensure paper cups are recycled and not placed in landfill. The process has been designed to be as easy as possible for passengers: paper cups are simply placed in normal rubbish bins before being separated at source and segregated for collection. The paper cups are then recycled at a specialist facility and reprocessed for further use.

Dan Brown, Corporate Sector Director for Automotive & Logistics, SWRnewstar said:

“Great credit has to go to Bristol Airport, their business partners and passengers for such excellent results so early on in this scheme. It shows that recycling is taken seriously at the airport and that when all stakeholders are engaged in a process it can produce really positive results. Already collections are increasing from the initial stages so I can only see higher levels of recycling and segregation moving forward.”

Bristol Airport employees already have their own reusable ‘keep cups’ and refill water bottles for use in staff catering areas, in addition to the paper cup recycling scheme.

James Shearman, Head of Sustainability, Bristol Airport said:

“We are delighted with the successful results achieved so early in the scheme. We wanted a system that would be easy for staff and passengers, and it could not be simpler. We are working with the various business partners on site to continue our efforts in maintaining our reuse, reduce, recycle principals.”

Bristol Airport is committed to waste management and in 2018 the airport remained a zero-landfill airport recycling and waste management improvements on site continue. This recently included installing an extra water refill station in the departure lounge, bringing the total of three water refill stations in the terminal. This is supported by all catering outlets in the terminal providing ‘fill up for free’ water top-ups for passengers using their own bottles.

Bristol Airport continues to reduce carbon emissions across the airport site in order to achieve its objective to be carbon neutral by 2030 by measuring its energy use across the site and seeking to limit emissions. A range of actions are taking place to reduce the carbon intensity of the airport infrastructure by measuring its success by reducing per passenger carbon emissions.

Further information on Bristol Airport’s sustainability principles can be found here.

 

[superking]

I see the arr/dep boards down again in the airport. This was on Thursday, dont know if they got them working again. They have not been able to sort these boards out now for quite some time,ever sinse they got hacked.It seems like the only thing special about these boards that no one seems able to get them working as they should work. They were giving no real time information to the traveller only confusion.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I see the arr/dep boards down again in the airport. This was on Thursday, dont know if they got them working again. They have not been able to sort these boards out now for quite some time,ever sinse they got hacked.It seems like the only thing special about these boards that no one seems able to get them working as they should work. They were giving no real time information to the traveller only confusion.

They were working on Monday of this week when we flew out. Not sure about late Thursday evening when we returned - I didn't look.

This won't be a trip report but just a few thoughts on the BRS and easyJet experience. It was the first time for ten months that my wife and I had used the airport. Our destination was Glasgow, one of our favourite UK cities, and somewhere we've visited many times down the years. Its excellent rail network also makes it a good place for touring around by train which we did again this time.

We arrived at BRS at 1030 last Monday with the accredited Airport taxi company - Arrow. We usually find it a good and reliable service and so it was again. We live about nine miles from the airport and using Arrow was only a few quid dearer than parking in the long stay for the duration - and in fact we might have been penalised there (see later).

The day was fine and the open air viewing area was available. We spent some time there although Mrs Yokel grew rather tired of it and went indoors to sit. The viewing area was well patronised when I was there. We only ate a few snacks. We might have had something more substantial had we known the departure board was about to turn to 'delay' for our 1255 departure to GLA.

In the event the delay amounted to around 50 minutes so not too bad. Boarding was uneventful and efficient with the A319 about 80% full. The captain told us that he, his crew and the 319 had been to Pisa in the morning and were ready to return to BRS when ATC pronounced a 40-minute delay from there. The 56-minute flight to GLA that left terra firma off runway 09 was routine from our perspective and so we began another enjoyable Scottish break.

We returned on Thursday evening on the scheduled 2155 from GLA. It was the joint scheduled final departure of the evening along with an Aer Lingus Regional ATR 72 to Dublin - or it should have been.

We were dropped off outside the terminal at 1915 by GLA's version of the BRS A1 Flyer - First service 500 which, like the A1, is now operated by a liveried fleet of double-decker buses. For many years, as with the A1, it was a single decker service. At £14 per person period return it's about a pound more than the A1 equivalent. Fares on the 500 have been increasing substantially over recent years.

We'd eaten earlier in a city centre restaurant so I was pleased to see the departures board at the airport already showing 'check-in', although we had no hold luggage. Being something of a suspicious and inquisitive nature I then looked at the arrivals board to find that the inbound flight from BRS was showing a 2215 arrival from there instead of the scheduled 2125. We didn't go through security for another half hour and I wandered around outside the front of the terminal in the pleasanrt evening weather.

Once we were airside we noticed the teminal beginning to empty of passengers as the remaining aircraft began to depart, including an Emirates A380 to Dubai, which we had seen touch down when looking out from the top of our double-decker bus as it passed opposite the landing runway. At the same time the eateries and retail units started to close up with staff preparing for the next morning as the only passengers left were the BRS contingent.

Eventually our A320 arrived on stand just after 2215. Incidentally, for as long as I've been using Go/easyJet from GLA the flights depart and arive at a basic sort of shed at the bottom of stairs at one end of the airport, accessed by long corridors with no travelators. Anyone who has used a gate at the far end of the BRS western walkway will know what I mean in terms of the long walk.

Boarding was snappy and we pushed back at 2246 on the fairly full A320 - probably arund 90% load factor. It was a delightfully clear spring evening and our departure on GLA's north-easterly runway was followed by a right turn over the illuminated city (fortunately we were on the right-hand side). Lights on the ground were visible for most of the trip.

We performed a couple of changes of course as we flew across the Bristol Channel/Severn estuary where the banking aircraft afforded good views of Cardiff and Newport. After that it was along the northern edge of Weston-super-Mare (Weston looks like a mini metropolis from the air at night such is its growth - about to overtake Bath in population) and a re-acquaintance with Mother Earth when we touched down on 09 after a flight of around 50 minutes. After leaving the runway at the eastern end of the airfield we then had to taxi back to the far end of the western apron. That gave rise to the only glitch - albeit a minor one- in that we had to wait for several minutes for the buses. We walked out of the terminal just on midnight which might have meant an extra day's car park payment had we brought our car.

We had pre-booked our Arrow taxi and were home at 0030 this morning.

Apart from the delayed aircraft, and they were fairly minor ones, I can't really fault the experience whether at BRS, GLA or with easyJet.

What did strike me again was the difference in scale between the two airports. GLA occupies a much larger site with what looks like spacious aircraft parking areas, and of course it has a runway that is over 600 metres longer than BRS's. GLA also has a number of airbridges in use. Given that GLA now handles only about three quarters of a million more annual passengers than BRS, it begs the question as to how BRS could get itself anywhere near that physical size. GLA is not perfect - which airport is? - with the almost 'second-class' easyJet departure areas one example.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BRS Press release.

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...-media-centre/2019/5/bath-city-fc-sponsorship

BRS won a draw to be Bath City FC's shirt sponsors for the second year running. It's good to support a smaller local club although it doesn't quite have the same cachet as appearing on Manchester City's shirts.

Bristol Airport continue as Bath City FC shirt sponsor for season 2019-2020
Created: 17th May 2019

Following the Bath City FC shirt sponsorship draw, in the TR Hayes Premier Lounge at Twerton Park on 15th May, Bath City Football Club are delighted to announce the winner of the draw was Bristol Airport – who, amazingly, for the second year running, were pulled out as winners by manager Jerry Gill.

Nigel Scott, Business Development Director, Bristol Airport, said:

‘We were surprised and highly delighted to win the prize draw for the second year running to be Bath City’s Football Club shirt sponsor for the coming season. We look forward to continuing the partnership with Bath City Football Club over the next year.’

Bristol Airport’s logo will be display be on the front of Bath City’s first team home and away shirts for the coming season.

Second prize was won by Millard Signs & Graphics, will have their name on the back of the shirts for next season. Third prize was won by Ignition Strategic Design limited who will have their company name on the shorts.

Other prize winners were Novia Financial plc, LF Flooring and Fuller & Roper.

The club would like to thank the 83 entrants in the draw and look forward to their further involvement in the coming season. All entrants will be part of the new Bath City FC Sponsors Club for season 2019-2020.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BRS press release

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/ab...charity-land-partnership-with-bristol-airport

BRS's charity of the year, Great Western Ambulance Charity, was launched recently with a visit by the air ambulance to BRS. The air ambulance is now based at a purpose-build site at Almondsbury just to the north of Bristol by the M4 motorway.

All praise for those involved in supporting this charity but I believe that it and the other air ambulances should be provided through government funding.

Great Western Air Ambulance Charityland partnership with Bristol Airport
Created: 31st May 2019

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) officially launched their Charity of the Year partnership with Bristol Airport on Tuesday 28th May.

The charity, which provides the critical care and air ambulance services for Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and surrounding areas, was voted in by Bristol Airport employees to be their nominated charity earlier this year.

The GWAAC Critical Care Team, who are on call 365 days a year, landed the air ambulance helicopter at Bristol Airport to officially launch the partnership, inviting those who have been involved in fundraising to come and have a look around the aircraft.

So far, employees have thrown themselves into supporting their local air ambulance, with over £2,000 raised already.

Anna Perry, CEO of GWAAC said:

“It was great to meet the Bristol Airport team who have been fundraising for GWAAC already, and to hear their plans for more fun challenges later in the year. We believe that the partnership between Bristol Airport and GWAAC is a great fit, and we are so pleased that we were voted for as their Charity of the Year. I look forward to seeing all the fantastic things they get up to over the next year.”

On 15th May, eleven members of Bristol Airport’s Terminal Operations Team, including Rusty the cockapoo, climbed Mount Snowdon to begin their fundraising, and raised almost £1,500 for the charity, with many more future climbs in the pipeline.

Team member, Nick Pope, also completed the Bristol 10K on Sunday 5th May in aid of the charity partnership, and has set his sights on many more challenges along with his colleagues over the year, from golf days to a potential climb up Ben Nevis.

Nick said:

“Everyone has their own personal stories for getting involved, and the nice thing is that staff voted for GWAAC. The staff love doing it for you guys, we want to help in some way and this is our way of doing that. I’ve worked on two first aid incidents where an air ambulance has been called, so it is a personal thing for me.”

Alongside the Terminal Operations Team, Bristol Airport Border Force Officers have also been getting involved, holding a 24 hour spin-cycle in order to raise money for GWAAC, and their nominated charity, Alzheimer’s Society. With 11 officers giving up their own time to support the event, the team cycled 625 miles over 24 hours, raising £565 for GWAAC.

In late June, three Officers from Border Force will also be travelling to Italy to take on the challenge of Stelvio Pass, Italy’s highest alpine road at 2.758 metres with 70 hairpin bends, to continue their fundraising.

David Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport, said:

“It was a pleasure to meet the dedicated GWAAC team at Bristol Airport during their recent visit. The helicopter’s arrival caused a lot of excitement within the various teams at the Airport and provided an opportunity to meet the team that make the charity work on a daily basis and understand first-hand the vital role they play in providing critical care in an emergency. The Bristol Airport teams are inspiring and creative in their fundraising ideas for the charity, from participating in the Bristol 10k, climbing Snowdon, sponsored walks, cycling challenges and much more planned throughout the year. The £2,000 is a flying start to the fundraising taking place this year across the business in support of this fantastic local charity.”

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity receive no day-to-day funding from the Government or National Lottery and need over £3 million a year to remain operational, relying on the generosity and support of the local community and partnerships.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Two airport press releases in past couple of days with a bearing on security, terrorism and crime prevention/detection.

Major training exercise sees dogs sniff out ‘explosives’ at Bristol Airport

Explosives detection dogs from police forces across the country are taking part in a major training exercise at Bristol Airport this week.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Major training exercise sees dogs sniff out ‘explosives’ at Bristol Airport
Created: 11th Jun 2019

Explosives detection dogs from police forces across the country are taking part in a major training exercise at Bristol Airport this week.

More than 40 dogs will be put through their paces by their handlers throughout the terminal building and airfield, testing their ability to detect substances that could potentially harm members of the public.

The exercise, which was coordinated by our chief dog instructor, Sergeant Denis McCoy, supports the cross-government CONTEST counter-terrorism strategy – a major part of which is keeping air passengers safe and ensuring that the UK continues to lead efforts to raise global aviation safety standards.

Sgt McCoy said: “Dogs are known for their incredible sense of smell and their ability to sniff out harmful substances is what makes them one of the best assets in the fight against terrorism.”

He added: “A key factor in producing and maintaining the very best explosives search dogs is training.

“Locations like Bristol Airport are busy environments. Continual opportunities to train in this type of location makes for an even more robust and effective dog and handler team.”

Temporary Chief Inspector Shane Hawkings said: “Bringing together a multi-agency training event like this requires a lot of work.

“I’d like to thank Bristol Airport and our other partners for making this happen.

“The safety of the communities we serve both locally and nationally are at the heart of what we do and this event will certainly enhance that.”

Security Minister, Ben Wallace, said: “Training exercises such as this are vital for us to ensure that the UK’s travelling public continue to remain amongst the safest in the world.

“These dogs save lives and I am grateful for the role that Bristol Airport is playing in this process.”

Chris Morgan, Head of Security, Bristol Airport said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Avon and Somerset Police in relation to this exercise.

“This training will give the dogs and their handlers an invaluable insight into the workings of an airport and will ensure they are as ready as they can be to operate here – detecting and preventing crime and keeping our passengers safe.”

Project Servator launches across Avon and Somerset

Avon and Somerset Police launched a new tactic across the force area today specifically designed to disrupt a range of criminal activity, from theft to terrorism.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Project Servator launches across Avon and Somerset
Created: 12th Jun 2019

Avon and Somerset Police launched a new tactic across the force area today specifically designed to disrupt a range of criminal activity, from theft to terrorism.

Project Servator involves highly visible and unpredictable police deployments made up of officers specially trained to identify criminal intent, along with a range of other police resources including police dogs, police horses, armed police officers and police helicopters and drones.

The teams work closely with partners, businesses and the general public to encourage the reporting of any suspicious or unusual activity to police.

The effect is a network of vigilance which creates an uninviting environment for potential terrorists considering their targets and individuals looking to commit crime.

Project Servator, which is funded by Counter Terrorism Policing, was developed by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the City of London Police, and has been fully adopted by 13 other UK police forces.

Nationally, between 1 April, 2018 and 31 March, 2019 officers carrying out Project Servator deployments have:

• Gathered 2,413 pieces of intelligence about suspected criminal activity, 170 of which related to suspected hostile reconnaissance and terrorist activity.
• Carried out 3,331 searches, leading to 1,228 positive outcomes (arrests or drugs seizure). This means 37% of all searches resulted in a positive outcome.
• Made 891 arrests for various offences, including firearms and weapons offences, drugs, money laundering, robbery and theft, and immigration offences.

We’ve been trialling the initiative at Bristol Airport since May last year and have also since implemented it at a number of different locations and events across the force area.

Deployments are intelligence led and can turn up anywhere at any time. They will see uniformed officers speak to the public and hand out leaflets, while plain clothed officers blend into the crowd and watch for suspicious activity.

Officers will be supported by CCTV operators and security staff and may set up vehicle checkpoints while using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition).

As part of today’s launch in Bath we have produced a three minute long video demonstrating Project Servator which we are showing on a large digital screen.

Inspector Jon Hext said: “Project Servator deployments will look different to standard patrols but they are nothing to worry about. They are normal police operations designed to disrupt hostile reconnaissance – the information gathering criminals do to help them plan their activity.

“As a tactic, Project Servator has been tested by teams of specialists who behave in the same way that individuals carrying out hostile reconnaissance do to see if they are identified by police. And time and time again officers have spotted the would-be criminal.

“This is an approach to policing which has been proven to disrupt criminal activity and I hope the fact we are rolling it out across Avon and Somerset provides great reassurance to our communities.”

Insp Hext added: “Project Servator isn’t just about the police – it’s about the network of vigilance we can create with the help of our partners, businesses and members of the public.

“We all have a vital role to play in disrupting crime and I’d like everyone to have the confidence to tell us of anything that seems out place, unusual or doesn’t seem to fit in with day-to-day life.

Reporting won’t ruin lives, but it could save them.

“Together, we can send a clear message to potential criminals that we are watching, we will spot you and we will stop you.”

Chris Morgan, Head of Security, Bristol Airport said: “Bristol Airport was one of the first locations in the region to deploy Project Servator officers.

“We are delighted this initiative will be extended to other areas within the region and will continue to support and collaborate with the police teams in detecting and deterring criminal activity in and around the Airport.”

Councillor Dine Romeo, Bath and North East Somerset Council leader, said: “Every year we welcome thousands of visitors and we want everyone who lives, works or visits Bath to feel safe.

“This is about working with the police and partners including Bath BID, to reassure people so we can go about our day-to-day lives and enjoy our city.”

Avon and Somerset Police is encouraging everyone to follow national ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) guidance. More information on what to look out for and how to contact police can be found at www.gov.uk/ACT.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Two more airport press releases from recent days:

Make Music Day at Bristol Airport

Live music across the UK on #MakeMusicDay 21st June 2019

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Make Music Day at Bristol Airport
Created: 21st Jun 2019

Live music across the UK on #MakeMusicDay 21st June 2019

The 21st June is Make Music Day. Each year since 1982 the summer solstice has brought music makers and music lovers together for free in public spaces to celebrate the energising, humanising power of music. What sets Make Music Day apart from other events is that anyone who wants to make music can take part.

Now a global, grassroots festival involving more than 120 countries, it is the UK’s biggest single-day music event with over 1,000 performances and an audience of more than 300,000 people with flagship events in Millennium Square, Bristol, the Glanfa stage, Cardiff, Waverley Mall, Edinburgh, and The Scoop, London.

As one of the world’s leading lights for producing music of all styles and flavours, UK-based musicians of all ages and abilities have organised a host of gigs, performances and musical celebrations on the 21st June throughout the UK so, there are, of course, plenty of opportunities for you to enjoy a song and dance.

Bristol Airport, Millennium Square and Cabot Circus are among the venues taking part, as Bristol will come alive with music for the annual Make Music Day.
Taking place in a variety of spaces, both indoors and out in the open, a large selection of recitals, shows and gigs will take place across the city, ranging from open mic sessions to samba band marches.
Locations taking part include Bristol Airport, Cabot Circus, Millennium Square, SS Great Britain, St Mary Redcliffe and more.

Tom McEwen, Bristol Airport said: “We were delighted to host performers in the terminal in celebration of Make Music Day. Live music in the terminal always provides a great welcome to both passengers and staff and what better way to start a visit to the Airport.”

Schools the length and breadth of the country are taking part in Make Music Day, too, with performances ranging from special music assemblies and piano recitals to rock and pop-themed proms. And there is a vast array of performances confirmed in practically every county in the country including guerrilla gigs, ceilidhs, classic rock concerts, brass band performances, Bloco parades, jazz jams, classical performances and more. To find out how you can join in with Make Music Day head to MakeMusicDay.co.uk and head to the events section.

And if that isn’t enough to choose from, you can tune into a continuous live stream of music from Make Music Days in Argentina, Australia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Nigeria, UK, USA, and more showing the rich diversity of live Make Music Day events around the world.

Primary School Prize-Winning Travel Poems

Talented young poets from primary schools across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset eloquently expressed their thoughts about travelling - in all its forms – through poetry in poems that are being published in a very special book today.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Primary School Prize-Winning Travel Poems
Created: 21st Jun 2019

Talented young poets from primary schools across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset eloquently expressed their thoughts about travelling - in all its forms – through poetry in poems that are being published in a very special book today.

The poems are the winning entries in an annual, city-wide primary school poetry competition run by Ablaze, a local education charity.

The book, 'A Celebration of Poetry in Bristol's Primary Schools', is the fourth published by Ablaze and Intellect Books. Poems by over 70 children from Reception to Year 6 are featured in the latest edition.

“This year's theme was ‘Travel’ and once again Bristol’s budding poets let their imaginations fly – taking us to far flung places, deep into history and even into space.,” said Sally Melvin, Chief Executive Officer of Ablaze. “The poems are always of a really high quality and a real pleasure to read.”

Judges were looking for the best poems in three categories: pupils under seven years; those aged between seven and nine; and a nine to eleven-year-old category. Winners and runners-up in each category were selected and an overall 'best poem' was chosen.

At today’s celebration event in the city centre, Bristol’s award-winning young poets recited their work in front of an invited audience which included proud teachers and parents, as well as the Lord Mayor of Bristol, before receiving their prizes from Bristol’s well-renowned street poet and last year’s poet laureate for Bristol, Miles Chambers.

The overall winner was Ruby Jenkinson from St Werburgh’s Primary School. Ruby, a Year 4 pupil, recited her poem ‘Travel through my day with me’ confidently in front of the invited guests.

Roger Opie MBE, a judge on the Poetry Competition, said of Ruby’s poem “Ruby's clever and exciting words show great insight and imagination.”

Jane Sawyer, SENCO at Henbury Court Primary School and also a competition judge, commented, “The poem engaged my attention and pulled me in with its rhyming and bouncy lines!”

Jacqui Mills, Public and Community Relations Manager, Bristol Airport and also a competition judge said: “We were delighted to support this year’s poetry competition. The poems were incredibly inspiring, which made judging such a difficult decision. All entries were of such a high standard and showed creative thinking at its best. We are also very grateful to Miles for his involvement and commitment with the creative writing workshops.”

The event was kindly hosted by Clarke Willmott, one of Bristol’s leading law firms. Staff at Clarke Willmott have been volunteering for Ablaze in local primary schools for many years and were thrilled to host this exciting event again this year.

Ablaze works with volunteers from businesses and other groups to raise aspirations, achievement and skill levels in young people in primary and secondary schools in the more disadvantaged parts of Bristol. Our aim is to tackle social mobility to ensure equality and inclusion. Each year more than 2,000 young people are supported by volunteers through Ablaze on a variety of programmes.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

As it's quiet at the moment in terms of announcements, I was flipping back through the current master plan that was published in 2006.

I think I asked this question a few years ago but can't remember receiving a definitive reply. The 2006 master plan contains this paragraph.

The next generation of aircraft are expected to have longer wingspans than the aircraft currently operating from BIA, as part of the general development of technical and environmental performance. At present the clearances between the taxiway and Winters Lane to the south of Tall Pines Golf Club, limit operations to aircraft of Boeing 767 wingspan. This taxiway could not accommodate the future Boeing 787 aircraft in its current configuration. In the short term it is thought that this could be overcome by the construction of turning circles so that aircraft can avoid this part of the taxiway system. In the longer term consideration may need to be given to increasing the clearance by relocating Winters Lane to the north.

The Boeing 787 does use the full-length parallel taxiway without the need for turning circles, and Winters Lane has not been relocated. Does anyone know what happened to permit the use? I don't think the 787's wing span was made narrower was it?

 

[superking]

As winters lane and other things mentioned there has been no work done for the bigger aircraft on the taxi way. Perhaps the only thing done would be follage cut away,but the boundry fence is still in the same place.I have not taken any notice but is the boundry fence lower that side or is it the same height all the way round.Do any one know if the wing span on the 787 aircraft been altered from the original plans.

 

[Marko1]

Badr airlines operating for BH airlines today. This is a Sudanese registered airline - first visit by an aircraft from Sudan ?

 

[Severn]

Badr airlines operating for BH airlines today. This is a Sudanese registered airline - first visit by an aircraft from Sudan ?

Taken from my post in the Movements, Logs & Head Up section:

Todays BH Air flight to BOJ is being operated by a Georgian company - MyWay Airlines.
The flight is being operated by a B737-800 registered 4L-MWA which spends it's week operating out of Tblisi, Georgia and operated last weekend and this weekend for BH Air (last weekend it operated to MAN), so pretty unusual round these parts!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airport press release:

ACI Europe Best Airport Award Winners Announced

The 15th Annual ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards were announced last night during the Gala Dinner of the 29th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, hosted by Hermes Airports.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

BRS didn't win the award but were 'highly commended' in the 5-10 mppa airport category. BRS often seems to do well with this type of award. Well done to all involved.

ACI Europe Best Airport Award Winners Announced
Created: 1st Jul 2019
The 15th Annual ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards were announced last night during the Gala Dinner of the 29th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, hosted by Hermes Airports.

The Awards cover 4 traffic categories of airport and aim to recognise overarching achievement in core activities such as customer service, facilities, retail, security, community relations and environmental awareness and operations.

ACI EUROPE counts over 500 airports in 45 European countries among its membership and this year’s competition saw a high level of entries in the competition in each category. This years’ judging panel for the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards was drawn from a well-respected group of independent experts from the European Commission, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), SESAR JU and European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).
'5-10 MILLION PASSENGERS’ CATEGORY
The winner of the ‘5-10 million passenger’ category was Bilbao Airport.

Bristol Airport was delighted to be awarded 'Highly Commended' in this category.
The awards were presented to the winners by Filip Cornelis, Director Aviation European Commission, Patrick Ky, Executive Director European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Peter Hotham, Deputy Executive Director SESAR Joint Undertaking, Christakos Nikolaides, Cyprus Confederation of Organisations of the Disabled (CCOD), Angela Gittens, Director General ACI World, and Olivier Jankovec, Director General ACI EUROPE.

Next year’s 30th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition will be hosted by Geneva Airport, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the airport, and will take place in Geneva on 16-18 June 2020.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Carrying on from my previous post highlighting the press release re the ACI awards, BRS was highly commended in the 5-10 mppa airport category, with the winner being Bilbao Airport, a route operated year-round from BRS by easyJet.

There are a number of similarities between Bristol and Bilbao. Bristol has a larger municipal population whereas the Metropolitan areas of both are broadly similar at around one million people (Eurostat).

Bilbao Airport currently handles around 5.5 mppa, fewer than BRS's current 8.8 mppa. BIO, like BRS, has no long-haul scheduled routes, neither (unlike BRS) does it have any regular long-haul charter routes.

Although BIO's major airline partners seem to be the likes of Vueling, Iberia Regional, Air Europa and Volotea, the airport does have Lufthansa services to Frankfurt and Munich, and Eurowings to Dusseldorf and Stuttgart. There is also a Turkish Airlines route to Istanbul and Air France to Paris CDG.

BIO's rather sleek looking terminal was opened in 2000 as was its new control tower, coincidentally at the same time as BRS's new terminal building and new control tower. BIO's terminal seems to have a number of air bridges although critics say that the terminal design will make it difficult for expansions to be built. It has a 2,600 metre runway.

BIO has an air link to its capital city that handled over 800,000 passengers last year. BRS of course is too near London for an air link to be viable.

Like BRS, BIO seems to be approaching its maximum terminal-handling capacity. The terminal was going to be extended five yeears ago but the project was put on hold.

Bilbao might be an interesting city to visit for a short break.

 

[8mileshigh]

I have heard that Menzies have pulled out of the airport, as far as I can remember they only handled Aer Lingus and Aurigny. Both I believe are now handled by Seissport