Infrastructure, Construction & Developments

[Sierra3]

The new overspill terminal, called international terminal 2 has just the config for this. International passengers can complete passport control and go to the departures lounge directly through a side door. They will have to cater for interline baggage transfers but pax wont have to clear security again. Domestic pax with flight connections could presumably do the same but wont need to clear passport control. However how they will separate the domestic transfer passengers from international transfers and prevent mixing is a problematic question.

Never been utlised yet but there is scope for the future.

Thanks for that.

So the long & short of it is 'airside' at BRS is a jumble of domestic & international pax - is that correct?
How does immigration on departure work then - at the gate?
If so INT to INT would never work

 

[big g]

Thanks for that.

So the long & short of it is 'airside' at BRS is a jumble of domestic & international pax - is that correct?
How does immigration on departure work then - at the gate?
If so INT to INT would never work

Yes and no, the departure lounge is a mix of domestic and international passengers, the check-in/ boarding staff are responsible for checking the passenger has the correct documents for travel to the relevant destination.

The arriving Domestic, CTA (common travel area) and International passengers have seperate channels, from my understanding of what has been written in a previous post, when international transfer passengers would use the new terminal. On arrival they will clear immigration as it is their first point of entry to the UK, then feed back in to the terminal, as they have come from a secure area and yet to leave the sterile area then no rescreening will be required, as it will be the first point of entry in to the UK the Baggage will have to be claimed then rechecked, but they could put a process in where the bag is screend by Immigration then sent to the connecting flight with out the passenger touching the bag. I know they do this in Toronto.

Immigration and how passengers mix in BRS are the same at any other UK airport I've worked at, your be amazed at what happens behind the scenes the ensure immigration is kept to the highest standards.

 

[kraktoa]

To clarify.

Arriving INT and DOM pax are always kept separate. No mxing allowed. They have separate entry points to the airport and separate baggage areas.

Only Arriving INT pax can use the international 2 hall. That will allow connecting pax to move back to departures for connecting flights if that is what is desired.

Problem is that very few flights use INT2 hall. Only one flight can be accomodated in this hall at any given time. How will airport direct flights to INT2 based on connecting pax only? Not possible.

DOM pax dont use INT2. But that is the only hall with direct doorway to departures, currently locked for pax.

All this exclusion of DOM and INT passengers is to prevent the phenomena called boarding card swapping. Thats a different story altogether and features in illegal immigration.

 

[Sierra3]

So in conclusion INT/DOM is possible but INT/INT is not.

Thanks for clarifying

Not that either are likely to occur in the foreseeable future

 

[Jono577]

Taken from the draft minutes of the meeting on 27th April BRI consultative committee


Planning Manager, gave a presentation updating members on car parking planning
applications to be submitted to the local planning authority at the end of May 2016. These propose
revisions to the phasing of car parking developments in order to meet market demand. This includes
the provision of car parking on areas C1 and C2 (Cogloop), three floors of a Multi-Story Car Park and
an extension to the staff car park. Airport Management responded to a number of questions
regarding car parking provision, timescales and illegal parking. It may be possible to bring forward
the provision of the Weston Flyer to summer 2017. There would be buses provided from the multistorey
car park and there was a longer term plan for a walkway.

So may be some of the works in the current car park may be to do with this !

 

[Ornsack]

Updated timelapses of the building work -

- Western extension looking pretty complete from an external point of view! Wonder how it's coming along on the inside?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Many thanks, Ornsack.

As we've previously mentioned the western extension is due to partly open sometime this summer and be completed by the end of the year. There seems to be a lot more glass involved than in the eastern extension which to me makes the structure look more pleasing to the eye externally.

I was at the airport last week with a pal of mine who couldn't believe that the current state of the hotel build (like two huge piles of shipping containers) will eventually transmute into a relatively 'normal' looking hotel. It does take an act of faith to see beyond the metal containers at the moment.

 

[ezy_brs]

or they could just leave it like these apartments.... (Yes, these really are finished apparently!)

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I like the post and the information it contains but I'm not sure what my reaction would be if I'd booked an airport hotel and on arrival found I was checking in to what seemed to be a pile of shipping containers.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

How is the terminal coping this summer so far? The eastern extension was completed towards the end of last summer but the western extension is still under construction of course.

Today seemed fairly typical with 32 departures before 0900 (plus the Airbus and BAE corporate shuttles from the southside 'terminal'), 27 of them before 0800 with the majority on Airbus A 319/320/321 and Boeing 737/757 aircraft.

I was speaking to an acquaintance recently who told me he flew out a couple of weeks ago on one of the very early departures (around 0600) and the queue to the security area stretched down the stairs and across the floor of the main terminal check-in area. He caught his flight but wasn't too impressed with the huge queue.

This might not have been typical or he might be one of those who will moan at the slightest pretext - I don't know him well, only to pass the time of day really, but he knows I have an interest in airports.

 

[Ornsack]

I'll be there on Wednesday so will let you know. I've heard about the security queues. Chaos was probably inevitable.

Still not seen the eastern extension yet (was about a week off from the grand opening) so looking forward to seeing that part!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Have a good trip.

I've used the airport twice on outbound flights since the eastern extension was completed. The first was in September, shortly after it had opened, when my wife and I had an afternoon flight to Glasgow. It was a pleasant afternoon and we had a look at the outside terrace which gives restricted views of part of the apron and part of the runway but still a great addition for anyone interested in watching aircraft. We also felt that the new shopping area in the extension provided some sort of feel of a bigger airport. The second occasion was a cold early December morning so we didn't bother with the terrace. Overall, we were favourably impressed with the extension.

On another infrastructure topic, the security barriers used to filter authorised vehicles - buses, taxis etc - along the road to the front of the terminal seem to have been out of action for a week or more - they were still not working on Tuesday when I passed through (not flying). They had additional security staff to operate the barriers manually, although the metal stops that rise from the ground were closed (they might well be the problem). This is not the first time that these barriers have caused trouble.

Furthermore, the exit barriers for authorised vehicles also have a habit of misbehaving. On Tuesday buses and taxis were lined up in front of these 'stuck' barriers unable to depart. I was on a bus that was stationary for over ten minutes until engineers arrived and opened the barriers. Again this is not the first time I've witnessed similar occurrences at this point and I wonder how often they malfunction.

As both sets of barriers appear to be serial troublemakers one would hope that a solution could be found to get them into permanent working order.

 

[Aviador]

To be honest most airports suffer from queues at that time of the day. You mentioned 30 departures before 9am, 27 before 8am. So you're talking in the region of 4000 passengers for the early morning departures....

....that's what 4000 people look like! Excuse me sir do you have any keys, mobile phones, laptops or iPads ????

 

[Marko1]

Hopefully the new security area will sort all this out later this year. The most common tweet on the official Brs Twitter page is about security and the queues.

Just wondering after this what's next on the expansion plans

 

[kraktoa]

After the new security extension and hotel is the multi storey car park in front of the terminal and upper level bus terminus. All siver zone buses and city buses etc will drop you off at the upper level f the car park from where you make your way to the terminal.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I note that the part of the current landside arrivals area that used to be occupied by WH Smith, who have now moved their landside outlet to the other end of the terminal, and has been boarded up for several months as part of the extended arrivals zone being built nearby has re-opened as a Caffe Ritazza. It looks considerably larger than the previous cafe that was on the other side of the arrivals area.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

On another infrastructure topic, the security barriers used to filter authorised vehicles - buses, taxis etc - along the road to the front of the terminal seem to have been out of action for a week or more - they were still not working on Tuesday when I passed through (not flying). They had additional security staff to operate the barriers manually, although the metal stops that rise from the ground were closed (they might well be the problem). This is not the first time that these barriers have caused trouble.

Furthermore, the exit barriers for authorised vehicles also have a habit of misbehaving. On Tuesday buses and taxis were lined up in front of these 'stuck' barriers unable to depart. I was on a bus that was stationary for over ten minutes until engineers arrived and opened the barriers. Again this is not the first time I've witnessed similar occurrences at this point and I wonder how often they malfunction.

As both sets of barriers appear to be serial troublemakers one would hope that a solution could be found to get them into permanent working order.

I posted the above over a week ago.

The problems continue. This afternoon there was only one member of security staff operating the raised arm-type entry gates manually - the metal stops in the roadway are still not functioning and are in the open position, ie flush to the ground. The single security officer had to walk back and forth between the two entry gates which are about 20 metres apart each time a vehicle entered. Buses and taxis were taking five minutes to pass through at times.

The exit barriers are still malfunctioning with the metal stop stuck in the closed position, ie protruding several feet from the road surface. This afternoon I just missed the 1500 hours A4 Air Decker but it and Flyers, taxis, Falcon coach and several airport parking buses were queued for over 20 minutes before engineers arrived to eventually open the barrier. At one point four Flyer buses were stuck behind the barrier. Two were sent empty back to the city when the barrier was finally opened but this must have played havoc with the timekeeping of the buses.

I was told that the same thing had occurred half an hour before leading to among other things the 1430 hours Air Decker leaving over 20 minutes late.

It really is a shambles. Things go wrong from time to time in the best places but this has been recurring regularly for weeks and intermittently for many months. Apart from the unnecessary inconvenience caused to travellers it’s also related to airport security. I can’t understand why the airport management hasn’t sorted it out ages ago.

 

[kraktoa]

Twitter was buzzing on Thursday. Early departures queues before security stretched downstairs until the first revolving doors. Free coffee was being served. Many missed their flights.

Apparently it was chaotic. Airport twitter account promises better facilities in the summer when new security extension opens.

Heard a rumour that new lanes have a problem. Wheel chairs dont fit through the lanes. God have mercy.

 

[kraktoa]

Given how long the barriers have been playing up i guess its a dig up and replace the submerged metal things time. Cant be easy and may take weeks to complete. There is no alternative entry though for the buses and taxis to the forecourt. Shambles indeed.

The 7 million pax joy does not seem to have lasted.

Their twitter feed also mentioned 7 million passengers leaving the airport every year. I hope they meant 3.5 million pax leaving the airport every year. Maybe that little detail has escaped the twitter guy/gal.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

evolent

Given how long the barriers have been playing up i guess its a dig up and replace the submerged metal things time. Cant be easy and may take weeks to complete. There is no alternative entry though for the buses and taxis to the forecourt. Shambles indeed.

The 7 million pax joy does not seem to have lasted.

Their twitter feed also mentioned 7 million passengers leaving the airport every year. I hope they meant 3.5 million pax leaving the airport every year. Maybe that little detail has escaped the twitter guy/gal.

The metal 'pop-up' barriers are really the only things that prevent malevolent drivers of vehicles from accessing the front of the terminal. The flimsy arm-type gates wouldn't do the job and that's all there is at the entry point at the moment.

I'm not speaking out of turn because hundreds of thousands of people have seen the situation in recent weeks.

The airport is now a victim of its own success in attracting so many passengers in recent years that has not been matched by the facilities at certain times of the day, despite massive investment and major expansion of terminal infrastructure. I can't really see a solution as it's not realistic to put in yet more infrastructure (beyond the west extension currently under construction) that would be only needed if the peak went on all day.