Bristol Airport - General Thread

[Ornsack]

I wonder why they don't just replace them with machines tbh.

The cash machines at BRS offer both pounds and Euros. Lost my train of thought last weekend and nearly withdrew 50 Euros for Belfast

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The cash machines at BRS offer both pounds and Euros. Lost my train of thought last weekend and nearly withdrew 50 Euros for Belfast

Well, you never know...............

With the Scottish government leadership going all out for another independence referendum who knows what the UK will finish up looking like in a few years? The United Kingdom of England and the Isle of Wight?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Hinkley C Nuclear Power Station

It's reported this evening that the board of EDF (Electricite de France) has approved the construction of the £18 billion Hinkley C nuclear power station at Hinkley Point on the Somerset coast near Bridgwater. There are already two nuclear power stations on the site, A and B, although A has been decommissioned.

I have no wish to enter the political and environmental debate about the scheme in this thread - that could be discussed in the BRS Random Stuff!! thread for example if anyone was of a mind - but it will be the biggest construction site in Europe and bring a huge amount of investment and jobs to the area.

Being the closest airport to the site BRS is expected to be a beneficiary of the substantial movement of people in connection with the project.

Addendum (28.7.16)

It looks as though this is now on hold with the UK government seemingly getting cold feet.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I've posted this on the BHX thread but thought that it may be of interest to Bristol forumers.

According to the Campaign for Better Transport regional UK airports will see dramatically slower growth should RWY3 at Heathrow get the go ahead. According to the table on the article below the South West is to be the second hardest hit with a circa -35 percentage change.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-runway-higher-air-fares-airports-commission

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've posted this on the BHX thread but thought that it may be of interest to Bristol forumers.

According to the Campaign for Better Transport regional UK airports will see dramatically slower growth should RWY3 at Heathrow get the go ahead. According to the table on the article below the South West is to be the second hardest hit with a circa -35 percentage change.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-runway-higher-air-fares-airports-commission

I'm always sceptical of claims such as this. It's always necessary to see the standpoint of the proponents before coming to any sort of view, and who can predict the UK aviation scene 35 years from now?

Are the percentage changes based on current airport passenger throughput or a reduction from some point between now and 2050? Or are they simply a percentage reduction in the rate of growth?

Taken at face value BRS would be down to under 5 mppa in 2050 with BHX around 6 mppa.

All the figures are completely at variance with the DfT's own projections for 2050 which themselves are little more than numbers drawn from a hat.

It's a bit like the referendum debate all over again when scare mongering from both camps was the order of the day.

 

[Aviador]

I would have thought that any exapnsion over 12 million would require a new terminal? What is the current terminal rated to? Plus to expand beyond that and say get to Manchester proportions then surely a runway extension and a second runway may be required? Have Bristol ever done a plan for that to show what the airport could possibly become? I would assume cargo would be included? Could that ever happen at Bristol?

No second runway will ever be required given Gatwick's single runway operation is handling in excess of 40 million passengers annually. Although it's a sensitive issue and it would require extensive ground works, a runway extension is probably possible in the longer term. According to previous discussions on this topic, there is currently no appetite to carry out such work. As for your final reference to cargo ops, I understand there is currently no cargo facilities at the airport and without a substantial runway extension there is probably only limited scope for freight operations ie. mixed freight and passenger ops.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

No second runway will ever be required given Gatwick's single runway operation is handling in excess of 40 million passengers annually. Although it's a sensitive issue and it would require extensive ground works, a runway extension is probably possible in the longer term. According to previous discussions on this topic, there is currently no appetite to carry out such work. As for your final reference to cargo ops, I understand there is currently no cargo facilities at the airport and without a substantial runway extension there is probably only limited scope for freight operations ie. mixed freight and passenger ops.

BRS is in a green belt so it's extremely unlikely that permission for a substantial cargo handling facility would ever be given.

 

[Aviador]

There are hundreds of homes planned for greenbelt land where I live. It doesn't seem to deter councils sadly.

 

[Jerry]

BRS is in a green belt so it's extremely unlikely that permission for a substantial cargo handling facility would ever be given.

I wonder if Bristol airport sold it to the council as being great for the whole area lots of jobs we'll be environmentally friendly and so on if the council may be tempted especially if they can get long haul flights with it.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There are hundreds of homes planned for greenbelt land where I live. It doesn't seem to deter councils sadly.

They seem to be a particularly vociferous and well connected lot in the Chew Valley near the airport. It's a bit like a mini version of the well-heeled brigade who live under parts of the LHR flight path. It would be one heck of a battle to have parts of the green belt around BRS turned over to warehousing and distribution centres. It would be a good spectator sport though if the airport did try something but I doubt that they will - not in my lifetime anyway.

I wonder if Bristol airport sold it to the council as being great for the whole area lots of jobs we'll be environmentally friendly and so on if the council may be tempted especially if they can get long haul flights with it.

For a minute I thought you meant sell the airport to the council, but I take it the suggestion is to sell the idea that you've outlined to the council.

I don't think that would work. There is no real imperative amongst the local authorities in the Greater Bristol area to boost the airport. Bristol City Council, previous airport owners, actually formally objected to the airport's major expansion plans when they came before North Somerset Council (the area in which the airport is situated) a few years ago.

The councils will happily accept the economic benefits of an airport but won't spend a penny to help bring it about.

Anyway, the current runway is almost certainly long enough for the sort of long haul scheduled services likely to come to BRS - they are extremely limited in number as the airport itself admits.

 

[Aviador]

Whilst the airport is able to function successfully within it's current parameters the situation is unlikely to ever change. If on the other hand the airport decides it's short runway is a hindrance to growth it may well change it's mind. Money talks.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/drunke...eight-months/story-29609630-detail/story.html

A passenger who was drunk and who made threats on an easyJet Bristol-Malaga flight last April causing the flight to be turned around and return to Bristol appeared at Bristol Crown Court this week and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment. He had been previously found guilty at a magistrates court but then went 'on the run'. He was arrested in Glasgow and sent by the magistrates to Bristol Crown Court for sentence.

He bought two bottles of wine in the departure lounge and consumed one in the lounge before boarding. When on board he sipped from the other bottle and his behaviour alarmed nearby passengers. He went to the toilet and left it in such a mess that it was unusable. An empty bottle was also found in the bin.

The captain announced he was returning to Bristol whereupon the man told nearby passengers that he would stab the captain if he did go back to Bristol. A woman seated next to him was terrified. He made further threats before being arrested on arrival back at Bristol Airport.

I think that eight months imprisonment is a derisory sentence. He'll probably only serve half anyway.

 

[kraktoa]

Turning the plane around was probably the wrong decision. They should have taken him to Spain and handed him to the spanish police. A spell in their jails would have done him a world of good i think.

 

[Jerry]

Turning the plane around was probably the wrong decision. They should have taken him to Spain and handed him to the spanish police. A spell in their jails would have done him a world of good i think.

Yeah the Spanish don't mess around with British drunks! Should have been a year sentence at least.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Looking today at the BRS website arrivals and departures pages, the column that denotes airline in both pages is deficient when it comes to the CityJet flight from/to Innsbruck and the Neos flight from/to Verona. The fight numbers are shown but is it beyond the wit of the computer programmer to enable a non-regular airline be inserted in the lists?

There are two Verona arrivals on Saturdays at 1200 hours, the other being bmi regional which is shown in the airline column on both pages.

A small thing maybe but to me it suggests a lack of professionalism. As a former boss of mine once told me, "Attention to detail is everything".

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol Airport passengers dumping 14 bin bags full of liquids at security EVERY DAY

There has been some national publicity about this in recent days. The local rag has highlighted the situation at BRS.

Passengers at Bristol Airport are dumping nearly 1,000 bottles of liquid at security EVERY DAY because of restrictions on what can be taken through.

The airport said holidaymakers will leave a total of about 150,000 items at security this summer because they aren't aware of rules about taking liquids with them.

And that means an increase in delays and waste as passengers are forced to rifle through hand luggage to dig out containers of more than 100ml.

Full article at http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/bristo...ty-every-day/story-29620776-detail/story.html

Bristol Airport is flying high compared to other UK airports when it comes to flight delays

Another story about the airport in today's local paper. This time it's about punctuality in which the airport has fared well.

When it comes to flight delays, Bristol Airport is one of the best performing of the main commercial airports in the country, according to the latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority.

With average delay times on flights of 11.7 minutes, Bristol stands only behind Stansted, Birmingham and Newcastle.

Full article at http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/bristo...-delay-times/story-29620437-detail/story.html

 

[Seasider]

I really find it hard to believe, as some people still say, "I didn't realise that you had 100ml limit."

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airline flight stats - breakdown

This summer is the busiest in the airport's history. Today there were 104 departures, which is fairly typical of most days this month. Today's breakdown is:

easyJet 46 departures
Ryanair 19
bmi regional 15*
Thomson 6
Thomas Cook 4
Aer Lingus Regional 4
KLM Cityhopper 4
Blue Islands/Flybe 2
WOW 1
Aurigny 1
Freebird 1
Wizz Air 1

* including flights operated for Brussels Airlines

In addition, on most weekdays there are also around 4 departures by Eastern ERJ145s to Toulouse and Hawarden for the Airbus corporate shuttle, and 2 or 3 by Beechcraft King Air B200 to Walney Island, Cumbria for the BAE corporate shuttle.

The above list shows the dominance of easyJet at BRS.

 

[kraktoa]

Why is it that Saturday mid day and late night arrivals peak seem lighter than all other days in the summer period. Vagaries of scheduling?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Why is it that Saturday mid day and late night arrivals peak seem lighter than all other days in the summer period. Vagaries of scheduling?

Saturday lunchtime doesn't seem too bad.

Looking at this week's Mayfly, Saturday has 22 arrivals between 1105 and 1325. This compares with Friday that sees 24 arrivals between 1125 and 1315.

Saturday evening has 14 arrivals between 2035 and 2355 but there are another 13 arrivals after midnight until 0450.
Friday evening is busier with 24 arrivals between 2020 and 2345 but there are fewer arrivals after midnight with eight until 0245.

There are more primarily business flights on Friday evenings with a number of bmi regionals and flights from EDI, GLA, NCL and BRU, none of which operate on Saturday evenings.