Confirmed that the A3 Weston-super-Flyer service between the town and the airport that has been suspended though most of the pandemic will resume operations on 3 April.

 

Weston Flyer service returns offering links between Bristol Airport and Weston-Super-Mare​

Created: 1st Apr 2022

From Sunday 3 April, the A3 Weston Flyer service will return operating from Weston railway station, calling at Worle, Congresbury and Cleeve.

The route had been temporally suspended for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the return of the service comes as all COVID-19 travel measures are removed and the Airport anticipates a strong increase in passenger numbers over the Spring and Summer period.

The return of the service will also provide a boost for employment opportunities for residents and ensure that all shift patterns are served by public transport to and from Weston-Super-Mare with employees enjoying discounted fares on the Weston Flyer Service.

Liz Macnaughton, Commercial Manager – Ground Transportation, Bristol Airport, said:

“We are delighted to see the return of the Weston Flyer service ahead of the busy Easter getaway. We are seeing an increase in customers travelling and the service has been missed by customers and colleagues alike. The restart of the service further demonstrates our commitment to providing alternatives to the car when travelling to and from Bristol Airport.”

Note. Being pernickety I know but the town is called Weston-super-Mare. It's a pity that a major local business does not seem to be aware of the correct name of the unitary authority's major town.
 
Great to have the A3 back.. used it myself yesterday to go for a flight. Not sure whether the old A3 branded buses have moved on or whatever, but the bus was operated by a regular First branded bus yesterday. Not particularly busy when I got on it, but it's early days... an equal mix of staff and passengers. Hope it stays long term and is used by the people of Weston and along the route!
 
Great to have the A3 back.. used it myself yesterday to go for a flight. Not sure whether the old A3 branded buses have moved on or whatever, but the bus was operated by a regular First branded bus yesterday. Not particularly busy when I got on it, but it's early days... an equal mix of staff and passengers. Hope it stays long term and is used by the people of Weston and along the route!
The liveried A3 buses were used on normal bus services in and around Bristol during much of the pandemic. The same applies with some of the liveried A1 double-deckers that are currently not needed because the full schedule is yet to return.

I've not seen any of the liveried A2 double-decker buses for a long time though.

When things eventually return to normal I don't know if the A2s will return travelling via Bedminster which would allow the A1s to return to the guided busway route through Ashton and the South Bristol Link Road.
 
Further to the previous post, the airport's original planning application to the local authority included binding commitments to increase the provision of public transport serving the airport at a specific minimum level year on year on pain of penalty.

I'm sure the intention will be to do that but when the planning inspectors completed the public enquiry and went off to determine the outcome not all s106 provisions had been agreed between airport and local authority.

I'm a bit surprised that some airport bus services are still running at reduced schedule given the public perception of the issue especially as the airport is now operating around 75%-80% of flights it would have done pre-pandemic at this time year (75-85 daily departures this week depending on the day of the week).

Some airport bus routes are commercial and operators obviously have to make a judgement, but the A1 and A3 are airport-run services, albeit operated for them under contract by First Group. Opponents of the expansion who are still hoping for a Judicial Review might see this as the airport perhaps not as enthusiastic about increasing bus services as its words on the subject would suggest.

Perhaps the Easter period will see more buses on the road. A recent post in the Airport Experience thread highlighted the poor experience when travelling from the airport into the city late one evening when the reduced frequency of buses meant an unpleasant and lengthy wait for the next one.
 
The liveried A3 buses were used on normal bus services in and around Bristol during much of the pandemic. The same applies with some of the liveried A1 double-deckers that are currently not needed because the full schedule is yet to return.
Apparently the original A3 buses will be back after being refurbished. City routes were not kind to them.
 
According to this article the A1 airport flyer service is due to increase in frequency. And not a minute too soon. Mind-boggling how it only runs every 20-30 mins during peak summer holiday season.

I have to say I'm close to giving up on the airport flyer after using it for over a decade, no matter what time of day.

The combination of having to trail to/from the MSCP to the terminal (and often watching the bus leave while you make your way down there) and the shitty queuing/waiting situation (how hard is it to put some temporary roofing along the bus gates where people queue to board?) is just not great. Maybe the new bus hub next to the terminal will be better.
 
Not related directly to this particular service but here at Leeds we used to have an hourly service to Harrogate from the airport which was woefully inadequate. The amount of passengers who would seek an alternative made the service unviable almost as soon as it started.

One other observation is bus companies often have limited services during the hours they're often most needed. You will be lucky to catch a bus that arrives at the airport in time for a 04:00 am check in. Similar can be said for passengers arriving home in the early hour of the morning.
 
Looks like not all A1 bus drivers are up to speed on how ticketing works to the airport. Asked for a return on the way out. Driver says they don't do returns any more. Tells me to just tap my card, and how it will charge now for a single, and then on the way back it will only charge the difference for the return fare. This is how the new tap-on-tap-off system works for the normal busses I suppose, but I don't think it applies to the A1. I asked again to be sure and he said the same thing and refused to issue a return ticket.

Of course on the way back the guy issuing tickets at their aport said that the tap-on-tap-off is only for day returns and the driver should've issued a proper return ticket. Doesn't seem to be an isolated incident either because people behind me said "yeah, they told me the same thing".
 
I noticed a curious airport flyer journey time inconsistency: According to the airport flyer timetable, it takes ca. 18 minutes from West Street / Parson Street to the Airport (this seems right). Then another 5-10 minute walk from the bus station down at the MSCP up to the terminal. Now, if I ask Google Maps for directions to the airport, its schedule has West Street to the airport taking 28 minutes, plus another 7 minutes walk up to the terminal. Wonder if that's on purpose, so that people who think the flyer will drop them off in front of the terminal have enough time for the hike up there (but then that's accounted for separately), or just extra safety padding in case of heavy traffic etc. But then why not add that to the regular timetable too?
 
I noticed a curious airport flyer journey time inconsistency: According to the airport flyer timetable, it takes ca. 18 minutes from West Street / Parson Street to the Airport (this seems right). Then another 5-10 minute walk from the bus station down at the MSCP up to the terminal. Now, if I ask Google Maps for directions to the airport, its schedule has West Street to the airport taking 28 minutes, plus another 7 minutes walk up to the terminal. Wonder if that's on purpose, so that people who think the flyer will drop them off in front of the terminal have enough time for the hike up there (but then that's accounted for separately), or just extra safety padding in case of heavy traffic etc. But then why not add that to the regular timetable too?
I think the reason for the 6-7 minute walk on Google maps between the terminal and the MSCP is that its walking route takes you via the ‘North Side Road’ in a large loop around the Hampton by Hilton hotel (as it doesn’t take into account the steps/pathway between the two!) - screenshot attached.

I took the A1 bus from the centre of Bristol last week (via temple meads) and with traffic it took around 30 mins. The walk to the terminal from the bus station was only a few minutes.

DD38A17D-B2BD-4810-B88A-BD494FB0CD31.png
 
Last edited:
Well spotted, didn't realise.

Although that's not really what I'm confused about. I mean an elderly person with luggage, or a family with kids, might well take a bit longer to get up to the terminal than me with a small bag of hand luggage.

What I'm wondering is where the extra 10 minutes in the Google timetable come from. It will make the public transport option less attractive than it actually is in many cases.
 
Well spotted, didn't realise.

Although that's not really what I'm confused about. I mean an elderly person with luggage, or a family with kids, might well take a bit longer to get up to the terminal than me with a small bag of hand luggage.

What I'm wondering is where the extra 10 minutes in the Google timetable come from. It will make the public transport option less attractive than it actually is in many cases.

I think the Bristol Flyers timetable is “best case” and doesn’t take into account the traffic on an average day. It shows the journey time from Bedminster Parade to the airport as 25 mins.

Flyer Timetable from the Bristol Airport Website:
9ADF780B-8C71-4FD8-A8D7-0631333D49A8.jpeg

If you use the two most popular transportation-navigation apps (‘Google Maps’ and ‘Citymapper’) they seem to take into account the traffic and have an average journey time between ‘Bedminster Parade’ and the airport as 32/33 mins.

Google Maps:
8D294267-3ABA-4CAA-9A71-FFAA50862A0D.jpeg

Citymapper:
F4CC4623-5FC1-463E-9657-C50B825A96CE.jpeg
 
Airport Bus & Coach Services - July 2023


A1: Bristol Airport Flyer
, 24-hour service, operated by First on behalf of the airport between bus & coach station, Temple Meads, Bedminster and airport at frequency between 12 minutes and hourly (83 return journeys per 24 hours).

A3: Weston Airport Flyer, 0205-0046 hours, operated by First on behalf of the airport between Weston-super-Mare and airport at 60-minute-frequency. (22 return journeys per 24 hours).

A4: Bath Air Decker, 0300-0100 hours, operated by Bath Bus Company between Bath, Salford, Keynsham South Bristol and the airport at 60-minute frequency (22 return journeys per 24 hours).

WESTlink: on-demand mini-buses, 0700-1900 hours, operated by WESTlink runs on-demand, pre-booked services to a large area surrounding Bristol and Bath (Monday-Saturday only).

216: National Express coaches, 0230-0015 hours between Cardiff, Newport and airport at roughly 2-hour frequency (10 return journeys per 24 hours).

South West Falcon: 24-hour service, operated by Stagecoach between Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, airport and Bristol at mostly 60-minute frequency (2-hours during late evening hours) - (20 return journeys per 24 hours).
 
A polite request.
I do not have a twitter account (or want one) so can't read the above.
Your comment may be relevant but I have no idea what to.
Thank you.
 
Does the tweet not show up as part of the post for you?

(Edit: I just tried in a private window, and see it doesn't. My apologies, I didn't realise. For me it shows the tweet as part of the post.)
 
So happy that the A1 airport flyer now drops people off right in front of the terminal building again, and picks them up there as well. Makes a huge difference in terms of experience. Big thank you to whoever sorted that out.

Now we just need to get the airport flyer back to pre-pandemic frequency which was more like every 6-8 minutes I believe, whereas it's at best every 12 minutes now I think (and that's with a lot more mppa).
 

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