Bristol Airport - General Thread

[TheLocalYokel]

Consultative Committee

The minutes of the last Consultative Committee Meeting (end of July this year) have been published.

Robert Sinclair, airport CEO, confirmed the very busy summer season and described the outlook as 'quite positive'.

Passenger figures were up 4% after the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2009; the first quarter saw an increase of nearly 10% over 2009 so in percentage terms the rise is tapering off.

The CEO said that over 20,000 passengers per day are being handled at peak times which is 'presenting a new set of challenges to cope within the airport's existing infrastructure'.

I think the last bit was a political statement aimed at the expansion objectors, a leading member of which sits on the consultative committee, because the airport would have been handling more passengers at peak time in 2008 with a reduced infrastructure compared with this year's.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]'Strange' jockey jailed for being drunk on flight

A drunken jockey with a flying phobia who was abusive and "strange" on a flight from Malaga to Bristol has been jailed for five months.

Cabin crew could smell alcohol on Andrew Cairns' breath as he boarded the easyJet Airbus on June 22, Bristol Crown Court heard.

They saw him drinking a clear liquid before he kicked and barged flight attendant Tomas Blackman, stared at a female passenger and tried to wreck a smoke detector in the toilet.

Concerned aircrew reported him to the aircraft's captain, who radioed on to Bristol Airport to alert police.

Cairns, 30, of Barnstaple, pleaded guilty to being drunk in an aircraft.

Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told him: "The Court of Appeal has said that the offence of being drunk on an aircraft requires condign punishment to deter others.

"Apart from your behaviour towards the crew, I regard it as a particular danger that you tried to destroy a smoke detector in the lavatory. It is no excuse that you have a form of phobia of flying."

James Ward, prosecuting, said the aircraft had two flight crew, four cabin crew members and 128 passengers.

The court heard Cairns was apologetic and remorseful for his actions.

He had previous convictions for burglary, dishonesty and begging.

David Maunder, defending, conceded his client's drunk and strange behaviour would have been annoying to cabin crew and upsetting to passengers.

He stressed that no physical harm was caused to anyone, there was no damage caused to the aircraft and no actual disruption to the flight.

Mr Maunder said his client had not drunk for two months, was attending Alcoholic's Anonymous, and was working as a jockey. Peter Morone confirmed Cairns was "doing fantastic" in his battle against the booze and said his friend couldn't believe his actions on the flight.[/textarea]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Str ... ticle.html

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Flight smoker is discovered

A woman was spoken to by police after she was caught smoking on a flight to Bristol.

Cabin crew discovered the woman smoking in the rear toilet of the aircraft during the easyJet flight from Barcelona on Sunday evening.

The captain of the aircraft asked for airport police to meet the plane when it landed at 11.30pm.

Passengers on the plane were asked to remain in their seats for 10 minutes after landing while police boarded the aircraft.

Travellers were then allowed to disembark the plane while officers dealt with the woman, who has not been named.

She was spoken to by officers who advised her that all airlines operate a no smoking policy.

One passenger from the Barcelona flight said: "I have no idea what happened to her but I hope she got a heavy fine."

Spokesman for easyJet, Andrew McConnell, said:"The safety and wellbeing of our passengers is always our top priority, and therefore we take this matter extremely seriously."

No one was arrested in relation to the incident.[/textarea]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Fli ... ticle.html

In some ways there is a valid argument that a 'speaking to' from the police was sufficient but what message does it send out?

People will read this and think that they will only get a ticking-off if they feel the need to light up and would the police action have been any different if the passenger had been puffing away whilst in her seat?

If smoking is banned, partly presumably on safety grounds and certainly on comfort grounds for many non-smokers, what is the point if no action is to be taken when people are found transgressing?

Furthermore, as a result of this woman's actions other passengers were inconvenienced by being held on the aircraft for ten minutes.

I would have been extremely annoyed if this had taken me past midnight meaning I had to shell out for another day's parking at the airport.

 

[Aviador]

I agree but although a written law, could it also be considered as waisting Police time? Perhaps say a £200 fine issued by the airline itself would be a better way of dealing with these sort of cases with a flying ban for repeat offenders?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The main ingredient of the offence of 'wasting police time' is that a person must give false information tending to show that an offence has been committed, or to give rise to apprehension for the safety of any persons or property, or tending to show that he has information material to any police inquiry.

Simply doing something that might be regarded as wasting police time is not covered by the law as it currently stands.

As for the airline levying a 'fine' it could only be a civil charge that the airline would have to try to recover in the civil courts if the person concerned didn't pay up.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Bristol Airport gets ready for golf influx

Ryder Cup

Fans fly in for Ryder Cup

Bristol Airport is benefitting from its proximity to the 2010 Ryder Cup venue, Celtic Manor, with golf fans flocking to the South West airport ahead of this week’s showdown between the best golfers in Europe and the US.

Passenger loads on flights from across the UK and Europe are exceptionally high, and three additional charter services will be bringing in spectators from Amsterdam over the course of the weekend. In addition, a number of private business jets will also be operating into the Airport.

Teams bidding for the right to host the event in 2018 have also been making their mark. Passengers arriving at Bristol Airport during Ryder Cup week will be greeted by an advertisement from the French Golf Federation, part of a campaign to bring the high-profile tournament to Paris.

Bristol Airport is conveniently located for visitors to Celtic Manor, which is just 32 miles away by road. Onward travel using public transport can be booked online in advance or at the Fast Ticket machine in the terminal building. The Bristol Flyer bus service operates every ten minutes during peak times, linking the Airport to Bristol Temple Meads rail station. Total journey time to Newport station is just over an hour.[/textarea]

http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/news-an ... r-cup.aspx

I wonder why the charter flights are arriving from Amsterdam. Are the Dutch particularly fanatical golfers? It's not a sport I follow closely, much preferring a long walk in the countryside without the encumbrance of a club to knock a little ball into a little hole.

 

[Aviador]

I'm not over keen on golf myself. I can't understand why anyone would want to stand around in the cold damp autumnal weather watching it.

 

[Bigman]

Question...can you see aircraft on approach in Weston-super-Mare, and if so how close do they come?

Strikes me that looking at where Weston is, the skies above must be quite busy with BRS, and possibly CWL traffic.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Question...can you see aircraft on approach in Weston-super-Mare, and if so how close do they come?

Strikes me that looking at where Weston is, the skies above must be quite busy with BRS, and possibly CWL traffic.

When the BRS westerly runway is operational departing traffic for the Mediterranean, most French destinations (but not Cdg or Nice), Canary Islands plus the Channel Islands, Plymouth, Newquay and Scilly Isles normally outbound via Exmoor and Berry Head in Torbay (except PLH, NQY and Scilly Isles). This means that for the most part they fly overhead Weston in the process of a left turn. Traffic for Scotland, Ireland, North America and the North of England exit via Brecon in South Wales and pass Weston several miles to the north. Everything else normally does a 180 a few miles after take-off to head for the London area.

So Weston does see a lot of outbound BRS traffic (probably a third to a half of the total) when the westerly runway is in use. The Cardiff westerly runway is normally in use at these times and traffic that inbounds to CWL via the London area will overhead the southern outskirts of Weston en route to final approach. Inbounds from the south to CWL generally turn onto finals south of Weston and inbounds from Brecon usually turn onto finals out over the Bristol Channel although on clear days you can sometimes see them from Weston if you are looking specifically.

On easterly days the situation is more or less reversed so far as BRS is concerned though sometimes inbounds via Brecon or even via London will be pushed south almost to Weston before turning onto finals.

Easterly runway takeoffs from CWL usually don't come too near Weston although there can be exceptions.

I live near the approach to the BRS westerly runway (27) about seven-mile finals and on clear days it is not uncommon to see a KLM F70 going into BRS with a company F70 a few thousand feet above en route to CWL, often in the same view.

 

[Bigman]

Thanks for that Yokel. I might have to give Weston a bash at some point.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Christmas Day Closure

For the first time in many years BRS was closed on Christmas Day.

Typically there are around a half dozen arrivals and a similar number of departures with KLM usually operating two or three rotations with the rest being charter flights.

I thought perhaps that KLM Cityhopper wasn't operating on Christmas Day this year and that maybe some of the charters had been retimed to avoid the 25th until I noted that Durham Tees Valley had a KLM arrival on its board.

Perhaps other regional airports in the UK had KLM flights as well.

If so I don't know why BRS didn't or why it closed.

 

[Aviador]

According to a member of the DSA forum here on Forums4airports they apparently had two Thomson Airways flights. More locally to me, LBA had two or three KLM rotations as well as PIA who operated a trans continental flight to Islamabad. In the past Thomson Holidays has operated a flight but generally speaking the airport normally closes.

As far as I remember only about ten years or so ago, no flights operated out of any UK airport, including Heathrow. Unfortunately airlines are finding it irresistible to operate flights on Christmas day. It's sad because Christmas day is becoming more and more like a normal day every year. I understand when people say that not everybody is religious but I don't think it's about religion, it's about being able to spend time with your family without hindrance from our work responsibilities.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I seem to remember that LHR had a fairly comprehensive service of long haul routes on Christmas Days in the 1980s, though probably not the normal full daily service. Domestic routes seemed to be the ones that didn't operate.

Odd then that BRS had no KLM Cityhopper rotations this year if other regional airports had them.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A busy day with ski flights

The BRS arrivals and departures boards caught my eye today with 76 inbound and 76 outbound flights, a high number for winter (usually between 50 and 65 daily this time of the year).

There were nine ski charter flights:

Thomson Toulouse and Turin

Thomas Cook Turin and Kittila

Flybe Toulouse and Geneva

Small Planet Chambery

Monarch Sofia

Balkan Holidays Sofia

and ten scheduled flights to ski destinations:

easyJet Geneva (x 4), Toulouse, Grenoble, Lyon, Salzburg and Innsbruck

Ryanair Girona

Bristol has had a strong ski market for many years and it hasn't diminished in the recession.

My calculations make 14 charter flights and 37 scheduled flights each week to ski destinations between the Christmas Holiday period and mid to late March.

easyJet alone has 18 weekly flights to Geneva, flying 2 x daily on M, Tu, W, Th and F and 4 x daily on Sat and Sun.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BRS CEO's report at last Consultative Committee Meeting.

The minutes for the consultative committeee meeting held on 3 November 2010 have now been belatedly published on the BRS website.

I have picked out some items from the report of Robert Sinclair, airport CEO, with my own comments in italics.

1. Peak summer in 2010 was similar to 2008 and 2009 and placed additional pressure on infrastructure and staff. 2010 wasn't quite as busy as summer 2008 in numbers but busier than 2009.

2. The customer experience during the summer peak period 'was not something the airport was proud of' with security and immigration queues highlighted, though the latter was not in the airport's control. Good to see the airport boss admit publicly what many passengers complain about, though the fast-track system still fosters a belief amongst some that security is a money-maker for the airport when it shouldn't be and that there is an incentive to slow the general queue to encourage more people to pay for the fast-tracking. I await with interest what improvements, if any, the airport institutes for summer 2011.

3. The western walkway (opened in late spring 2010) brought about a significant reduction in the requirement to bus passengers from terminal to aircaft and vice versa, reducing the overall percentage of passengers moved in this way from about 50 to 20. After the morning peak most aircraft are now able to use a contact stand. Passengers had taken a while to become used to the facility and complaints had been received about the length of the walkway and not being aware of the distance. A number of measures (not stated what they are) had been put in place to improve the situation for passengers and complaints had reduced but it is still proving an issue with passengers.The distance from the main part of the departure terminal to the far end of the walkway which is at first floor level is 450 metres. It was built as general permitted development without the need for formal planning consent so the airport was limited in the facilities it could install. There will always be a small number of passengers who will complain if they have to walk for than fifty to a hundred metres to anywhere.

4. The imposition of air passenger duty was the major reason for Continental Airlines withdrawing their Newark service as more passengers now use European hubs to avoid the apd. This seems to be one of a number of reasons given for the departure of CO from the airport. I'm not sure how relevant it is in that other countries, notably Germany, are introducing similar taxes.

5. The CEO attnded the routes conference in Vancouver in the late summer and returned with a 'positive view' of 2011 and for 'sustained growth in 2012 onwards'. We shall see.

 

[Aviador]

Thanks for posting that TheLokelYokel. It gives us non-locals a good insight into the airport.

I'm reading this with a Lem-sip at my side. I've been coming down with the Flu today. I blame the wife because she's had it for the best part of a week. Fortunately for Becham's we're keeping the company afloat single-handedly. :coco: My head hurts and I feel sick. (Sympathy please) lums:

Back to your post,

Good to see the airport boss admit publicly what many passengers complain about, though the fast-track system still fosters a belief amongst some that security is a money-maker for the airport when it shouldn't be and that there is an incentive to slow the general queue to encourage more people to pay for the fast-tracking. I await with interest what improvements, if any, the airport institutes for summer 2011.

Airports actively look for ways of increasing turnover and if this mean milking a bad situation then "so be it" seams to be the way airports look at it. However, I am not sure that airports look for incentives to slow queues down. Unfortunately it is extremely hard to man the required security channels as all airports suffer from peaks and troughs in flight departures which adds to the frustration. Clearly there is a cost implication for manning additional scanners at airports during peak hours.

The distance from the main part of the departure terminal to the far end of the walkway which is at first floor level is 450 metres. It was built as general permitted development without the need for formal planning consent so the airport was limited in the facilities it could install. There will always be a small number of passengers who will complain if they have to walk for than fifty to a hundred metres to anywhere.

The walkway was put in place primarily so passengers didn't have to walk across the apron in inclement weather. Here at Leeds we don't have a walkway which would be useful but we do have two airbridges. They are a godsend when the weathers bad but unfortunately many airlines don't or wont use them these days as they add to the cost. Both timewise and charges I believe. At BRS you have both EZY and FR operating the majority of the flights and neither of them like using airbridges, FR in particular. It makes me laugh though because people will have complained before and probably recommended a walkway. Now the complaints will say they are walking too far. You can't win. I don't know if BRS has travelators but Perhaps they could be considered.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Bristol Airport installs vertical-axis wind turbine

A vertical-axis wind turbine has been successfully installed at Bristol Airport as part of a pilot project to trial the use of renewable energy on the site.


The installation of the Quiet Revolution qr5 was funded through an investment of £39,000 from the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency). It is located on the approach road to the terminal building.

At 20m in height, the wind turbine is shorter than lighting masts already in place across the airfield, ensuring it does not interfere with radar and airport safety systems. It began harnessing wind power earlier this month.


.South Gloucestershire-based wind-turbine specialist Aeolus Power Wind Energy ran the project from site survey to installation.

Christine Griffiths, partner of Aeolus Power Wind Energy, said: ’When siting a wind turbine it is crucial to ensure that the site has sufficient wind and that the appropriate turbine is installed. The qr5 is ideal for Bristol Airport as it was specifically designed to work well in environments close to people and buildings.’

Aeolus Power Wind Energy has installed around 100 wind turbines across the UK for farmers, schools, businesses and communities, including the first 50kW wind turbine in Cornwall and the first in Scotland.

Read more: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/brist ... z1Bfp4eynU[/textarea]

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Continuous film at BRS landside depicting the airport's history looking to the future

I was at Bristol Airport this week for the first time in quite a while.

I noticed an innovation in the landside arrivals area where a tv monitor shows a continuous film on a loop (about four to five minutes long) of the history of Bristol Airport, including the original site at Whitchurch. There is some old newsreel of the opening of Lulsgate as an airport in the 1950s and bits of news film depicting momentous events in the airport's history since then.

There is no sound just written titles.

I suppose it's something to entertain those people awaiting passengers from inbound flights and the film finishes with a look to the future with the 10 mppa mentioned.

10 mppa is the cap imposed by planners when they approved the expansion plans last year. BRS had been talking about 12 mppa by 2030.

I wonder how the owners will get around the cap if the 10 mppa is reached at some point.

No doubt new arguments will be put forward then but I suspect this is all some way into the future.

I don't know if there is a similar film airside as I haven't been there for many months.

 

[Aviador]

All airports should have one. Over the years the BBC has had regional programmes covering my local airport but it sounds like a really good idea to have a recording playing at the airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Looks as though the airport history film I mentioned is something new and there may be a more extensive display that either wasn't there when I visited earlier this week or I somehow missed.

[textarea]New display showcases Bristol Airport's history

Archive film and photos on show in terminal

A display featuring archive film and photos of Bristol Airport dating back as far as its opening in 1930 has been unveiled. Passengers can now take a trip down memory lane before checking in ahead of departure or on arrival back in Bristol on an inbound flight.

The display, entitled ‘Our Amazing Journey’, has been compiled by Bristol Airport’s Community Relations Manager, Mike Littleton. Mike, who has worked at the Airport in a range of different roles for 40 years, selected memorable highlights from Bristol Airport’s 80 year history, including several royal visits and some unusual aircraft.

From the early days at the Airport’s original site in Whitchurch, through the package holiday boom of the 70s, to the present day, the film shows how facilities for travellers have developed.

The display is located on the ground floor of the terminal in the landside arrivals area.[/textarea]
http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/news-an ... itage.aspx