Bristol Airport - General Thread

[TheLocalYokel]

Turnover and Profits Up Again

In the year ending 31 December 2015 Bristol Airport made a pre-tax profit of £31.2 million on a turnover of £76.8 million. The previous year saw a pre-tax profit of £29.7 million on a turnover of £70 million.

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/southwest/growth-for-airport-after-record-passenger-numbers

 

[CraigW92]

Extremely impressed with Bristol on my travels on departing Wednesday (8th) with Easyjet, security was fast and efficient, the expanded departure area is extremely relaxing and far more room to move around, making it look a lot less cramped, also the new roof terrace is a nice touch, quite busy with a lot of passengers relaxing with a drink before a flight, much improved from last year when I was here, actually seems to becoming the airport of my choice woth a £60 return flight to Lisbon booked in January and a £548 saving on a holiday to Paphos compared to Cardiff next summer, it's extremely difficult to look past as a number one option

 

[Ray Finkle]

Some good news for Bristol.

Relief across the South West as government decides not to devolve air passenger duty

 

[alphagolf]

Some good news for Bristol.

Relief across the South West as government decides not to devolve air passenger duty

Good news for Bristol Airport and the South West region, this will provide some certainty to new airlines considering Bristol, more so for the reinstatement of a direct BRS - NYC and any ME3 carrier to the gulf (Dubai, Doha) etc.

I think it's just a matter of time before we see new long haul routes..........

 

[Ray Finkle]

It certainly eases any fears that long haul routes could gain a significant advantage by operating from Cardiff.

It would be nice to hear an announcement for 2017 to follow on from the great news about the Thomson 787. It's been said that they are close to the return of NYC.

I'm sure The Local Yokel will also be pleased to hear this as it seemed a big concern of his

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'm sure The Local Yokel will also be pleased to hear this as it seemed a big concern of his

I'm pleased in the sense that I never believe that government interference in commercial matters using a fiscal approach in this way is right. I concede that there can be occasions when regions of a country need help but to interfere in the competitive process of competing businesses, albeit one is state owned, can sometimes lead to the Law of Unintended Consequences raising its unwelcome head.

The airports can now fight their own corners on a level playing field using their own individual strengths. CWL certainly has some advantages over BRS - its runway length for starters and its generally better weather for another. It is also the national airport for Wales with strong Welsh Government support although the Westminster minister who broke the APD news pointed out that North Wales would never have benefited from the devolution of this tax. There is also speculation now whether Scotland will be able to reduce its APD by the 50% its government originally intended with a long term aim of reducing it to nil.

I have no doubt that efforts will still be made to have the APD devolution put into the Wales Bill currently being formulated but without UK government support it will be a difficult fight for the proponents.

It may be that the news will indeed concentrate the minds of such as United/American and Qatar on establishing services from BRS. If they don't but choose CWL at least it will be on even commercial grounds and not because of a favourable tax regime. Competition between neighbouring airports is also generally good for punters.

 

[kraktoa]

Bristol appear to have invested in its social media dept and like most other companies has a dedicated twitter team. Responses to tweets are quick. But the number of angry tweets about security and immigration queues is rising. Also bad and slow service at the eateries. They have invested but not necessarily wisely. They need more trained staff and need to reel in some of the food outlets and Border Force who are giving the airport brand a bad name.

The airport does not really care for returning pax as they are of no monetary value. Hence the tiny arrivals hall. Border Force are a govt organisation and therefore short staffed and work at their own pace.

But these things affect the brand.

 

[kraktoa]

The early morning security queues are getting ridiculous. The reason is quite clearly that ICTS cannot retain its staff. Who wants to work for zer hour contracts and minimum wage and shift times that start at 2 or 4 am. They cannot retain staff and they hire a big batch of people who are looking to leave after just one shift. 2 or 4 am starts is not the way to attract a young workforce on zero hour contracts.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol appear to have invested in its social media dept and like most other companies has a dedicated twitter team. Responses to tweets are quick. But the number of angry tweets about security and immigration queues is rising. Also bad and slow service at the eateries. They have invested but not necessarily wisely. They need more trained staff and need to reel in some of the food outlets and Border Force who are giving the airport brand a bad name.

The airport does not really care for returning pax as they are of no monetary value. Hence the tiny arrivals hall. Border Force are a govt organisation and therefore short staffed and work at their own pace.

But these things affect the brand.

The early morning security queues are getting ridiculous. The reason is quite clearly that ICTS cannot retain its staff. Who wants to work for zer hour contracts and minimum wage and shift times that start at 2 or 4 am. They cannot retain staff and they hire a big batch of people who are looking to leave after just one shift. 2 or 4 am starts is not the way to attract a young workforce on zero hour contracts.

The local rag has got hold of the story:

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/huge-q...-of-terminal/story-29413415-detail/story.html

Whatever the reason(s) it's clearly quite unacceptable. The airport seems to admit its partly down to staff shortages without elaborating.

If they don't sort it out quickly word will get around and passengers will look to fly from somewhere else.

I'm not impressed with the airport's use of Twitter. Although I'm not a fan of social media sites - I'm not a member of any - I do visit some airport Twitter sites from time to time and when anyone complains about something at BRS the stock reply seems to be that the relevant manager of the department, outlet concerned will be informed. No doubt restrictions on the number of characters permitted by Twitter limits any sort of meaningful reply but the current system always makes me think that not much will be done other than a message being passed to the supervisor in charge of that department, outlet etc. I think it's poor PR.

When situations arise as described in the linked newspaper article I'd love to see senior managers, including the CEO, make themselves visible on the 'factory floor' clearly identified to take some of the flack and try to explain what went wrong. Perhaps they do but I've never seen it.

 

[kraktoa]

ICTS are the contractors effectively for the Dept of Transport to manage the security searching of passengers. I dont know if they have any service level agreements built into their contracts either with the DoT or the airport. I dont know if there are any penalties imposed if they cant deliver to their agreements. I dont think there is as it is a security issue and no compromises can be made. But if they are unable to staff the security search areas then the Airport brand loses out as ICTS are not keeping their side of the agreement, to the detriment of the passengers.

The airport cannot dictate to the government so they are stuck with an ever decreasing work force in ICTS and Border force.

 

[kraktoa]

I was speaking to a manager of one of a big brand chain selling upmarket clothing. 4 staff to manage a 9 to 9 operation. That is just opening hours. All stock has to be brought in by these staff before opening up etc. How can they do it over a 7 day period? 363 days a year? At minimum wage too. No one wants to stay.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Are you saying that the UK government dictates to airports which company they must use to manage passenger security including searches and that company is ICTS?

If there is such a turnover of security staff as seems the case one must wonder what background checks are made. For obvious reasons a searcher cannot be employed without a rigorous check on his/her background and this alone is time consuming if there is a continual turnover of staff.

BRS has not yet reached its busiest months this year so the outlook seems gloomy if action is not taken quickly to improve matters.

 

[kraktoa]

Afaik the contracts are signed with the DoT. It used to be G4s or serco a few years ago till they lost the contract. I believe they are then contracted to provide the security searches for passengers at various airports. At Bristol they are definetly not managed by the airport and are a separate entity, like Border Force and maybe to some extent the police (who are funded by the airport).

I know that staff can be moved by ICTS between airports to cover shortages. But come summer most other airports wont have spare capacity to send to Bristol.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thanks for that. Maybe airports should forcefully make the point that such organisations as the Border Force and security company staff are outside their control when situations arise such as the ones we are discussing.

Obviously the police presence is part of the local police (in BRS's case the Avon and Somerset Constabulary) and the airport will have no say on their operational work although good personal contacts between airport management and the officer in charge of the police unit ought to make for a harmonious working relationship. Does the airport fully fund the police presence? I know there have been arguments over the funding issue in the past.

 

[kraktoa]

The police are funded to the extent that the Airport dictates that police cannot be used for activities outside the airport perimeter. A&S will have to use police from nearby stations for any issues outside the airport boundaries. The airport police are for airport use only. It wasnt like that previously.

The airport regularly makes announcements suggesting that delays in arrivals are due to delays at Border Force.

 

[kraktoa]

The other issue is that the airport is happy to increase routes and passenger numbers without ensuring that related matters like Border Force staff and arrival facilities are also increased. The two dont go simultaneously. They sell slots and tickets first and then bother with the rest. So they are paying for their success or the travelling public is paying for their short sighted success.

Airlines like EZY are not going to be happy that between 4 am and 8 am there are a large number of flights scheduled and the passengers cant make it through to the planes. If the airport cannot put pressure on ICtS to improve matters, the airlines will talk with their feet. The airport is spinning it to suggest that the new security screening extension will help matters in the summer. It wont. Not unless ICTS can bring in more staff. The queues may not be reaching the doors, but the same number will be held up in a bigger extended area upstairs.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I wonder how much the west terminal extension will increase the arrivals area, especially for meeters and greeters, which can sometimes be crowded with incoming passengers having to find a path between those waiting for friends, relatives or business colleagues.

 

[kraktoa]

Correction to my assertion about contracts

http://www.ifsecglobal.com/icts-wins-prestigious-contract-at-bristol-international-airport/

ICTS won the contract for Bristol Airport.but they have to provide the services within the strict regulatory framework set by the DoT. I suspect they also have contracts with other airports under similar settings and therefore move staff between airports.

Therefore there must be some penalty imposed if targets not met.

 

[superking]

i have a mate that works security at the airport. he never goes into detail what goes on there. but one thing that does happen often is move staff from the airport to do work else where. one regular place is the bath & west show ground in shepton mallet,which is mostly summer jobs.

 

[Jake]

As an ex employee of ICTS its very easy for me to see how and why so many people leave, me myself only staying just under 6 months