Infrastructure, Construction & Developments

[TheLocalYokel]

Thanks for that Jono.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I had a wander around the perimeter of the airport today.

The three new aircraft stands at the extreme western end of the apron are really beginning to take shape. It's quite a civil engineering task. The small hill I mentioned in a previous post seems to have been removed with the levelling of the apron surface apparently under way (difficult to see exactly from outside the airport boundary).

From the public road side (in the dip past the entrance to the golf club) the stands sit behind an embankment which looks 10-15 metres high in places on the 'land side'. The embankment is also present airside at a much lesser height.

Apart from the topography needing to be dealt with, the embankment will no doubt act as a safety feature in that aircraft won't be able to disappear over the top, and it might also mask noise towards the handful of nearby houses.

superking recently mentioned the massive South Side car park which really is beginning to take shape, running as it does from the Silver Zone on the A38 almost to Winters Lane, for those who know BRS.

 

[kraktoa]

The 10 new egates are now visible to the travelling public. The hoardings have been removed. Apparenly testing under way and will go live on April 17th. Looks impressive i must say.

As you descend down the arrivals staircase you see the new egates right in front of you. Hall looksbigger too.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The 10 new egates are now visible to the travelling public. The hoardings have been removed. Apparenly testing under way and will go live on April 17th. Looks impressive i must say.

As you descend down the arrivals staircase you see the new egates right in front of you. Hall looksbigger too.

Thanks Kraktoa. Let's hope this and other work in the immigration area will prove worthwhile in terms of having some positive effect on queuing inbound passengers.

 

[Sierra3]

Have read the following article with regard to RYR offering connections / interlining

http://www.fly4free.com/flight-deal...free.com&utm_medium=pushapp&utm_campaign=push

Don't see RYR having the right sort of route structure / frequencies at BRS to consider connections here. BUT that which RYR does, EZY often follows and EZY (with BRS as its biggest UK base outside the London area), does have the right sort of flight patterns / frequencies to consider such an option.

The BRS Master Plan does include connections, none of which have come to pass.

Appreciate that this is based on the theory that EZY will follow RYR, however if it did does BRS have, or can it put in place, the connections infrastructure CTA / CTA; DOM / INT etc with reasonable volume?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Apart from domestic destinations such as EDI and GLA, BFS and NCL, there aren't many routes with more than one rotation a day - GVA, BCN and AMS, plus the sun routes to ALC, AGP, PMI and FAO certainly do but that's about it.

So there might be limited opportunities for BRS to become an easyJet 'hub' or at least an airport through which connections can be made. As to the physical accommodation needed at the airport for such an initiative, I must defer to those with more working knowledge of BRS as an airport than I possess.

 

[Marko1]

I'm sure this has already been answered before but approx how many stands are free overnight this summer. Is there capacity for say another based airline for example ?

 

[tpm]

The 10 new egates are now visible to the travelling public. The hoardings have been removed. Apparenly testing under way and will go live on April 17th. Looks impressive i must say. As you descend down the arrivals staircase you see the new egates right in front of you. Hall looksbigger too.

Good timing too! Just seen the new gates for the first time. Used these before at other airports. Like them very much - they're easy to use and fast.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'm sure this has already been answered before but approx how many stands are free overnight this summer. Is there capacity for say another based airline for example ?

Someone who I believe works at the airport answered this a few months ago but I can't remember in which thread. I can't recall the specific details but in essence things were becoming tight.

I suppose this summer will be 'as you were' with an additional easyJet aircraft but one less Ryanair aircraft. The three stands that are being constructed ought to help but they seem to be 'towing' stands (if that's the correct description).

From the airport's perspective, but not from the airline employees', I suppose it would make things easier if Ryanair dropped to three or even two based aircraft as they did a few years ago whilst still retaining their programme by the use of aircraft from other bases.

If the airport is to reach 10 mppa it will either need more stands or rely on a greater proportion of flights being operated by aircraft from elsewhere.

On a number of occasions we've discussed the plans to demolish the admin building (old terminal) to create more aircraft stands but there doesn't seem to be any timeline on this.

Good timing too! Just seen the new gates for the first time. Used these before at other airports. Like them very much - they're easy to use and fast.

So hopefully they might make some sort of impact in reducing the length of queues at immigrations seen so often in recent times.

 

[ljm104]

It's been several months since I used the airport. Does anyone know the status of the western extension? My understanding was that it was due to be completed soon. When I was last there in Feb in the drop off area there still seemed to be a great deal of work going on

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's been several months since I used the airport. Does anyone know the status of the western extension? My understanding was that it was due to be completed soon. When I was last there in Feb in the drop off area there still seemed to be a great deal of work going on

I thought that the final part of the western extension (immigration zone) was supposed to be completed around the end of this month.

Like you I'm hoping someone can be more specific.

 

[ljm104]

On a separate point, now that we know a Thompson 787 is either going to be based, or very regular visitor, will the airport install an airbridge on the central walkway as has been featured in the design proposals?

Long haul to Latin America and the Caribbean are probably not 'budget' customers. Indeed there is a premium cabin on the TUI 787.

I keep getting soaked waiting on air stairs at Bristol so an occasional airbridge would be welcome. Of course EZY would probably decline to use it!

 

[Kernow Bravo]

One imagines that QR representatives would have visited both BRS and CWL before making their final decision.

Three air bridges at CWL with associated supporting infrastructure would certainly have given a strong indication of an airport ready to partner with a major intercontinental airline.

BRS is aiming to lure westcountry passengers away from LHR, where airbridges are the norm. Obviously BRS has to grow in a managed, sustainable way, but one or more airbridges would be a major step forward towards dispelling the perception that BRS is primarily a bucket & spade airport.

The QR decision is a reality check for BRS. Any true aspiration to attract one or more major intercontinantal airlines over the next few years, particularly with 787 or A350-size aircraft will, to my mind, require demonstration of the readiness and ambition that has contibuted towards Cardiff's recent announcement.

 

[Jerry]

BRS is aiming to lure westcountry passengers away from LHR, where airbridges are the norm. Obviously BRS has to grow in a managed, sustainable way, but one or more airbridges would be a major step forward towards dispelling the perception that BRS is primarily a bucket & spade airport.

Problem for BRS is their main airlines don't really like airbridges. EZY and FR prefer to board with steps front and back because it's quicker. I noticed the difference when i flew with BE in April to EDI from CWL it was much quicker than boarding with KLM through one set of steps or an airbridge at AMS boarding with Delta. Though Vueling and IB Express at CWL use the bridges the bridges themselves aren't very movable and one doesn't work. Now that Qatar is coming they may replace one. Airbridges are expensive pieces of kit and BRS could find they spend a lot of money for them not to be used. I think they would need to confirm an airline is definitely going to use them before committing to that expenditure.

 

[tpm]

I find it hard to believe that the absence or presence of airbridges made any difference in this particular case. Surely these can be installed fairly quickly if needed, as long as provisions have been made (as they have, as I understand it).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I don't know because I haven't visited CWL for a few years, but I read recently, and Jerry seems to confirm it, that the CWL airbridges may not be suitable for a Qatar-type operation. The airport might well have to acquire one that is more suitable. As Qatar isn't beginning operations at CWL until next year there would have been plenty of time to have an airbridge installed at BRS had Qatar gone there.

BRS has planning consents for an airbridge, and has said it will acquire one when needed, which many took to mean when a wide-bodied aircraft began a regular scheduled long haul service.

As an airport BRS is well ahead of CWL in terms of terminal provision. Its terminal infrastructure is bigger and more modern. The Aspire-Plus lounge would be ideal for Qatar's business class passengers. I've read that CWL will have to upgrade its own lounge to bring it up to Qatar's standard for its premium passengers.

BRS owners have spent over £200 million on infrastructure in the past two decades and there is much more to come so I think that shows ambition.

BRS, like most of the smaller regional airports, does probably give off a perception of being mainly a 'bucket and spade' airport, but a look at the top 20 routes in 2016 in passenger number terms dispels this to a degree. The top 20 routes handled 4.582 million of BRS's 7.6 million passengers in 2016 and were in descending order Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, Palma, Malaga, Alicante, Glasgow, Faro, Belfast, Geneva, Tenerife, Newcastle, Lanzarote, Barcelona, Paris, Krakow, Rome, Toulouse, Madrid and Ibiza.

I would have thought that only seven of them are out and out bucket and spade routes.

 

[Sierra3]

I don't know because I haven't visited CWL for a few years, but I read recently, and Jerry seems to confirm it, that the CWL airbridges may not be suitable for a Qatar-type operation. The airport might well have to acquire one that is more suitable. As Qatar isn't beginning operations at CWL until next year there would have been plenty of time to have an airbridge installed at BRS had Qatar gone there.

BRS has planning consents for an airbridge, and has said it will acquire one when needed, which many took to mean when a wide-bodied aircraft began a regular scheduled long haul service.

As an airport BRS is well ahead of CWL in terms of terminal provision. Its terminal infrastructure is bigger and more modern. The Aspire-Plus lounge would be ideal for Qatar's business class passengers. I've read that CWL will have to upgrade its own lounge to bring it up to Qatar's standard for its premium passengers.

BRS owners have spent over £200 million on infrastructure in the past two decades and there is much more to come so I think that shows ambition.

BRS, like most of the smaller regional airports, does probably give off a perception of being mainly a 'bucket and spade' airport, but a look at the top 20 routes in 2016 in passenger number terms dispels this to a degree. The top 20 routes handled 4.582 million of BRS's 7.6 million passengers in 2016 and were in descending order Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, Palma, Malaga, Alicante, Glasgow, Faro, Belfast, Geneva, Tenerife, Newcastle, Lanzarote, Barcelona, Paris, Krakow, Rome, Toulouse, Madrid and Ibiza.

I would have thought that only seven of them are out and out bucket and spade routes.

Depends how you define 'bucket & spade'!; Geneva (for ski in winter) & Barcelona (for the Costa in summer) COULD be more substantially leisure destinations than business; which would make 9 in total if my counting follows yours! Obviously most destinations will have a mix of business & pleasure - its a matter of emphasis.
Take AMS for example - don't know, but suspect the majority of KLM pax are business whilst EZY is more leisure based.
IMHO an airline with a good FF programme (usually a legacy carrier) has a better chance of picking up business pax - at BRS these are limited to KLM, probably EI when it rejoins One World and (not sure) BMI with LH at FRA & MUN?
A LCC FFP doesn't quite have the cachet!

 

[kraktoa]

Can confirm that EZY Paris and AMS is mainly leisure travellers. Just a Handful of veteran business frequent travellers in there wearing suits.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

easyJet reckons that 2 million of its 4.2 million passengers carried through BRS in 2016 were travelling for business.

https://www.bristol247.com/business/news-business/record-year-easyjet-bristol-airport/

Looking at the wider passenger number spread, if the top 20 routes in 2016 carried 4.582 million passengers that represents around 60% of the 7.6 million the airport handled last year. It follows that the other 93 routes handled just 40% which suggests there must be some fertile ground in parts of that for significant expansion.

 

[Sierra3]

Can confirm that EZY Paris and AMS is mainly leisure travellers. Just a Handful of veteran business frequent travellers in there wearing suits.

But those 2 destinations have 2 carriers, one out of each mould, LCC and legacy - haven't personally tried BMI or KLM out of BRS but, looking at the fares, I assume BMI to be more of a business carrier.