CAA Provisional Statistics Update

[TheLocalYokel]

The CAA website has now removed all data (for all airports) relating to April, with this note:

April 2019 Airport Statistics has been removed due to a technical issue affecting Bristol data. The tables will be republished as soon as the issue has been resolved. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

 

[alphagolf]

Bristol Airport have now updated there facts and figures page on their website to reflect May 2019 stats and Year to date

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/facts-and-figures

 

[Marko1]

I’m in shock !!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol Airport have now updated there facts and figures page on their website to reflect May 2019 stats and Year to date

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/facts-and-figures

I note that the total for the first five months of the year is 3,228,263 which is 5.7% up on the same period last year. If 5.7% was the growth figure at the end of the year then on the CAA's figures (8,696,653 for the calendar year of 2018) the calendar year of 2019 would see a total not far off 9.2 million. The percentage rise for the year might be reined back a little during the forthcoming months but, unless something major and unforeseen occurs, the airport's assertion that 9 mppa will be breached this calendar year seems well founded.

Another point is that the 5.7% rise in passenger numbers between January and May has been achieved with a 10.35% reduction in aircraft movements. No doubt this has been achieved largely through the small aircraft operated by flybmi being taken out of the equation with more larger aircraft than flybmi's (althought not that many) raising the average load across the board - something that has been occurring at BRS most years this century.

It might not be welcomed by spotters but it is a better use of resources and something the airport should be emphasising in the debate with the climate change lobby.

 

[superking]

More passengers with less aircraft has to be a good thing.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA Stats April 2019

They have now been amended and show that 714,889 passengers passed through the terminal in the month, up 1.7% on April 2018. The rolling 12-month total is shown as 8.816 million.

The airport told me they had sent 716,405 to the CAA as the monthly total. Only around 1500 different but why?

 

[Seasider]

CAA Stats April 2019

They have now been amended and show that 714,889 passengers passed through the terminal in the month, up 1.7% on April 2018. The rolling 12-month total is shown as 8.816 million.

The airport told me they had sent 716,405 to the CAA as the monthly total. Only around 1500 different but why?

Maybe they take the other airport#s pax figure and give an average. If the other airport count under2s in their fogures, that could explain the difference.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Maybe they take the other airport#s pax figure and give an average. If the other airport count under2s in their fogures, that could explain the difference.

Each month the difference between the CAA's BRS pax figures and those of the airport are significant - usually several thousand per month fewer with the latter. In the calendar year of 2018 for example the CAA showed 8,696,653 and BRS 8,625,680.

However, only the domestic routes are shown from 'both ends' - in CAA table 12.3 - usually with varying results, so your theory can't be dismissed out of hand.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The first batch of CAA airport stats for May 2019 were published today but, once again, BRS is not included in the first batch.

 

[superking]

The first batch of CAA airport stats for May 2019 were published today but, once again, BRS is not included in the first batch.

Im not surprised about it at all. If they were in the first release I think the question would be like whats gone wrong.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Im not surprised about it at all. If they were in the first release I think the question would be like whats gone wrong.

It might also be the case that following April's fiasco the CAA will ensure they get the BRS figures correct in future and that might take them more time if they scrutinise everything more closely.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA Stats May 2019

Finally published for BRS today. They show that there were 850,481 terminal passengers, up 2% on May 2018. The airport's own May 2019 figure was 842,386 with its under 2s etc not counted, unlike the CAA.

The rolling 12-month total was 8.833 million which is up around 5.85% on the same time last year.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA Stats May 2019

I was reading a post in another forum concerning growth at an airport compared with that at its nearest peer which piqued my interest in BRS's situation.

For a number of years BRS has been the UK's ninth busiest airport and GLA the eighth busiest, but the gap has been closing.

In May this year BRS handled 850,481 terminal passengers and GLA 854,948 (transit passengers at both airports are small in number or non-existent some months), a difference of under 4,500. In May 2018 GLA handled 94,000 more than BRS and in May 2017 GLA handled 134,000 more than BRS.

12-month rolling totals in millions each May in 2019, 2018 and 2017 (GLA shown first) were respectively:

9.367/8.833; 9.830/8.344; 9.605/7.926

So in May 2017 GLA had carried 1.679 more passengers than BRS in the previous 12 months but the gap had reduced to 534,000 in the same period this year. Although GLA is currently going through a bad time with falling passenger numbers it's probably unlikely that BRS will actually overtake it, but if GLA 'loses' another near half million in the next 12 months (as it has done in the last 12 months) you never know.

The airport immediately below BRS in tenth position is BFS that is currently handling 2.328 million fewer passengers per annum than BRS.

 

[Marko1]

Could we see 1 million next month ?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Could we see 1 million next month ?

When June's figures are published we should get an idea of the likelihood of one million passing through in August. It might not be a million in BRS terms with their policy of not counting certain types of passenger but in CAA terms (which is the national comparator for airport passenger performance) it would need a rise of just under 3.69% on the August 2018 total of 964,549 - an additional 35,541 passengers.

June might not quite reach that percentage rise but with the extra easyJet aircraft (number 17) from July there must be a sporting chance. Had flybmi not exited the scene there would really have been no doubt.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Could we see 1 million next month ?

When June's figures are published we should get an idea of the likelihood of one million passing through in August. It might not be a million in BRS terms with their policy of not counting certain types of passenger but in CAA terms (which is the national comparator for airport passenger performance) it would need a rise of just under 3.69% on the August 2018 total of 964,549 - an additional 35,541 passengers.

June might not quite reach that percentage rise but with the extra easyJet aircraft (number 17) from July there must be a sporting chance. Had flybmi not exited the scene there would really have been no doubt.

Severn has set out in detail the easyJet and Ryanair programmes from BRS this August. They are both significantly increased over last August, especially easyJet, and together show more than 60,000 additional seats in the month. Even allowing for the loss of flybmi passengers that were included in August 2018 figures, it looks increasingly likely that the additional 35,000+ extra passengers over August 2018 that are required to breach one million this August will be achieved.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats June 2019

The first batch of airports has been published this morning. Needless to say BRS is not amongst them.

The airport is yet to publish its own stats for June.

 

[alphagolf]

Interesting little tweet I found about departure capacity at the top 10 airports for August 2015 to August 2019. Source OAG Aviation via @richstravels

The most noticeable point is that BRS has been placed at no.8 above GLA, I think this is based on BRS's capacity being higher for August '19 than GLA.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1156841013270503424

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Interesting little tweet I found about departure capacity at the top 10 airports for August 2015 to August 2019. Source OAG Aviation via @richstravels

The most noticeable point is that BRS has been placed at no.8 above GLA, I think this is based on BRS's capacity being higher for August '19 than GLA.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1156841013270503424

Thanks alphagolf. Interesting. I don't now why CWL say they have to wait until the end of August to analyse their passenger figures. The request was for the number of departing seats, not the loads. They must know that now. The other airports clearly do.

Looking at August 2018, the overall load factor from BRS would have been 93.48%. If that load factor pertains this August the monthly passenger total will be around 1,008,000.

I looked at some of the other airports in the list to see how they fared in August 2018, load factor-wise.

LHR 87.55%
MAN 91.45%
EDI 90.35%
BHX 90.95%
GLA 89.84%
BFS 94.04%

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BRS press release today.

Over 125,000 passengers are expected through the terminal over the four days of the August bank holiday weekend which is over 31,000 each day - about the same number that used the airport in its first year when the city's airport was moved from Whitchurch to Lulsgate in 1957. If the 4% growth on last year anticipated for the bank holiday weekend is replicated for the month of August that would just about see one million passengers passing through in a calendar month for the first time in the airport's history (in CAA terms, not the airport's with its exclusions). However, any substantial Ryanair strike later this month might get in the way of such a milestone.

Bristol Airport prepares for a busy bank holiday getaway

This year will be a record year for Bristol Airport with more than 125,000 passengers expected to use the Airport over the Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 23 August – Monday 26 August inclusive). An increase of 4% passenger growth compared to the same period last year.

www.bristolairport.co.uk

Bristol Airport prepares for a busy bank holiday getaway
Created: 14th Aug 2019

This year will be a record year for Bristol Airport with more than 125,000 passengers expected to use the Airport over the Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 23 August – Monday 26 August inclusive). An increase of 4% passenger growth compared to the same period last year.

With the summer season already on track to surpass previous passenger levels, airlines and tour operators are reporting strong bookings for what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year for air travel.

Passengers are taking advantage of new destinations on the Bristol Airport network including Biarritz (France) and Brindisi (Italy) and the sun destinations of Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt remaining strong.

However, it is not all one-way traffic. Bristol Airport is seeing an increase in visitors from Germany, Switzerland and Austria with passengers flying from Cologne, Basle, Milan and Vienna to meet friends and family and enjoy the holiday weekend together and to visit the region’s attractions.

Departing passengers are reminded to allow extra time for their journey to the Airport over the busy Bank Holiday weekend. In order to complete essential processes such as check-in, bag-drop, security and boarding, passengers are advised to arrive in the terminal a minimum of two hours in advance of their flight departure.

Arriving passengers can help keep time spent at border control to a minimum by having passports open to the photograph page and removing hats and sunglasses in advance of inspection, with families encouraged to go through the border together.