Bristol: Passenger Reviews, Q&A, and Travel Advice

[Severn]

Departing this morning from BRS to GVA with TUI (through Crystal Ski) at 06:05 .

The flight is full and the aircraft is parked on stand 19, which is one of the new ones built on the Old Terminal Building car park. We were bussed here passing a sea of easyJet’s parked on the Eastern apron.

It was a very easy and efficient journey through the airport this morning and only took 20 mins from arriving at the airport to exiting security - most of the time spent queuing with the hundreds of other TUI customers waiting to drop off their bags and skis.

I’m not expecting Geneva to be quite so simple... and a little more manic.

Happy New Year to all.

 

[superking]

The airport operating good and at a busy time as well. Happy new year and have a good holiday. Don't come back with any thing broken.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Have a good time, Severn. For an airport of BRS's size and catchment the ski market has been remarkable over many winters. Six flights to GVA alone today although that's actually one down on recent winters with the cessation of Thomas Cook.

I note your remark about GVA. It's not one of my favourite airports to pass through. Although its on-site railway station is a boon for accessing all parts of Switzerland and beyond, I find the airport itself not particularly user-friendly. I was last there in September and, as on some past occasions, we had to depart through what I always think of as giant circular garden summer houses with 3-4 departure gates and passengers queuing for various flights intermingling with each other in the middle of the summer house.

Another time we were taken by bus to a remote stand with one bus-load entering the aircraft at the front and the other at the back. Trouble was the passengers weren't all for the front or the back of the aircraft as the case may be, with the result that there was something of a rugby scrum in the aircraft aisle with people trying to get past each other to reach the other end of the aircraft.

I'll be interested to learn how you get on.

 

[Severn]

BRS - 31-AUG-21

Heading to Dublin today and departed from BRS to DUB with Ryanair. Would have liked to try the Aer Lingus service but timings didn’t work out and we instead went for the 13:20 FR507 to Dublin.

A very easy journey to and through the airport and was pleased to see the airport busy with passengers and movements.

It took us 40 minutes from leaving home in the centre of Bristol to completing security including bag drop and documents check - we used a taxi to get to the airport. Very impressive and well organised. It was clear a lot of effort has been made to be eco-friendly with many initiatives for recycling, compostable materials being used at various stages etc.

Below are some (average) photos of my journey through the airport.

A busy looking departure board in the main terminal:


Jet2 dedicated check-in:


Ryanair dedicated check-in:


TUI dedicated check-in:


easyJet dedicated check-in:


Testing Centre just before security:

Security:


Entrance to Duty Free - just after security:


First third of Duty Free:


Part Two to follow

 

[Severn]

Part Two

Ground Floor of terminal - after security




Ground Floor of terminal

Second Floor of terminal - showing the Eastern Apron:


Roof Terrace looking over the Eastern Apron:


First Floor - outside of Soho Coffee


Gate 27 - next to the terminal on the Eastern Apron. The Dublin based 737-800 on the left ready for boarding to Dublin. On the right is a Milan-BGY based B737-MAX200 of Malta Air (Ryanair) about to depart for Milan-BGY
View attachment 24297

Our Dublin flight was very nearly full, with only a few seats free

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Super pictures, Severn. Many thanks for posting. Have a great trip.

 

[andrewgreen]

Does anyone know when the airport lounges are due to open again please ?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Does anyone know when the airport lounges are due to open again please ?

According to the airport website the Aspire Lounge is open but with reduced hours, with the Aspire Plus Lounge temporarily closed.

With 80 airline departures today it might be thought that the time will soon arrive when both lounges resume normal service.

 

[tpm]

Went through the airport in both directions last week. First time in a while.

The airport experience itself was brilliant: no queues at check-in / bag-drop (KLM, 9am flight), no queues at security. Terminal somewhat busy, but didn't feel crowded. Not a lot of people were wearing masks in the terminal (not so brilliant, and a very different experience from Germany or Amsterdam), and hospitality establishments were very busy.

Bristol Flyer experience was disappointing: no longer drops you off right next to the terminal entrance, but instead circles around the hotel down to the new 'bus station' at the bottom of the MSCP. Unpleasant bus station setup and environment, and then you have to lug your bags uphill to the terminal entrance. Not great, especially if you're in a hurry. The uphill bit to the terminal, the road crossings, and the extra circling probably add an extra 5-10 minutes compared to the previous drop-off experience.

Airport arrival experience was also great (22.00h): From touchdown to leaving the terminal with your bags in 15 minutes, where else do you get that?

Bristol Flyer again not so great: only half-hourly service at this time of night, so I basically saw the 22.15 bus drive by just as I was lugging my bags back from the terminal down to the bus station. Next bus in half an hour, bleh. Waiting in front of the terminal for a flyer bus at night in the cold was never great, but at least you could always pop back into the terminal, and there were always lots of people around.

Standing almost alone in the dark in a fairly remote location next to the MSCP must feel less than safe for many travelers, not great. At least it wasn't raining.

There's a little bus station waiting room at least, but it looks like it was set up and designed by people who never use busses in their life. The screens in the waiting room only show the departure times for the long-distance coaches (Falcon), not for the A1 bus. There are only small windows out to the bus yard, so it's difficult to find a seat and keep an eye on what's happening out there (bus arriving etc.). I think they urgently need to add the flyer times to the departure screens and full-length windows out to the bus gates (or at least a camera + monitors).

Was actually looking at just getting an Uber on the way back, but it's very confusing where they're supposed to pick you up. And incredibly poor signage as well. On top of that, I wonder if something has changed with Uber drop-off/pick-up charges. I'm sure in the "old days" Uber used to charge £1 or £2 extra for the drop-off in the quick drop-off/pick-up area behind the terminal, even when the minimum amount was more for the public, but it's possible I'm misremembering that. In any case, it's been alleged elsewhere that Uber drop-offs/pick-ups now charge the full £5, same as a private vehicle basically - can anyone confirm that?

My understanding is that the bus station setup is just "temporary", but I'm guessing the transport hub next to the terminal or on top of the MSCP is still some time away?

Addendum: I noticed the MSCP was absolutely packed, despite insane prices (I was quoted like £150-180 for a couple of days, though perhaps that was because it was short notice).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re the new bus station site - it's actually been there since last year - I have passed through on a number of times in the past six months or so when using local buses, mainly the 54 and 55. My use has always been in the daytime. It's not a convenient site and I agree that the waiting room leaves much to be desired.

The A1 is still only at a 20-minute frequency during the day and, as you point out, less frequent at night. The A2 has not yet returned and the A4 to Bath still operates at a reduced hourly frequency. The Stagecoach Service to Exeter and Plymouth appears to be operating at or near its 24-hour frequency. I'm not sure about the National Express service to South Wales.

This bus station does seem to be temporary.

As far back as November 2020 the airport announced plans to bring forward the construction of the new Public Transport Interchange at a time when it, like most airports, had put all but essential development on the back burner. Things have gone quiet since then.

This is the relevant airport press release from November 2020.

Major Public Transport Operators Welcome Bristol Airport’s Public Transport Interchange Development

Major Public Transport Operators Welcome Bristol Airport’s Public Transport Interchange Development

www.bristolairport.co.uk

 

[MrFenner]

There seems to be a lot of delays of late, both departing and arriving flights affected. Some carriers experiencing over 30min delays on a regular basis...

Is this purely down to staff shortages or air traffic restraints across the continent or is the airport infrastructure simply not up to scratch?

All that can be said is of late it seems to be "Amazing delays start here"

😏

 

[Jerry]

I think many airports may well be experiencing a shortage of staff.

 

[MrFenner]

I think many airports may well be experiencing a shortage of staff.

Undoubtedly the case! And hopefully something that can be as short lived as possible - heading towards summer this doesn’t bode well for the airlines, airport and ultimately passengers’ experience (and this is of course not solely at BRS).

Personally I think the airline industry is running before it can walk post-pandemic…

 

[Red Flyer]

Unless you’re someone who’s been living under a rock for the past two years you would know the aviation industry has been decimated by many decisions beyond their control. This has led to many thousands of staff being made redundant and having to find new employment. Many have found another employer on similar and sometimes better wages than they were being paid. Getting them to simply resign and return to an industry that is still under the threat of possible further lockdown if Covid should rear its ugly head in the future is proving little short of impossible. To insinuate the industry is running before it can walk is more than a little disingenuous to those of us who rely on it for our livelihoods. Larger airports are obviously having some difficulties which we are working bloody hard to rectify. Fortunately for you the small airports don’t have this problem.

 

[BRSflyer]

I flew through BRS last week on Tuesday morning. The queues for security were back up almost to the boarding pass scan barriers, so although it took a good 20-25 minutes to get through security the line moved quickly. I think all but two lanes were open.

The staff were all very pleasant and there was a member of staff directing people to lanes.

Was impressed with BRS.

 

[CraigW92]

Flew from Bristol to Gran Canaria for a week with my girlfriend from the 29th April to the 6th may and I have to say the experience at Bristol and easyjet was absolutely fantastic on both the outbound and return legs

29/04/23 - BRS - LPA EZY2735 G-UHZJ A320N
6/05/23 - LPA - BRS EZY2736 G-UZMD A321N

Parked in the multi story car park for a week which was a decent price, easyjet check in was very swift considering we arrived at the peak afternoon wave , took around 15 mins or so which we thought was very good, security also very very quick I think most of the lanes were open so this took less than 5 minutes to get though to the departure lounge, very very busy in departures but this was to be expected especially in peak season, nice to see most places busy with passengers using the eating and drinking facilities, also seemed to be a lot more restaurants opened than I remember before the pandemic , I’m sure one of the more regular users will point this out if this was the case.

Boarding with easyjet was very good too, time we walked to the far end gate we. boarded and were away more or less on time, I will say Easyjet are absolutely fantastic to fly with , the new neos especially have great legroom and the crew are always willing to talk and make the flight very pleasant, second time using easyjet holidays and for sure they are one to keep an eye on in the new few years, cost me around £356 less than TUI for exactly the same holiday.

Coming back was equally as impressive flight left on time , crew one of the best I’ve had along with captain updates and also the 321 neo is an exceptional piece of kit, had to have an autopilot land has Bristol was fairly foggy but left thr plabe fairly quickly, 5 minutes through the passport gates, 20 minutes for bags and within 30 minutes or so we were on the way home

overall I’m very impressed and have been for sometime how Bristol have done things, invested heavily on making the airport a better experience and I think it shows, it’s an extremely hard choice to overlook to fly from at the current moment, fantastic flexibility on flights, destinations and durations, I look forward to my next visit

 

[Aviador]

Rate your experience using Bristol Airport

• Poor​

  Votes: 2 - 11.1%

• Average​

  Votes: 2 - 11.1%

• Good​

  Votes: 5 - 27.8%

• Excellent​

  Votes: 9 - 50.0%

I've captured the poll which was set so you couldn't alter your vote. The results are shown above. I have altered the poll now so anyone wishing to change their vote after a more recent flight can do that now.

 

[8mileshigh]

Over the last couple of months we have used Bristol Airport for two trips both with EasyJet.
The first was over Easter to Belfast, we were on the early morning departure on the Tuesday. Bag drop was busy but as we had paid for cabin bags we had speedy check-in, very quick and efficient. All security search areas were open and only took 10 minutes or so to get through. Bussed to a stand on the Eastern Apron onto a new A320 only about 75% full, On time departure and pleasant flight along the Welsh coast then sharp right up the Irish Sea.
The return flight a week later was an early evening departure, delayed by an hour or so as seems normal for flights later in the day. Parked on one of the front stands and had only a short wait for bags.
Our other flight was to Kefalonia on the first Saturday of half term, Traffic to the airport was slow and heavy from the roadworks at the bottom of Barrow Hill all the way to the traffic lights by the Airport Tavern. These lights seem to of created more problems than they solved. First time experience of the Silver Zone parking, very quick and efficient, particularly as there was a transfer bus waiting.
Quick check-in and security for our 16:50 take off. Surprisingly for half term our aircraft was an A319, usually it’s a A320. Old style interior and seats that give a cramped and dated feel. As expected about an hour late departure, thanks must go to Marius the cabin manager who had come in on his day off so that the flight was not cancelled.
Our return flight yesterday evening was running about an hour late, again these days as expected.
The arrival back at Bristol was not the best experience, we parked on one of the new stands on the eastern apron and waited 15 minutes for a transfer bus. Then a drive through a forest of easyJets. Once in the terminal both sets of toilets before the passport control were closed, it was a long queue to get to the passport control as many arriving passengers were merging, e gates were working and bearing in mind the number of flights arriving they were working well. In the baggage hall only one set of toilets were open, queue for the ladies was out the door towards belt 5. Bags arrived fairly soon and then straight onto a bus back to the silver zone. Time from on stand to driving out of the car park 1hour 15 minutes.
As we drove out of the car park passengers for early morning departures were arriving.
My impression is that at peak times the airport is just about coping, corridors seem cramped and claustrophobic. The staff are doing their best under trying conditions, passport control is only just big enough at the moment. When 12 million passengers a year are reached I cannot see how the airport will cope at peak times with the current set up.
Finally if you’re on an EasyJet late afternoon or evening flight get your food before you board, they’ve usually runout of more or less all food options by then.

 

[tpm]

Not impressed with the fast track service yesterday around 16.30. Took 20 minutes to get through, with performance/throughput monitors saying 29 minutes wait time in general (I assume that's the average wait time for the non-fast track queue).

 

[Aviador]

I guess that's the problem with fast track, as airports use it as a revenue stream. Does Bristol limit the number of fast track sales or is it open-ended 🤔