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BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 7 October 2008 : by J Davies

Customer Rating : 3/5

Would have to agree with previous comment, the security staff need to change the way they deal with passengers. Sour faced, curt, with bad attitudes., hardly the image Bristol Airport want to promote surely?

BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 27 August 2008 : by Paul MacCarthy

Customer Rating : 1/5

Having just used Bristol Airport for the second time - most unpleasant security staff I have ever encountered. Whilst appreciating that security is of the utmost importance there is surely a more pleasant way to operate than that of the sour faced and officious staff at Bristol.

BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 27 August 2008 : by Mark Burtenshaw

Customer Rating : 3/5

Bristol airport has expanded rapidly in recent years to cater for low cost, charter and scheduled airlines, but this expansion appears to have been achieved by bodging the layout of the airport. If you are unlucky enough to fly in or out during one of its busy periods, you can find yourself in a very long and sluggish queue to clear immigration or security (a particularly tortuously routed queue). The airport employees are usually friendly and do their best, but I sometimes get the impression that the airport is trying to handle more flights than it was originally designed to. In the main departure lounge, it seems that every time I fly from this airport, another chunk of the seating area has been stolen in order to open yet another ‘retail opportunity’, giving the once light and airy lounge the ambience of a motorway service station. Seating is now limited to a central area of the lounge, can be very crowded and with the constant bustle of passengers milling past on all sides, is not a pleasant place to kill time. This airport has a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to it: passing through it can either be straightforward or a stressful ordeal.

BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 27 August 2008 : by P Sutcliffe

Customer Rating : 3/5

Bristol is becoming a victim of its own success and as a result is rapidly going downhill. Took 30 mins to get the luggage off a 757 this evening, with apparently only one other plane in the whole airport. Then a nightmare bus ride to the car park - another half hour. And they have the nerve to charge for trolleys. Basically all the things which once made Bristol such an attractive choice are now in the past and we instead have a mini-Gatwick.

BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 2 August 2008 : by Anthony Matthews

Customer Rating : 3/5

I have to agree with the comments made in earlier postings about the lack of adequate immigration staff. I arrived back from Faro this morning - the flight was on time, but on disembarkation we joined a queue for passport control which started at the foot of the steps leading from the aircraft. I also think it really mean to charge for a trolley (a cheap shot in my view) and I also have a complaint about the high car parking charges. Bristol, previously, has been convenient for me based in South Wales for the variety of flights on offer, but having taken the best part of one hour and ten minutes today to get through immigration, pick up baggage and pick up my car, the airport is beginning to act like Heathrow or Gatwick. You need to sort yourself out, Bristol. I'm having second thoughts about using you in the future.

BRISTOL AIRPORT review : 22 July 2008 : by Andy George

Customer Rating : 5/5

Bristol Airport is a great resource for those living in Bristol, the South-west, Wales and beyond. I agree that it has been a victim of its own success but when I was there last week for a mid- morning flight, it was almost like they had opened the airport just for us! The new upstairs bar is huge with plenty of seating. Admittedly, it does have its busy periods during the day but it isnt a huge airport so you can turn up, check in and by the time you get through security, it is nearly time to board your plane. One down side is the car-parking at the airport. I landed in heavy rain recently and it seems pointless to wait for a bus to take you to the car park so you have to walk down some ramps, across a road and across a gravel car park. I hope plans are in place to do something about it (as well as covered walkways maybe?)

Bristol Airport review by Margaret Linton

23 May 2008   Customer Rating :

The car parking is really not convenient. There are no under cover walkways so if the weather is bad you and your luggage gets completely soaked. At one time too I thought the staff were unfriendly, but I think that has now changed and they seemed quite nice the last couple of times I was there. I would also support lots of other reviews where the lack of seating is mentioned - I certainly think more seats should be available downstairs.

Bristol Airport review by Charles Lock

15 April 2008   Customer Rating :

The airport has now started to charge -and it's a non-refundable charge- just to use a trolley. You have to find the device securing the trolleys, often some distance away, and pay £1 to borrow the trolley to help move your luggage from the drop off point or luggage pick up belts. Being a frequent user of the airport I find this incredibly mean- there is already enough hassle getting through security etc. Old people and those with kids, the ones who need a trolley, are faced with this extra difficulty.

Bristol Airport review by Richard Mills

9 April 2008   Customer Rating :

Living in Bristol; as a frequent traveller the airport is convenient, even for long haul flights. Better to connect via Amsterdam or Frankfurt than endure Heathrow. That said, trying to compete with Cribbs Causeway and the new Broadmead shopping centres creates a significant problem and has clearly not been thought through from the passenger perspective. The airport is frequently overcrowded and the passport control and search areas under-resourced. With one or two notable jobsworth exceptions the staff do their best but I fear that things will get worse with the summer and that some urgent action is taken now to head this off.

Bristol Airport review by P Higgins

19 March 2008   Customer Rating :

I have used Bristol airport mainly for business travel for over 10 years, to a variety of destinations in Europe and USA. Until recently the convenience of a local airport over London was a deciding factor for using Bristol as my gateway to hubs in mainland Europe. However the rapid expansion of low cost flights has resulted in a significant increase in waiting times to get through security check in. (the queue yesterday for security started at the left of the main entrance, in the extended checking-in hall.) The management have also decided in their wisdom to introduce a new range of shops thereby reducing the available seating areas, leading to cramped conditions, and standing room only in busy periods. On a plus point the staff are friendly. But this does not really compensate for what is really a local airport trying to punch above its weight. It is no longer possible for a business traveller to comfortably arrive, check in and board the flight 60 mins before departure in the early morning.

Bristol Airport review by M Preston

12 March 2008   Customer Rating :

I have used BRS several times in the last couple of years and my feelings have been generally positive. This morning, I had an early morning flight out and on arriving at 0520 found the airport horribly overcrowded. This may have been due to some flight cancellations caused by the weather, but I fear that this may be another excellent regional airport which is becoming the victim of its own success. I hope I'm wrong! However it's clean compact and well organised and apart from the staff at one of the coffee shops on the ground floor concourse, it seems as though everyone working there tries to make the experience for travellers a good one.

Bristol Airport review by T Longdon

9 January 2007   Customer Rating :

Used the airport for a Christmas connection with KLM Amsterdam. I like the airport (the difficult to reach the other side of the Mendips is another story). Yes it's small, but I find that with the dining areas/seating upstairs, it's not too overcrowded. The only problem is passport control on arrival. Really not enough desks.

Bristol Airport review by M Sjolund

23 November 2007   Customer Rating :

Agree with Rob Payne that BRS needs more room - I used BRS 3 weeks ago for first time since 2002. I used to travel BRS to EDI with GO! quite frequently in 2002 - and it was quite okay at the time. Now it is very cramped and passport control area is terrible.

Bristol Airport review by Rob Payne

19 November 2007   Customer Rating :

Used BRS for the first time in 4 years. It's got busy and, desperately needs more room. However, it's clean, a reasonable number of shops & refreshments available. Great selection of destinations. Parking much cheaper if you book ahead but more needed to make the car parks user friendly. Great to be in the air so quickly after leaving the terminal.

Bristol Airport review by Dave Miller

3 November 2007   Customer Rating :

I find Bristol Airport an excellent facility with a range of flights far in excess of comparable airports. It can be very busy at times in the passenger areas but what do people expect? Would they prefer few flights and plenty of room as Bristol was for many years? People moaned then that they had to go to London to fly anywhere. I often use the Flyer bus. It runs every fifteen minutes to/from the main railway station from around 5am until after midnight and it is possible to book through train tickets to the airport with the last segment on the Flyer. Bristol's problem is anti-expansionists who are making it difficult for the airport to expand its facilities to meet growing passenger numbers and list of new destinations. The airport is not perfect but it is far better than many in this country and simplicity itself to transit. I've read recent comments about parking charges and security queues. Parking can be expensive but on the occasions I use my car I book in advance with a discount (anyone can get them). Security queues were sometimes a problem earlier in the year but the situation seems much better now and the new CEO says he has put in hand work to almost eliminate queues by next summer. I'd rather stand in a queues at Bristol than drive to Heathrow or Birmingham or Manchester airports just to avoid a few minutes waiting, apart from the time and cost of getting to those places.

Bristol Airport review by Duncan Alexander

1 November 2007   Customer Rating :

Impossible to drop off disabled passengers outside the terminal - supposedly for security but the car parking - especially short term - is ridiculously expensive - you pay £1.60 credit card surcharge on top of paying £2 after 10minutes free. Too many flights for the airport size; pathetic access by public transport - only one bus. Terrible waits for security.

Bristol Airport review by Christopher Gent

18 September 2007   Customer Rating :

The parking has to be the most expensive in the world for what is little more than a gravelled field. Instead of a new runway, they should use the tarmac to provide a decent car park. Every other airport I've used provides you with the stupid little plastic bag for your liquids for free - Bristol charges you 50p for two, sold from a machine that does not accept 50p pieces. Security is slow because it is not capable of dealing with the numbers of passengers now using the airport. The departure lounge is so full of shops and cafes that there is often nowhere to sit - why on earth has a Starbucks appeared (where precious seating used to be) when there are already three cafes and a rival coffee outlet. Despite the fact I live in the area, I would rather go to Birmingham - at least there is somewhere to sit there!

Bristol Airport review by Daren Stubbs

13 February 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

The inside of the airport was very good. Lots of shops and food places and a number of places to sit. The car park is quite far away in comparison to other UK regional airports.

Bristol Airport review by Kim Dodden

12 January 2007

Bristol airport is fine as long as you don't arrive back at the same time as two or three other flights, of which one is an Easyjet flight. If you do the policy seems to be that baggage handlers must offload and put the bags onto the belts for EZ flights first and the others can wait as long as it takes. The last few times this has happened I have waited between half an hour and up to two hours for bags and then to be told that the plane had gone onto Manchester with some of our bags still on it. It was only because the door opened at the side of the belt for a lone baggage handler to come through that I spotted my bag along with buggies, flowers, golf clubs etc. The poor chap had been trying to clear three plane loads and some of it got mixed up. This was last August on a flight from Madeira. I travel there regularly and the flight going out is fine - the trouble is always on the return flight. I am going to try Exeter next time!

Bristol Airport review by Nathan Fotheringill

24 July 2006

BRS seems to be a victim of its own success. The terminal is just a few years old and was probably adequate for the passenger throughput at the time but there are many more services using the airport now. The result is crowding, especially if you happen to be there when two or three holiday charter flights are scheduled to depart. The apron outside the terminal is of limited size which means many passengers need to be bused to the aircraft which may be parked, ironically, outside the old terminal. That being said, my transit through the airport was pain free with the BA check-in being swift, only minor delays at security and, in terms of arrivals, the luggage was on the belt before we reached it. Being sat in the bus on the hottest day of the year whilst they tried to find the last few passengers wasn't ideal but otherwise no real complaints.

Bristol Airport review by Geoffrey Stevens

1 July 2006

I recently travelled on KL from BRS-AMS-DXB. The check in was good with friendly and efficient staff. The security process was longer than previous occasions, but here again, staff were friendly, efficient and the queue moved quite quickly considering the number of pax.. The departure lounge was disappointing this time. It would seem that the management have recently built a new row of shops between the departure gates. It was a busy afternoon and the departure lounge seemed much more congested and claustrophobic due to the floor space reduction from these new shops. The lounge has lost its once airy and relaxing atmosphere. There were no seats to sit on and many people were standing, adding to the congestion. Great shame, this is the first let down at BRS for a long time.

Bristol Airport review by Barry Carlino

3 June 2006

Over the past year I have made over 50 flights from Bristol airport. Overall, the airport is a pleasure to use, large enough to have plenty of flight options, small enough to get around easily. I do however have the following observations. It takes far too long to get through security unless you are fast tracked. Parking is unbelievably expensive. There are no toilets in the executive lounge and not enough overall. Despite this, it's still better than flying from LHR

Bristol Airport review by Peter Jones

15 May 2006

The last 2 times I flew from Bristol on easyjet, the check in was fast and efficient. The delays in getting through passport control & security were unacceptable - badly managed with a queue which went back and forth across the bridge and on the 2nd occasion this queue extended down the stairs. Nobody was managing the situation and I would have thought queuing on the stairs was in breach of health & safety regulations. On both occasions I was informed that this was a one off situation. A colleague recently travelled on a flight leaving at 7:00 am & experienced the same problems so the problem does not appear to have been resolved.

Bristol Airport review by Paul Clifford

22 April 2006

KLM to Lyon connecting in Amsterdam. Bristol Airport is a delight to use after experiencing recent flights from LHR. Airport is clean and convenient. Friendly staff throughout and very quick return of luggage on way home. Whenever possible I will use Bristol in future.

Bristol Airport review by J Church

12 April 2006

A much more pleasant experience than LHR or LGW, and would definitely do it again. We booked in advance at silverzone parking, and got on a shuttle bus straight away both coming and going. Very painless, although not much cheaper than a London airport. Biggest draw back in my opinion is that the terminal building just isn't big enough for the number of passengers. We were flying the first day of the school Easter holidays and once we were airside there was really very little there and nowhere near enough seats for everyone - in fact there really wasn't enough space to stand either! They do seem to be building some sort of extension but don't know how big it will be. My advice would be stay land-side for as long as you can!

Bristol Airport review by Mike Byatt

2 April 2006

Arrived several hours before check in for Air SouthWest flight on to Plymouth. Was pleasantly surprised to be able to check in early. Staff helpful and the airport a delight.

Bristol Airport review by Rolf Heelas

26 February 2006

Living in the southwest, Bristol is my first choice airport to fly from. For a small airport it has plenty of places to eat (but most before passport control) It has been a victim of its own success, Bristol airport used to be tiny, and the new terminal built a few years ago is already overcrowded at peak times. Like many people have said the parking is expensive, for a regional airport prices OTT, if away for a few days you can get better deals at Heathrow etc. But the long stay carpark is close enough to walk to the terminal in 5 minutes - great if only away for a few days.

Bristol Airport review by Alexander Mayhew

2 January 2006

Baggage handling for Aer Lingus flights is appalling. Last three EI flights into this airport has required at least 45 mins for the bags to be delivered. The reason given for the most recent flight (23Dec) was that EI insist on using containers (is this unique in the industry!!!!) to put the luggage into rather than feeding each bag into the hold. They also will not give you children's buggies at the steps of the plane and so there were a number of families with young infants waiting for the buggies on the carousel (which came out last). Even LHR is capable of getting bags to carousel in 10 mins so why can't little BRS. Apart from this complaint, I do like the airport.

Bristol Airport review by Celia Bright

26 April 2005

I love this airport because it's clean and doesn't have muzak. It gives you a peaceful civilised experience. I always fly from here if possible. Makes Heathrow seem like a nightmare. Think of all those crowds when you go and all that stacking when you return at Heathrow. You can be bumping round the clouds for half an hour waiting for a landing slot.

Bristol Airport review by Roger Brickwood

16 February 2005

My main beef with Bristol Airport is the car parking. It is not only incredibly expensive but as a previous correspondent said the transfer buses are non-existent. However a number of enterprising publicans with hostelries nearby offer a cheaper (£25 pw) and more efficient service.

Bristol Airport review by Graham Price

5 January 2005

I find Bristol poor compared to Southampton mainly for reasons of access. From the east it is necessary to drive through the outskirts of Bristol and I always seem to suffer delays. The so- called weather-proof walkways are really only sheds. The bus service to the long term parking is non-existent as far as I can see. Sorry, but if the runway is lengthened at Southampton I'm going to defect to there permanently.

Bristol Airport review by Mike Bamber

29 December 2004

Bristol airport is a very good airport and my only complaint are the car parking arrangements. If they can sort these they will have a first class airport - so easy, calm and efficient.

Bristol Airport review by David Love

10 October 2004

Bristol is a good airport and the fact that it has now attracted a daily flight to New York (as of next May) is a major boost. However, as mentioned in other comments, transport connections to the airport are woeful and Bristol's traffic problems are only getting worse. Meanwhile, Cardiff has a rail link and is talking to First Great Western about a direct service. It would be sad to the hard work of Bristol airport's management team neutered by the lack of investment in the city's transport infrastructure, especially with the M4, M5 and train routes to the North, East and West so close by.

Bristol Airport review by David Edwards

28 September 2004

I use Bristol Airport about a dozen times a year and have done so for the past twenty years or so. I use charter, low cost and full service flights. Since the new terminal was opened in 2000 the airport has increased dramatically in numbers of passengers (now 4.5 million per year and still rising), airlines and destinations. The car parking is expensive, although pre-booking does bring costs down appreciably. The new terminal has reached the stage where it need increasing in size to cope with the rush periods. Having said this, I have yet to sense that the departure lounges are ever uncomfortably over crowded. The range of shops is adequate but the eating establishments somewhat bland, often with cluttered, uncleared tables - a distinct minus point. Another £50 million is to be spent on further improvements in the next five years (a similar sum has been spent in the past five years or so) and the airport stated its determination to become a suitable location for the new daily New York service starting next May. I find Bristol Airport to be an excellent facility and I never fly from Heathrow any more. If I cannot fly direct from Bristol (and most major and some other European destinations are now available daily) I still use the airport and fly to a hub airport such as Amsterdam. If a motorway link could be provided (the M 5 is only four miles away) it would make life even easier.

Bristol Airport review by Robert Luff

25 June 2004

I agree on the expensive parking. However, its a new airport, and is an absolute delight to use, very well laid out, easy to navigate and helpful staff. Like Cardiff, its only big letdown is its location, some 10 miles south of Bristol, with no rail connections, but its a nice airport to fly from despite this.

Bristol Airport review by Siobhan Turner

4 April 2004

I fly regularly from Bristol and it is a very easy airport to get through. Parking is very expensive though however many local businesses will offer secure parking at a fraction of the cost and provide a dropoff/pickup service. Catering staff airside always seem to be in short supply and unless you are using the business lounge (excellent) you can be sure of a long wait for food. However it is a good clean airport that allows for quick getaways.

Bristol Airport review by Cliff Seabrook

3 March 2004

Flew from here with Easyjet to Venice. A very pleasant and efficient airport. Luggage came through quickly on our return. Terminal was immaculately clean - for someone like myself used to using Heathrow this airport was wonderful. Parking is very expensive though we paid £34 for just four days.