Bristol Airport

Customer Reviews

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Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 443 reviews
3/10
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5/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

As a regular user I have often complained about the long walk to/from flights. The good news is that the new gates require a much shorter walk and there is far more seating than at the western apron. Note however that many flights do still go from the western gates so you may not be lucky. Early morning is always the busiest time but on my last visit the wait for security was about 5 minutes (though getting through took another 5 minutes as I kept setting the scanner off never found out why). Return was OK but could be better the usual lengthy wait for immigration checks but at least one of the officers took the time to explain why using the scanners is often no quicker than queuing for a manual check. There are still irritating things about Bristol (expensive car parks paying for trolleys limited seating in some areas) but it is in the mid range of UK airports from my experience.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
na

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Large areas for check in great but facilities in the departure lounge were appalling. We were travelling with a small baby and needed to warm a bottle no signage and few people to help. The space for departures was far too small for the number of people trying to use the facilities. On departure went to gate with push chair but no staff around and had to carry it down a full flight of stairs no lift signs and no ramp.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

First the good news. Given this is a small airport averaging around half a dozen departures per hour you are unlikely to face a long queue on the runway for take off or for that matter to have to circle around for ages to land. Also the check in queues were not too bad albeit I flew during the off peak season. But that is about all there is good to say. The whole point of little airports is they should be easy to use very short walks from the plane to the exit. Instead it has been designed without airbridges so you usually need a bus to get to the plane. You will also face long walks with no moving walkways (mine on return was over 1/4 mile) along with going up and down stairs (again no escalators). Anyone with young children and pushchairs or elderly and infirm should take careful note. Access is horrendous as the airport is in the middle of nowhere without any sensible connection to the M4 or M5. Most people will either have to go through Bristol or across windy minor roads. The parking is basically in a dirty great big field poorly concreted and open to the elements so if it's raining you will get drenched. All this for parking prices on a par with LHR and Gatwick despite the airports rural location. Helpfully the short term car park is also sited in a dip so you face a big uphill lugging of your cases while the rain pelts you. If you want a trolley it's £2 per trolley non refundable. Even Gatwick and LHR don't do that! Generally I like small airports because what you lose in facilities you gain in ease of use and lower cost. But not here.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(France)

I have been disappointed with the security staff on a number of occasions now at Bristol Airport. At first I put it down to a stressful and difficult job exasperated by the heavy turn-over of passengers but now that I have experienced rudeness on 3 occasions I feel I should bring it to the attention of the airport itself. Myself and my wife are frequent flyers. We live in Dijon and travel back to the UK numerous times a year to see friends and family. The airports we use regularly vary between Paris Geneva Lyon Bristol and Glasgow and its disappoints me that the worst experience we have with security staff is at Bristol Airport. On two occasions I have been spoken to abruptly and rudely about items in my baggage. The first was while removing my wash-bag the assistant asked about electrical items and I explained I had none. He abruptly commented about my camera and I explained I didn't have one. He then pointed to the bag I was about to open saying I needed to remove my camera at which point I removed my clear plastic bag of liquids. He made no apology but simply said he thought it was a camera. On the second occasion I was travelling with a nutri-bullet in my bag. This as you'd expect caused some interest with the scanner operator so I explained what it was to him for no other reason than to help. He then accusingly responded saying "I know" and stated that if the blades were too long it would get confiscated. I was simply trying to help and understood the implications of the blade length. The staff were also rude to my wife last week while she was travelling alone. She had removed her liquids from her wash-bag but had another make-up bag which had no liquids within it. Again more accusatory comments about removing items that weren't actually present. I could give more examples of comments and demands of the staff but these haven't been directed at me but passengers around me. My complaint is at what point did the staff think it was acceptable to be so rude an "excuse me" or "please and thank you" don't cost anything. And why do they feel the need to be so hostile and accusatory? Sadly at the moment the airport is portraying quite the opposite through what I assume is a negative culture developed within the security section and assumption that everyone passing through is an idiot and will not have complied with the rules.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

The £1 for dropping off someone and saying goodbye within 30 seconds is a total rip off. The££2 for a trolley just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I will never use this money pinching rip off airport again! It's indicative of the greedy money grabbing society we have now become part off what where they thinking of when they sanctioned this.
Queuing Times N/A
Terminal Cleanliness N/A
Airport Shopping N/A
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Bristol Airport customer review

(Germany)

I am a Lufthansa frequent traveller with lots of international flights in one month. This was my first experience with Bristol. The airport itself is ok. The rental car pick up was a longer walk in the rain (with luggage). From there to the car it was again a long walk without signs giving directions. Car return was ok. The most negative experience to report is the security staff. They definitely are over fulfilling their duty and for my feeling they really feel "mighty". They opened my on-board trolley took everything out. They opened my toilet bag and inspected each single item. They opened a cotton bag with flip flops in it. They opened the container of my toothbrush. They separated "liquids": shaving cream tooth paste nivea aftershave etc. from "hardware": USB charger UK mains adaptor etc. Everything was put into 5 different containers and put into X-ray a second time. Afterwards they confiscated my beloved corkscrew (no knife short screw) which accompanied me for years and years to many different countries. When I carefully wanted to complain they murmured something about "Germany". This is not serving passengers this security is an assault to passengers. I will avoid Bristol airport whenever possible.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

It really is staggering how bad Bristol Airport is for a regional British airport. The problems start with actually getting to the place the bus is hugely expensive (£7 from the station compared to say £3.20 for the metro from the station to the Airport in Newcastle (which is a further distance but much faster) hugely impacted by traffic - there are no bus lanes on the route into the city and without alternative apart from taxis or private hire. If you drive to the airport then you better not follow the signs because you won't really get there well not in anything remotely resembling a reasonable time as the signing routes you out of the city then back into the centre again before directing you back out this is to avoid a residential area but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Check-in/bag drop is usual for a regional airport not good but it works in the height of summer its a nightmare but otherwise its reasonably organised and as its quite a small area it works ok. Security is usually quite well organised but the staff are the worst I have ever experienced in the entire world. Its really tragic I usually make some kind of error even though I try really hard not to its like they're trying to catch you out the liquids rules are followed with an iron fist! I was once taken into a private room for having a "hidden compartment" in my bag this was actually just an interior pocket that the security person was unable to open I offered to help but was told to not interfere and then taken to a private room.... brilliant. I also walked through with a chap stick in my pocket which was found during a routine pat down apparently I was trying to "smuggle liquids on board" and the offending chap stick was placed through the x-ray. The departure area is hilarious firstly this is the only airport I've ever been to where the largest shop is a Claires Accessories. Not that it isn't an important thing to have in the airport but its not going to help get around the fact that there is no-where decent to buy a sandwich except starbucks which is tiny and often sold of most things by the evening. The seating isn't bad once you work out there's an upstairs but overall the whole place is poorly laid out and several of the gates queue straight into the main shopping area which while nicely avoiding a long walk does make the whole place disorganised. To compare Bristol to larger airports would be unfair but even compared to other similar regional airports is a disaster I've been to most airports in the UK and every time I'm in Bristol I'm always surprised that it is just as bad as I remember it being.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
9/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I wasn't expecting a good experience based on a lot of recent reviews but was surprised how nice Bristol Airport has become. We might not have travelled in peak summer but we did travel at the peak of the day ie 7am. I found security queues short staff polite the whole departure area bright clean with a reasonable amount of seating. When called to the gate the ability to walk to the gate rather than being bussed was a much better experience than previous years. There was plenty of retail opportunities and I didn't find the prices that expensive compared with other airports. Car Parking we parked in premier only 2-3 mins walk from the terminal and again prices no more than other airports. Returning 3 days later the experience again was very pleasant from first arrival to picking up the car. The only thing which puzzled me was having to wait in the cold wet environment as our aircraft parked right in front of the main terminal to allow buses to move along the roadway between the aircraft parking bay and the building. We are the ones getting wet the people in the bus if there were any were in the dry? Why not allow us priority over those buses. Would most definitely use Bristol again.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
2/10

Bristol Airport customer review

(Spain)

Good if you are a queuing fan otherwise prepare to become irritated - the airport infrastructure is unable to cope with the traffic flowing through it. Long queues both inbound and outbound - I've used it three times for return trips in the last month. But the cost of flights from Bristol seem to be lower than elsewhere so that's the choice. Road access is not good having to hack through Bristol city from the North - use the A4 from the M5 slow but better than following the signs that take you through the city (from the M4). Friday afternoon access from the South is even worse OK during the daytime but very long queues to the traffic lights at Congresbury approaching via the A370 from the South. So in summary it does the job OK if you can stay calm in the queues and leave plenty of time for road access. Staff seem indifferent but who cares!
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Bristol Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Jaded and in need of a facelift. Facilities in the departure area are tatty and run down. You can get anything you like to eat providing it's an unhealthy and unappetising burger! Arrival area facilities are also poor. ePassports take longer to process than traditional passports and charging for trolleys is an absolute insult to incoming passengers who are normally tired and travel weary at this stage and need less hassle rather than more. Obviously the airport operators are more concerned with grabbing money from their hapless customers rather than with the quality of the service they should be providing. Years ago Bristol offered a friendly local airport that was both convenient and a pleasure to use. Alas that is no more. I've been fortunate enough to experience travels that have taken me to airports across the World but unfortunately Bristol ranks at the bottom of the list.
Queuing Times N/A
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no