Published on : Monday, September 15, 2014
Passenger numbers at Bristol Airport continue to soar, with nearly three quarters of a million (723,000) journeys made during August – the highest total for any month in the Airport’s history. August also included another milestone, with the busiest ever day recorded on Thursday the 14th, when a total of 25,390 passengers passed through the terminal in 24 hours.
This followed record-breaking figures for June and July, with growth of 3.2 per cent continuing the Airport’s return to pre-recession passenger numbers. With September’s total swelled by VIP arrivals for last week’s NATO Summit in South Wales, the annual total is expected to exceed the previous high of 6.2m in 2008.
Growth has been driven by the introduction of larger aircraft on existing services, high load factors during the holiday season, and the launch of routes to new destinations. For example, KLM increased capacity on its four-times daily Amsterdam service by 20 per cent, easyJet operated an eleventh Bristol-based aircraft throughout summer, and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) commenced a seasonal service to Stockholm.
Shaun Browne, Aviation Director at Bristol Airport, said:
“It is encouraging to see that when we offer the right frequencies and destinations, passengers will choose to fly from their regional airport. Reducing the number of passengers from the South West using airports outside the region is key objective for us, and these figures suggest we are heading in the right direction.”
To ensure facilities keep pace with growth in passenger numbers work is set to start on an eastern terminal extension. The £8.6m project – the first major expansion of the terminal building since it opened in 2000 – will be finished in summer 2015. This follows completion of a new central walkway earlier this summer.
*Due to differences in the way some flights are recorded, Bristol Airport figures may contain small variances when compared to those reported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Tags: Bristol Airport
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