Bristol Airport bosses have warned passengers they are expecting their busiest Christmas period ‘ever.’ Around 110,000 customers will arrive back home at Bristol Airport to re-unite with family and friends.
The airport’s busiest period for arrivals is expected to be between Friday, December 20 and Monday, December 23, with flights landing from Lisbon, Barcelona, Krakow, Berlin, Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast. With a peak of 15,000 customers arriving on Monday 23 December in time for Christmas celebrations.
Richard Thomasson, Head of Customer Operations at Bristol Airport, said: “People often think of Bristol Airport as the place holidays begin, but at Christmas time especially, we see huge numbers of customers flying into Bristol Airport to spend precious time with family and friends. It’s much more convenient for passengers to arrive here rather than into other UK Airports and travel back to the South West.
“We look forward to welcoming them home and wish all our customers a wonderful Christmas.”
This Christmas and New Year Bristol Airport is anticipating its busiest festive period ever between Monday 16 December and Sunday 5 January, with around 450,000 customers passing through Bristol Airport. Last year during the same period we welcomed 430,000 passengers.
Not only will Bristol Airport reunite thousands of families and friends, but it also enables many people seeking winter sun, ski holidays and festive adventures to get away.
The top destinations for winter sun are Tenerife, Alicante, Malaga, Lanzarote and Faro. The ski season officially kicked off this weekend (Saturday 14 December) with flights to France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Bulgaria. And from Monday 16 December flights to Geneva have increased from around 24 a week to 32 per week.
Festive trips for all the family to Ivalo, Kittila, Enontekio and Rovaniemi in Finland and Pajala in Sweden are underway, with Finland proving to be the most popular country to visit this Christmas time.
This Christmas will be first time we have the new easyJet flights to Tromso (Norway) and Istanbul (Turkey) operating. And additional flights have been scheduled in response to demand to destinations such as Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Krakow and Poznan (Poland), Kaunas (Lithuania) and Tenerife.
Check In advice at Bristol Airport
- During the busy Christmas holiday period, passengers are advised to allow enough time for car parking and transiting to the terminal, so they arrive at check in, a minimum of two hours prior to scheduled departure time. If travelling with presents, customers are asked to keep them unwrapped and check with the airline if wanting to take Christmas crackers away, as many airlines refuse to carry crackers on board the aircraft
- It remains a Department for Transport regulated requirement that any liquids, aerosols and gels/pastes are restricted to 100ml per item, but these will be able to remain in hand luggage along with all electronics (laptops, tablets and mobile phones) while passing through security screening
- It’s still important to empty pockets and place loose items in hand luggage, with water bottles including metallic water bottles, over 100ml being emptied before entering security. Coats, hats and belts should be placed in the tray provided with a hand luggage bag on top. Customers may still be asked to take off shoes
- Pushchairs and car seats that have not been checked in, along with wheelchairs and walking aids will be searched, so customers should allow more time for this. We recommend travelling with only essential items in your hand baggage and pushchairs to enable easy transit through security
- Parents should prepare for children who are 1 metre tall and above to use the security scanner or if they are unable to hold the position required or are under 1 metre tall, then they will be hand searched. For further information please check the security section at the Airport on the website
- Bristol Airport recommends anyone collecting or dropping off family and friends using our car park for waiting, near our Silver Zone. It is free for the first hour and a courtesy bus runs from outside the terminal every 15 minutes, between 6am and midnight and on demand overnight, dropping off and collecting. Customers should visit the car parking section of the website for maps and directions
- It is recommended customers sign up to the Airport’s Rewards emails, as they will receive regular updates and discounts for car parking and other useful services