Bristol Airport submits controversial expansion plan

Bristol Airport has submitted expansion plans as it aims to accommodate an extra three million passengers a year.

The application, submitted to North Somerset Council, includes expanding the runway, with lights going onto Felton Common to enable long haul flights.

The airport has previously been granted permission to expand from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year despite local campaigns against the plans, and this latest application would increase capacity again to 15 million.

Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) described the expansion plans as "wrong at every level", and has called for them to be paused until better public transport and greener aviation fuel is available.

Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport, said its proposals would "deliver what customers have told us they want to see" and that they were "very aware of the impact" adding that the airport would invest in quieter aircraft technology to reduce noise.

Currently 10.8 million people use Bristol Airport, but the expansion would allow this to rise to 15 million, which it expects to reach in the late 2030s.

New long haul flight destinations would include North America and the Middle East, and the cap on night flights would also increase from 4,000 per year to 5,000.

Bristol Airport said the £500m investment would create 1,000 on-site jobs, as well as another 36,000 jobs in the wider region.

The plans include a larger terminal with more shops and restaurants, a bigger immigration hall and baggage handling facilities, additional car parking and public transport improvements.

About 3,000 residents have already fed back on the plans during a public consultation in 2024, but will have another chance to have their say when the planning application is published.

Lees, the airport's chief executive said: "Our proposals deliver what customers have told us they want to see at their local airport - opportunities to visit places further afield and for businesses to expand into new international markets.

"The current government really understands the role which airports such as Bristol can bring to their local communities, driving economic growth that is so important to the future of our country.

"It is also about connecting family and friends – something that's important for the West of England where 30% of people now have close family members living abroad."

Landing lights and fencing would be installed on Felton Common, which has prompted the creation of the Save Felton Common (SFC) campaign group.

Julie Main, vice chair of the new group, said residents were in "uproar".

"This is a very old common that is used heavily by everyone in the local area. It's a nature reserve with loads of fauna, flora, and skylarks - we really we want to protect this for our future.

"It's David and Goliath," she said, urging local people and politicians to "realise how important this is".

Campaigner Ben Moss said: "It's madness that it's happening again. Nothing has changed since their last application in terms of reliance on untested technology and transport systems that don't exist.

"They aren't even at capacity with what they were given permission for before. It has to stop."

Moss added: "The climate crisis unfolding right in front of us. We've had the wettest winters and the hottest summers - we have to make a change."

Stephen Clarke of BAAN said: "We said it before the last expansion, and we will say it again; Bristol Airport is simply big enough."

The application is expected to be published on the council's website within the next two weeks, offering people a chance to have their say before a decision is made later in the year.

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