Bristol Airport could expand again - what does it mean?

Plans to expand Bristol Airport are back on the table - promising jobs and new destinations - but raising fresh concerns about noise, traffic and climate impact.

Since 2018, the battle between the airport and campaigners has raged on, from the council chamber to the High Court.

But now the airport wants to expand again and it has sparked fresh protests.

Here is what is being proposed and how it could affect people living in North Somerset and beyond.

The expansion plans would allow the airport to accommodate 15 million passengers a year.

For context, about 10.8 million people a year use the airport at the moment.

This would include expanding the runway to enable long-haul flights to North America and the Middle East.

The number of flights a year would eventually rise from 85,990 to nearly 100,000 while the cap on night flights would also increase from 4,000 a year to almost 5,000.

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.

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

In 2023, the High Court ruled that Bristol Airport could expand from 10 million passengers a year to 12 million.

This was the culmination of a five-year saga that even prompted climate activist Greta Thunberg to get involved in the discussion.

Expansion plans were first unveiled in 2018 and then North Somerset Council voted to reject the plans in 2020 on environmental grounds.

Neighbouring Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) also opposed the plans.

But Bristol Airport appealed against the council judgment to the National Planning Inspectorate and it was eventually overturned - in a costly outcome for the local council.

That decision was then challenged by campaign group Bristol Airport Action Network which took the matter to the High Court.

They were ultimately unsuccessful.

For years, campaigners have opposed the airport expansion on the grounds of noise pollution, congestion in the local area and the wider climate impact of extra carbon emissions.

But this time around, the extended runway would also see lights and fencing installed on ancient common land - new developments that have sparked fierce opposition from people living nearby.

The Save Felton Common (SFC) campaign group has been set up, with residents said to be in "uproar".

Julie Main, vice chair of the group, said: "This is a very old common that is used heavily by everyone in the local area.

"It is a nature reserve with loads of fauna, flora and skylarks.

"We really want to protect this for our future."

At a recent protest on Felton Common, Steve Clarke, from Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN), said: "It's going to completely wreck the common.

"They are basically doing a land-grab.

"This is common land. We don't think it's right [for it] to be taken for a commercial enterprise."

With the number of flights set to increase, including an extra 1,000 flights during the night, noise is a major concern for people living nearby.

Bristol Airport has said it is investing in quieter aircraft technology which means the noise footprint would be smaller by 2038 than it is currently - even with 15 million passengers a year.

In 2024, almost a third of commercial flights used the most modern planes which are up to 40% quieter.

These are expected to be used 80% of the time by 2038.

But this is likely to be of little consolation to residents who live near the airport, whose ears would be subjected to an extra 35 flights per day during peak periods.

As well as the impact on Felton Common, the airport site would expand to the northwest onto Cook's Farm, while the Tall Pines Golf Club to the west could also be taken over in future.

Another big concern is the potential impact on the roads around the airport.

Richard Baxter, from BAAN, said: "Local people and current airport customers are already experiencing real problems with a congested A38 and surrounding network of smaller roads."

Amid year-on-year parking charge hikes, police have been cracking down on rogue parking firms operating near Bristol Airport after residents complained that fields, lanes and farmland were being clogged up with parked cars.

Bristol Airport is also the largest airport in the UK without a mass transit link with passengers having to drive, get a taxi, a coach or use the Airport Flyer bus.

The airport has set a target of one in four people using public transport to travel to and from the airport which they said would be achieved by junction improvements and a new bus lane on the A38 as well as more public bus routes.

West of England Mayor Helen Godwin unveiled plans for a new mass transit system earlier this year which could connect the airport to Bristol city centre via electric-powered trams, light rail or bendy buses on segregated roads.

But more investment needs to be secured to make this a reality and Weca is working to develop a 15-year mass transit plan.

According to Bristol Airport, expanding to 15 million passengers would see an increase in carbon emissions that would equate to less than 0.1% of the Fifth and Sixth Carbon Budget – the UK's maximum emissions between 2028 and 2037.

However, as pointed out by BAAN, this proportion of the Sixth Carbon Budget equates to about 965,000 tonnes of CO2e, which represents 83% of the annual CO2 emissions for the entire North Somerset region's transport, homes and industry in 2023.

Greener alternatives are being explored that could reduce the climate impact of flying in future, including using nuclear power to generate sustainable aviation fuel and Airbus developing a hydrogen-powered zero-emissions aircraft.

However, a committee of MPs found that the UK's 2050 net zero target is being put at "substantial risk" due to the government not adequately considering the limitations of these decarbonisation measures.

In its report, the committee said airport expansion would make climate and environmental targets "more difficult to achieve and at much greater effort and cost".

Last time around, councillors in North Somerset voted against the airport expansion.

West of England mayor Helen Godwin has said that local people's voices need to be heard in planning processes.

Godwin added: "I set out my position in relation to the airport, explaining that new laws tabled in Parliament look set to provide regional mayors with new powers on planning.

"Mindful of that responsibility, my approach, now and in the future, will be to carefully consider planning applications at the appropriate stage, looking at all the evidence."

Local MP Sadik Al-Hassan said: "I love the idea of more well-paid jobs in my area.

"I love the idea of infrastructure to go with it.

"I love the idea of being able to access more destinations but it has to be done right."

The expansion has faced strong opposition from Green councillors in Bristol and North Somerset.

Annemieke Waite, Green councillor for Winford, said: "The airport expansion is already having an enormous impact on these communities.

"We are permanently gridlocked, we don't have a mass transit system, we have huge problems with people parking all over North Somerset.

"We have the noise issue and now they want to take over Felton Common and that is completely outrageous."

The expansion plans were submitted in March but are still yet to appear on the council's planning portal, which will allow people to share their views.

The application will then go before North Somerset's Planning Committee later this year.

The committee is currently made up of four Conservative councillors, three Lib Dems, three Labour, two Greens and one Independent.

Councillors will have to consider advice from planning officers but also the threat of history repeating itself if the airport appeals which could mean the decision is overturned by the national planning inspector.

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