The Bristol Airport problem

[Snow1964]

Those passengers who leave on early flights are more likely to return in the middle of the day whilst those leaving in the middle of the day are more likely to return late evening/night. That being so, then surely public/rail transport would be viable at least for those trips in the middle of the day and therefore reduce the amount of car traffic?

It's even more messy than that, because not only do people only get the middle of the day journey (and not opposite journey) at times when public transport runs, but the catchment area is scattered.

The best figures I can find (and different sources seem to vary) is
Airport Journeys are split :
Bristol area 28-33%
Other Somerset and Bath 22-24%
Devon 15-18%
South Wales 13-16%
Gloucestershire 9-10%
Wiltshire 7-9%

Not very easy to make (or economically make work) a public transport network that might be trying to serve airport from places like Barnstaple, Yeovil, Stroud, Chippenham, Caerphilly, Weston super Mare etc.

There is already an airport bus from central Bristol, but the problem is serving the thousands who live 15-50 miles away

 

[Topological]

They don't want to pay the fees & the number plate recognition cameras clock people in / out and people are stressed loading up knowing that every second counts regarding costs. This is how airports make their money - along with passengers hanging around for departures and therefore spending money. This is why for miles around, we have people hanging around in lay byes and down country lanes - no doubt causing annoyance to locals.

Bristol Airport Drop Off parking | Drop off and Pick up point

Bristol Airport pick up parking just a few minutes walk to the terminal. Quick, convenient drop off & collection.

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Those passengers who leave on early flights are more likely to return in the middle of the day whilst those leaving in the middle of the day are more likely to return late evening/night. That being so, then surely public/rail transport would be viable at least for those trips in the middle of the day and therefore reduce the amount of car traffic?

Yes. It is very annoying. I had to be one of those layby waiting people a few weeks ago. The pick up/drop off area is great, but it is so expensive.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 May 2026 ==

You do have the waiting area that is free for a hour too. It's just people dont want to pay for the drop and go part so presumably wouldn't want to pay a flat fee for a multistory either.

For the ones who never enter the pick up / drop off then that would be true. But for those who are just waiting to enter then a flat £10 would be fine.

I know the airport need to make money, but if the flat fee for a few hours was only a little more than the current short time fee then there would not be too much loss. The council should be able to tell the airport to do so as part of planning permissions for expansion.

The impact airports have on the surrounding roads with these 15 minute fees should be looked at urgently.

 

[The exile]

It's even more messy than that, because not only do people only get the middle of the day journey (and not opposite journey) at times when public transport runs, but the catchment area is scattered.

The best figures I can find (and different sources seem to vary) is
Airport Journeys are split :
Bristol area 28-33%
Other Somerset and Bath 22-24%
Devon 15-18%
South Wales 13-16%
Gloucestershire 9-10%
Wiltshire 7-9%

Not very easy to make (or economically make work) a public transport network that might be trying to serve airport from places like Barnstaple, Yeovil, Stroud, Chippenham, Caerphilly, Weston super Mare etc.

There is already an airport bus from central Bristol, but the problem is serving the thousands who live 15-50 miles away

One way would be to integrate fares for the airport buses (and ideally local trains) - so that, for example, if you just miss the A4 to Bath once it has dropped to hourly, you can hop on the A1 and then get the train from Temple Meads on the return half of the ticket you’ve already bought. Similar would apply in other directions - I just don’t know about those as they are irrelevant to me.
And if there has to be a ridiculously high fare to the Airport, make an “airport surcharge” ticket available for those who hold tickets that would otherwise be valid.

 

[Severnia333]

It's even more messy than that, because not only do people only get the middle of the day journey (and not opposite journey) at times when public transport runs, but the catchment area is scattered.

The best figures I can find (and different sources seem to vary) is
Airport Journeys are split :
Bristol area 28-33%
Other Somerset and Bath 22-24%
Devon 15-18%
South Wales 13-16%
Gloucestershire 9-10%
Wiltshire 7-9%

Not very easy to make (or economically make work) a public transport network that might be trying to serve airport from places like Barnstaple, Yeovil, Stroud, Chippenham, Caerphilly, Weston super Mare etc.

There is already an airport bus from central Bristol, but the problem is serving the thousands who live 15-50 miles away

Surprised the figures for Gloucestershire are that low... I guess it's the wrong end of Bristol and the north and east of the county look towards Birmingham and London respectively.

 

[The exile]

Surprised the figures for Gloucestershire are that low... I guess it's the wrong end of Bristol and the north and east of the county look towards Birmingham and London respectively.

And South Gloucestershire (as in the council area) will presumably count as “Bristol area” - daft if it doesn’t.

 

[JKF]

I did use the free parking at Easter when I dropped the family off for a couple of weeks away, there’s a free shuttle bus in to the terminal and they didn’t have to wait long for it. They had plenty of time. I’ve also dropped people off (and been dropped) at the lights at the top of the road that comes up from Brockley Combe east of the airport, there’s quite often queue at the lights so easy to get out and a ten minute walk to the airport.

The time I got the bus I also noticed a few people getting off at the last stop before the airport (a pub by the aforementioned lights) and suspect they were doing so to avoid the full fare to the airport - I think the fare to the pub would have been capped at £2 possibly? I think it’s called ‘Airport Tavern’ if anyone wants to try that! Some other non-airport services stop there like the U2 to Weston.

 

[zwk500]

The time I got the bus I also noticed a few people getting off at the last stop before the airport (a pub by the aforementioned lights) and suspect they were doing so to avoid the full fare to the airport - I think the fare to the pub would have been capped at £2 possibly? I think it’s called ‘Airport Tavern’ if anyone wants to try that! Some other non-airport services stop there like the U2 to Weston.

The bus charges a premium even if not going to the airport - I used it at one point entirely within Bristol because was running late for an appointment and couldn't wait for the next service bus. I think it was the standard £9 one-way fare.

 

[Severnia333]

And South Gloucestershire (as in the council area) will presumably count as “Bristol area” - daft if it doesn’t.

That makes sense, living in Bristol now I forget that de facto outer suburbs like Filton, Hanham, Kingswood come under South Glos administratively, not just the Thornbury, Yate etc.

 

[John R]

People won't take a train from Bristol to Nailsea then take a bus to the airport, though. They'll just take a bus from Bristol to the airport.

My experience with the buses is the trudge through Bedminster. The express airport bus should go down the new link road. If there are people in Bedminster using the bus, put a separate non-express bus on.

I believe the A1 did go down the link road pre COVID, being the only buses to use the bus lane on it, and there was a separate service that served Bedminster.

As it happens, the airport started funding a bus link between Nailsea & Backwell station and the airport last month. It only takes 15 mins, so is quick compared with the A1 from Temple Meads. The only problem is that it only runs once an hour, which means its attractiveness is very limited. I used it last Thursday and the 1915 from the airport had 4 people on it, of which we were two. One positive point is that it runs 24/7, and at least now provides a bus link between Portishead, Clevedon , Nailsea, Backwell and the airport. So hopefully it will get more custom in time, not just from passengers but airport workers too. If it ran every 15 minutes then it could be attractive for some rail interchanging passengers, given the hourly Cardiff to South West IETs, and hourly services from the Severn Beach Line.

To go back to the possibility of a light rail option, I think there are several factors that work against it. The gradients required for one. The route would need to run parallel to the railway line for around a mile before diverging, and with the railway line being on an embankment in that area, would be very costly. There's not really much room at NLS station either for the terminus. And the station has huge problems with level access, as evidenced by the dozen years or so since funding was committed to provide it, only to be lost when Network Rail discovered even more work would be needed which killed the scheme.

 

[Envoy]

By good fortune, the Exeter to Cardiff trains pass at Nailsea & Backwell station calling at 06 minutes hourly. However, it looks like no attempt has been made to match the A2 bus with these train schedules. If only the A2 bus could arrive say 6 minutes before the trains and depart 6 minutes after, then that would be ideal - well apart from the dwell time annoying bus passengers going further. This would be by far the easiest option for a lot of people to reach Bristol Airport. From Cardiff, the direct trains take 1 hour 5 minutes to reach Nailsea station and a few minutes longer from Exeter.

National Express buses as well as Flixbus from Cardiff & Newport are usually every other hour so the train to Nailsea hourly with the A2 bus would be an *appealing option - especially of it could match the train times and have an increased bus frequency. *Apart from the lack of ramps at the train station.

 

[Magdalia]

As it happens, the airport started funding a bus link between Nailsea & Backwell station and the airport last month.

By good fortune, the Exeter to Cardiff trains pass at Nailsea & Backwell station calling at 06 minutes hourly. However, it looks like no attempt has been made to match the A2 bus with these train schedules.

The answer on this is in the planning application document referred to earlier. Paragraph 8.6.27 says:

The two closest National Rail Stations, Nailsea and Backwell and Yatton, do not currently have a direct public transport link to Bristol Airport. However, the launch of the A2 service in April 2026 will provide a direct connection to Nailsea and Backwell. There is no step-free access at these stations and so they are not currently promoted as locations for interchange due to issues for passengers with luggage or other mobility requirements.

 

[John R]

Indeed, and I highlighted the problems with level access above, which makes it undesirable to promote NLS as an interchange.

There is a potential solution to that which didn't exist a year or two ago in that the garage workshop on the Backwell side of the station closed recently, which makes some land available immediately behind the forecourt and shop. I'm not sure whether anyone at GWR or NR is aware of that, (or even whether they care...)

 

[Envoy]

Indeed, and I highlighted the problems with level access above, which makes it undesirable to promote NLS as an interchange.

There is a potential solution to that which didn't exist a year or two ago in that the garage workshop on the Backwell side of the station closed recently, which makes some land available immediately behind the forecourt and shop. I'm not sure whether anyone at GWR or NR is aware of that, (or even whether they care...)

That former garage land would be an ideal place for the buses to pull in and dwell for a few minutes. The present bus shelters on the road are not exactly ideal and can only take a handful of people. Using the former garage land to create a better interchange combined with bringing the station up to date would be ideal. It's not just the hourly Cardiff to Exeter trains that call at this station.

 

[John R]

That former garage land would be an ideal place for the buses to pull in and dwell for a few minutes. The present bus shelters on the road are not exactly ideal and can only take a handful of people. Using the former garage land to create a better interchange combined with bringing the station up to date would be ideal. It's not just the hourly Cardiff to Exeter trains that call at this station.

As I said:-

and hourly services from the Severn Beach Line.

But I’m not sure the garage land would be ideal for dwelling busses. They would have to reverse to turn around (causing noise pollution for the residents behind), and the only access is through the car park of the filling station/shop. And the exit is not signalled, but relies on people pulling out quickly when the lights change. All in all, I can imagine the transport planners would have a field day objecting to it. Much better to utilise a small bit of the car park on the other side of the line. After all, NS council is spending millions converting bus stops into "transport hubs" which nobody wants, so I'm sure they could put their finest minds to create one on the Nailsea side of the station. (Not that they will atm, after the only non-airport service along the route was axed in April.)

 

[zwk500]

But I’m not sure the garage land would be ideal for dwelling busses. They would have to reverse to turn around (causing noise pollution for the residents behind), and the only access is through the car park of the filling station/shop. And the exit is not signalled, but relies on people pulling out quickly when the lights change. All in all, I can imagine the transport planners would have a field day objecting to it. Much better to utilise a small bit of the car park on the other side of the line. After all, NS council is spending millions converting bus stops into "transport hubs" which nobody wants, so I'm sure they could put their finest minds to create one on the Nailsea side of the station. (Not that they will atm, after the only non-airport service along the route was axed in April.)

Creating anything to do with buses at Nailsea and Backwell station also needs to address a rather more fundamental problem:

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The arch bridge under the railway only provides for 3.8m/12'6" clearance.

 

[Topological]

Creating anything to do with buses at Nailsea and Backwell station also needs to address a rather more fundamental problem:

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The arch bridge under the railway only provides for 3.8m/12'6" clearance.

Can we have a situation like Botley Road in Oxford? The airport will close before the road is finished.

 

[John R]

Creating anything to do with buses at Nailsea and Backwell station also needs to address a rather more fundamental problem:

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The arch bridge under the railway only provides for 3.8m/12'6" clearance.

Yes, its single deckers only, although an out of service double decker did try it around 5 years ago with inevitable consequences. (It was certainly out of service afterwards too!)

 

[AlastairFraser]

What pressure is there on the A38 at 430am?

There's approximately 3,011 seats on flights leaving Bristol Airport today between 5.55am (first flight) and 6.15am.
Even with 75% occupancy, that's still over 2k passengers heading for the airport, plus relatives, airport workers etc...

 

[The exile]

There's approximately 3,011 seats on flights leaving Bristol Airport today between 5.55am (first flight) and 6.15am.
Even with 75% occupancy, that's still over 2k passengers heading for the airport, plus relatives, airport workers etc...

But at a time when there’s precious little else to clog up the road.

 

[takno]

There's approximately 3,011 seats on flights leaving Bristol Airport today between 5.55am (first flight) and 6.15am.
Even with 75% occupancy, that's still over 2k passengers heading for the airport, plus relatives, airport workers etc...

The thought of how busy that will make the departure lounge at Bristol is terrifying.

In terms of passengers getting to the airport, people will be arriving between 1 and 3 hours before the flight, probably averaging around 3 passengers per car. I'm assuming that after the initial rush of departures from planes which have overnighted at Bristol things quieten down a bit. It doesn't sound unmanageable.

If a significant proportion moved over to underscaled public transport then that could fall apart very quickly. In Edinburgh (before the tram) early morning you might get multiple airport buses sail past you full at Haymarket. Having that on a half hourly service isn't going to get anybody out of their car.

 

[The exile]

The thought of how busy that will make the departure lounge at Bristol is terrifying.

As you reach the “peak” - say about the time the first gates are being called - it’s certainly not a relaxing place to be!

 

[Caaardiff]

The first train from Cardiff to get to Bristol Airport takes you via Parkway, then Temple Meads, then the A1 bus. Departs Cardiff at 0553 and arrives at the Airport at 0746.
The first Cardiff to Bristol Temple Meads direct train departs at 0628 and would get you to the Airport at 0808.
The first train from Taunton via Temple Meads to the Airport departs at 0510 and arrives 0710.
The first train from Gloucester via Temple Meads to the Airport departs 0604 and arrives 0746.

Coach options are limited for early departures:
Flixbus run Swansea - Bristol Airport. 0030 arriving 0325 and 0230 arriving 0505
National Express run Cardiff - Bristol Airport. 0230 arriving 0355 and 0425 arriving 0545
Megabus Falcon runs Plymouth - Bristol via Airport. Runs hourly from 0100 and takes just under 3 hours.

There are 37 departures tomorrow morning before 0800. At an average of 180 seat planes, that's 6660 departing passengers. None of which are able to get to the Airport by train if coming from outside of Bristol City and only so many coach seats available.

At least most people would be at the Airport before the morning rush hour traffic starts.

 

[John R]

Indeed, tomorrow there are 32 departures between 0600 and 0730, so that's around 6,000 seats, which will have a pretty high occupancy rate. And the airport is continually expanding - so that will only increase in years to come.

Added to which you have cabin crew, check in staff, security, gate staff, baggage handlers, numerous retail and catering outlets, all needing to be on shift by around 4am. No wonder my local taxi driver suggested we leave more time for our 4am check in in August than I might have imagined. (I'm going to use the twilight check-in for our 0600 flight on an August Saturday.

 

[Kilopylae]

That solution has been dead in the water for at least the last 30 years, during which the airport at Lulsgate has expanded massively. The final nail in its coffin is the election of a Plaid Cymru government in Wales whose ultimate aim is Welsh independence. A new airport in South Wales that formally serves Bristol and Western England is now effectively off the agenda.

I suspect TFW wouldn’t be keen on boosting a rival to Cardiff Airport, but it’s where people want to travel for flights!

It takes 1 hour 5 minutes by the hourly direct trains from Cardiff Central to Nailsea. [...]
It would certainly be helpful for people in south Wales if Ryan Air and Easyjet especially could offer more services from Cardiff Airport. As I said earlier, it is regrettable that one big airport for south west Britain was not built somewhere near the Severn crossing and we are in this mess because of incompetent politicians.

This is the elephant in room on any question about Bristol and Cardiff: it would clearly be far more logical for the two to share a combined authority (or at least an integrated planning strategy) and be encouraged to develop as a single bipolar metropolitan area. The national border makes this politically noxious.

The fact that there are two competing airports is silly of course. The fact there's no conscious planning for travel from Cardiff centre to Bristol Airport - so there's a branded airport flyer bus from Bristol centre and Somerset villages to the airport but nothing like this for Cardiff - is, once you set the politics aside, an obvious disgrace.

As far as I'm aware, there's also no effort to make the airports function systematically together, e.g. splitting the destinations or airlines between them so that you go to Bristol for X and Cardiff for Y, like easyJet always going from Gatwick and Ryanair from Stanstead.

 

[Caaardiff]

The fact that there are two competing airports is silly of course. The fact there's no conscious planning for travel from Cardiff centre to Bristol Airport - so there's a branded airport flyer bus from Bristol centre and Somerset villages to the airport but nothing like this for Cardiff - is, once you set the politics aside, an obvious disgrace.

If you mean there's no flyer bus from Cardiff to Cardiff Airport, there is a train service. First train departs Cardiff Central, via Rhoose bus, arrives at the Airport at 0623. If coming from the West there is a train from Swansea at 0459, change at Bridgend, then Rhoose and arrives at 0623.
The stark difference is Cardiff Airport sees 4 departures tomorrow morning before 0800, all with TUI holiday flights. No scheduled airlines.

 

[Envoy]

If you mean there's no flyer bus from Cardiff to Cardiff Airport, there is a train service. First train departs Cardiff Central, via Rhoose bus, arrives at the Airport at 0623. If coming from the West there is a train from Swansea at 0459, change at Bridgend, then Rhoose and arrives at 0623.
The stark difference is Cardiff Airport sees 4 departures tomorrow morning before 0800, all with TUI holiday flights. No scheduled airlines.

Yes, there is the train service to Rhoose but it is only hourly and the linking bus (Adventure 905) takes only 10 minutes to get from Rhoose station to the Airport terminal. I note that the number of flights is increasing at Cardiff Airport including from Saturday 23 May the 4 times a week Westjet services from/to Toronto. The Canadian arrivals are less likely to have friends picking them up and more likely to rely on public transport than the locals going on flights to the Med. Wonder what they will make of the small bus to Rhoose and then being rammed on a 2 coach sprinter or the grand tour on the 304 bus to Cardiff?

I just went on the TFW site to make a comment/complaint about the pathetic hourly service on the VOG line with 2 coach old sprinters. However, even the TFW complaint form does not work properly as you can only type 1 line before reaching limit - so they can't even get that right and I had to give up.

Anyway, there is always the hourly First Bus 304 from Cardiff Airport which takes 1 hour 35 minutes to reach the city centre via a circuitous route.

So, Bristol Airport for transportation is not so bad after all. It is just a shame that these 2 airports were allowed to develop from war time airfields and that one more central location by the main railways and motorways was not chosen for a new airport. The politicians just did not get it that this is what the airlines wanted.

 

[Tetchytyke]

As I said earlier, it is regrettable that one big airport for south west Britain was not built somewhere near the Severn crossing and we are in this mess because of incompetent politicians.

Nothing to do with politicians, competent or otherwise. It is simple market forces in action.

In the late 90s/early 00s, Bristol and Cardiff Airports both had similar number of passengers. Bristol had competent management and expanded rapidly. Cardiff did not, and did not.

Ironically, it was Cardiff which was 100% privately owned after it was privatised in the mid-90s. Bristol was a 51% private/49% council partnership until the mid-2000s, when both the council and FirstGroup sold their stakes. So the airport where local politicians kept their influence did better than the airport where they didn't.

Cardiff is now in public ownership but, to be quite honest, they're 20-odd years too late. That ship has long since sailed. I think the Welsh Assembly are probably right to try and keep it going- Manchester and Liverpool can co-exist- but Bristol Airport is always going to be bigger and busier.

 

[Caaardiff]

The Canadian arrivals are less likely to have friends picking them up and more likely to rely on public transport than the locals going on flights to the Med. Wonder what they will make of the small bus to Rhoose and then being rammed on a 2 coach sprinter or the grand tour on the 304 bus to Cardiff?

To be fair, the Westjet flight departs at 1135, so to get there 2 hours before you'd need to get the 0839 from Cardiff Central, which will unlikely be busy heading in that direction.
The inbound flight lands at 1015, so allowing an hour to comfortably clear immigration and collect bags there's a bus from the Terminal at 1135 getting into Cardiff Central at 1241, so also will unlikely be busy heading in that direction. Transatlantic flights often arrive early as well so people could well make the 1035 bus on a good day.

Lets not forget eventually they will be 4 car 756's, but this line definitely needs an increase in service.

 

[John R]

I wonder whether the demographic make-up of the catchment areas of the two airports made a difference. The period since the late 90s/early 00s has seen an explosion of (so called) low cost traffic at Bristol, which hasn't been replicated at Cardiff. Many of these trips will be of people who started taking more breaks than the usual once a year "fortnight in the sun with Thomson", and I would have thought that the more affluent demographic that Bristol undoubtedly has helped drive that growth.

 

[Western Sunset]

If train services have any hope of serving Bristol Airport, they need a complete rethink. Remember check-in times are a couple of hours (at best) before departure, so we're talking about arrivals at the airport around 4/5am.

I'm another who can recommend that free drop-off/pick-up south of the airport. It's almost right by the free shuttle bus to the terminal.