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| Click Here To Book Car Hire From Bristol Airport (BRS) | ||
| Car Hire and Car Rental From Bristol Airport (BRS) | ||
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1927 A group of local businessmen managed to raise £6,000 through public subscriptions to inaugurate a flying club at Filton Aerodrome, which became the birthplace of Concorde. 1929 These pioneers had attracted so much interest in their project that they became more ambitious and decided to develop a fully-fledged airport for Bristol. An area of farmland at Whitchurch was bought and the new airport began. 1930 Official opening of Bristol Airport in May by HRH Prince George. During this period Bristol was only the third civil airport in the country. 1930 - 1939 Whitchurch developed slowly with passenger numbers of 935 in 1930 increasing to 4,000 by 1939. With the outbreak of the war the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and had the distinction of being the only civil airport in operation in the U.K. Imperial Airways, KLM and others were transferred from London's Croydon Airport to Whitchurch. Flights were operated to Lisbon with links to the United States via the Azores. The comings and goings of statesmen, spies, film stars and other were shrouded in secrecy, but Winston Churchill and Amy Johnson certainly used the Airport during this period. 1939 - 1944 Many discussions take place on the fate of Whitchuch following the war. The general view is that it cannot be developed for post war use and that its future is limited. 1955 Bristol wins its ten-year battle for a new City airport. Lulsgate Bottom Airfield, which had been in use as a R.A.F airfield for 10 years is purchased for £55,000 by the Bristol Corporation. It is announced that Bristol's new aerodrome will officially be known as "Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport". Bristol Airport Committee meets at the aerodrome to visualise the future Bristol Airport. 1956 After the war it was realised that future development at Whitchurch was limited, as there was no possibility of extending the runway. Then the airport was de-requisitioned in 1956 the Airport Committee therefore decided to purchase and develop Lulsgate Bottom. This was by now a disused RAF airfield, which had been developed as a Fighter Command base during the war. It was purchased for £55,000. 1957 The Duchess of Kent, whose late husband - killed during the war - had previously opened Whitchurch Airport, duly opened the new airport. The first year of operation at the new airport proved to be successful with a throughput of 33,000 passengers and 608,000 kilos of freight. 1963 The runway was lengthened. 1965 Extensions were made to the terminal building. 1968 A new 5,000 square foot transit shed was constructed and many freight agents were beginning to establish their operations at the airport. 1973 Saw the collapse of Court Line, which had a dramatic effect on air passenger numbers at all UK airports, not just Bristol. 1980 With the increase in the Inclusive Tour charter market Bristol's financial standing gradually improved and now had seventeen tour operators offering flights from the West Country. 1982 The George Maggs Lounge was opened, named after Councillor Maggs who was for many years chairman of the Bristol Airport Committee. 1984 Improvements were made to the Rescue Fire Fighting Service vehicles and equipment. The Plessey 430 radar had been replaced by an Instrument Landing System on both runways 09 and 27. This was quite a unique installation by Norsk Marconi utilising distance measuring equipment in place of marker beacons together with a localise aerial on a 60 ft gantry due to the rapid fall on land to the west end of the runway. Within the Terminal Building, Caterleisure had been awarded the Terminal catering contract with a self-service buffet, restaurant, landside bar, shop and airside bar. The Airport Authority added a new International Departure Lounge with Duty Free Shop and 24 hour airside bar, an Arrivals Concourse to facilitate a new passenger flow system in addition to completely refurbishing the Departure Concourse. Refurbishment included new check-in desks and scales, conveyorised baggage system, new tour operators' desks and a flight Information System. Facilities for the disabled were provided in the form of car parking spaces in the car parks, additional wheelchairs, landside and airside toilets, vending machines on the ground floor and low-level telephone. Externally, a short-term car park was provided and considerable extensions were made to the long-term car parks. 1985 A new scheduled service commenced operation by Brymon Airways to Isles of Scilly. A development budget of £13.5million provided an extended aircraft-parking apron, new fire station, extended Departure Lounge and improved airfield drainage. 1987 On the 1 April all employees were transferred from Bristol City council to Bristol Airport plc. The operation and net assets of Bristol Airport were transferred from the City of Bristol and the Company commenced trading. In order to finance the acquisition of the operation and net assets of the Company, shares were issued for a total consideration of £19,675,000. New arrival area lounges and baggage handling facilities were opened together with an extension to the restaurant on the first floor. During this year Paramount Airways, Bristol's first based charter airline, commenced operation with flights to Tenerife and Malaga. In May 1987 the Brunel Lounge was opened which offered frequent traveller facilities. A new Fuel Farm providing storage facilities for 700,000 litres of aviation fuel was another addition to Bristol Airport's expansion. In August of this year the highest -ever passenger figures in one month was achieved - 98,034 passengers passed through the airport and in October the new apron control accommodation and watch room buildings opened. 1988 Bristol Airport's rapid expansion continues with 100,000 scheduled service passengers passing through the airport for the first time. In July this year HRH the Princess Royal opened the newly refurbished and extended check-in concourse. August broke all records with a throughput of 103,401 passengers compared with 98,034 for the same month in the previous year. With this in mind a feasibility study into proposals for the Airport to set up a Bristol based scheduled service airline was commissioned. Which later proved feasible. 1989 Record passenger figures continue to dominate the news with a January throughput of 34,345, which was a 31 per cent increase. The scheduled network saw an increase with the introduction of the F50 aircraft by Aer lingus on the Dublin route, Lufthansa's service to Dusseldorf increasing to twice a day and Netherlines'NLM made greater utilisation of the F27 on the Amsterdam route. Jersey European Airways operated the largest scheduled services from Bristol . Further development to the terminal building continues, with the addition of a children's play area in the International Departure Lounge, extensive refurbishment to the main bar area, enclosing the attached viewing balcony to develop extra seating area. The Brunel Lounge was enlarged to cope with the expanding numbers of regular business travellers. To further improve the facilities for our passengers a shuttle service was introduced to provide courtesy transport between the long-term car park and the terminal building. During November and March a £4.3 million project to resurface the main runway and taxiways took place. In November Brymon Airways, who had previously announced in June 1989 of their intentions to operate from Bristol Airport, commenced a three-times daily flight to Glasgow and a once a day flight to Edinburgh. 1991 Brymon Airways continue to dominate the expansion programme with the introduction of an additional service to Edinburgh, introduction of a Newcastle / Aberdeen route and a third Dash 8 aircraft. In addition to Brymon's success Sabena began operating to Brussels and Crossair to Zurich. Freight traffic also increased with scheduled services booming and the Post Office illustrated its commitment by opening up a new sorting office at the airport. Despite a poor year in respect of charter services the final passenger throughput was satisfactory. 1992 The recession continues which saw major setbacks resulting in the demise of Airlines, tour Operators and Travel Agents. Those that survived the year experienced reduced profits with some recording losses for the first time. Bristol did not remain unscathed and although managing to record similar passenger numbers to the previous year profits reduced. May to October period indicated a downturn of 19% in charter traffic compared to 1990/91 and a shortfall of 38% against the previous year. Charter traffic did however achieve growth in the winter season and scheduled traffic was up 31%, which allowed the final passenger throughput to remain static at 843,000. 1992/1993 A £5m (34%) increase in turnover together with a £1.95m (211%) increase in profit before tax and a million passenger throughput for the first time was the most outstanding result ever achieved by Bristol Airport. The superb performance derived from a 42% increase in charter passengers, 15.3% increase in scheduled service passengers. Air 2000 based an Airbus A320 at Bristol for the first time. Following the planning application for a new terminal building the scheme was called in for Public Inquiry. 1993 / 1994 The success scenario continues with increased passenger throughput, increased profits and increased employment. Aer Lingus' initiative in commencing a daily scheduled service to New York via Dublin was one of the highlights of this year. Clearing US immigration in Dublin and onward connection on an A330 aircraft further promoted Dublin as a hub airport from Bristol. Brymon Airways became a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, which Bristol Airport immediately benefited from. The Brymon fleet was repainted, the interiors refitted and new uniforms donned in order to reflect the British Airways corporate style. 1994 / 95 The Airport's freight facility, was relocated to a site in Avonmouth. The new facility situated close to the M4 / M5 interchange was suitably located to take advantage of the increasing amount of freight travelling to the South West from Heathrow by road. In May 1994 the application for a proposed new terminal building was approved by the Secretary of State. Airworld based an A320 at Bristol Airport as a summer operation only. 1995 / 1996 This year saw the tragic death of one of aviation's major characters - Managing Director Les Wilson OBE, a sad loss not only to Bristol but the Industry as a whole. Growth on Bristol's scheduled services continued above expectation. Overall 517,997 business passengers use the airport, representing 35% of the total traffic. The most spectacular increase was in the international sector, which grew by 19.78%. Brit Air introduced a twice-daily service to Paris increasing the frequency on the CDG route to 5 per day. Despite difficult trading conditions with the Charter market, Bristol saw growth of 10.3% p.m. inclusive Tour passengers. During this year, as part of a new strategic initiative, Bristol Airport commissioned transport consultants, Steer Davies Gleeve, to provide market analysis on the future demand for air travel. In particular, the consultants were asked to review Bristol Airport's medium to long term passenger forecasts to ensure that the methodology used and actual statistics calculated were consistent with Government, CAA and external expectations. 1996/97 Bristol Airport was put up for sale by Bristol City Council. The way, in which the council could obtain funding meant that the airport could not start building, is much needed new terminal. With passenger figures reaching 1.4 million the terminal building had already started to exceed it's capacity. After the loss of Les Wilson a new management team was formed. John Parkin became the Managing Director who previously worked for Thomas Cook, the Deputy Managing Director and Finance Director was Andrew Skipp and Mike Luddy as Marketing Director from Gatwick joined them. The team was formed to continue the growth of the airport and drive forward the sale. 1997/98 In an effort to change the old out of date image the airport was beginning to get the name was changed. March 97 saw the re-launch of Bristol Airport to Bristol International. This move re-instated the airport's plans for growth. December 97 the airport was sold. 51% was owned by FirstGroup, the remaining 49% still belonged to Bristol City Council. 1998/99 This year saw massive changes at Bristol Airport; the old terminal was refurbished and modernised to make it see out the next few years. The airport was still expanding rapidly and 1.8 million passengers travelled through the terminal; the next year was scheduled to carry 2 million. FirstGroup invested £32 million in the development of Bristol International and the autumn saw the start of the long awaited new £27 million terminal building that was designed to carry 3.5 million passengers. This building will see Bristol International into the millennium and beyond. 1999/2000 The new terminal building was well under way with the roof being completed in April and all was on schedule for opening in March 2000. As part of the planning agreement Bristol International had to make a new entrance for the terminal and divert the A38 to allow installation of category III an all weather landing system. Work on the new road layout started in September, this included the re-organisations of the car parks and the landscaping. Passenger figures reached 2 million. 2000 March 3rd 2000 the New Terminal was opened by HRH the Princess Royal and flights started leaving the new building on the 7th. The old terminal building closed to the public and was converted to offices for many of the staff. Brymon introduced two new routes to Frankfurt and Munich, passenger numbers continued to grow. 2000 also saw it's first direct transatlantic flight in many years operating to Toronto by Royal Airlines. The success story is set to continue. 2001 Yet another extraordinary year for Bristol International. In January, Macquarie & Cintra acquired the Airport for £198m. Go announced in March that it was to make Bristol International its second UK base. Bristol International was originally in competition against 140 Airports across Europe. The arrival of Go remains the single biggest commercial deal in the Airports history. The first Go flights started in May 2001. November saw the conclusion of a major 5 year project to bring all weather landing equipment (Category 3) to the Airport. Bristol International is the only Airport in SouthWest and Wales with the capability for suitably equipped aircraft to land safely in poor visibility. The final part of the huge capital investment programme took place on Wednesday 5th December when the £3.5 million air traffic control tower went live. Equipped with the very latest technology, the fabulous new building offers spectacular views of the whole runway and Airport operation. It is estimated that Bristol International will handle 2.8 million passengers this year. 2002 In February Bristol International was officially the fastest growing airport in the UK, with a year on year passenger increase of 44.5%. Four new services were launched in 2002, in March, Go started services to Prague, Bristol International welcomed Aer Arran in July who started a new service to Cork, in October Air France started services to Paris and Go started services to Venice. In May the Airport celebrated the 1st anniversary of the arrival of Go, over 750,000 people used the Go services in the first year of operation. June saw the opening of the new £800,000 domestic baggage reclaim hall, with two baggage belts and a new baggage carousel. In August Bristol International celebrated handling 3 million passengers in a 12-month period for the first time, a landmark for the Airport. The Airport achieved another landmark in November 2002, when it was awarded the covered Investors in People standard for the Airports commitment to staff training and development. The new £800,000 covered walkway, which provides weatherproof cover to six aircraft stands opened to the public in December. | ||
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