Name: Bristol International Airport
IATA code: BRS
Address: Bristol International Airport, Bristol, BS48 3DY
Telephone: 0871 334 4344
Website: www.bristolairport.co.uk

Bristol International Airport is an airport in the south west of England. It is located 8 miles south of Bristol city centre at Lulsgate, and handled nearly 6 million passengers in 2007, making it the 9th busiest airport in the UK. Though opened in the 1950s (as Bristol Lulsgate Airport), the airport boomed during the 1980s with the growing popularity of charter airlines to holiday hotspots abroad. The arrival of budget airlines during the 2000s greatly expanded the scheduled services offered by the airport. The airport is still popular with charter flight operators; the majority of customers passing through the terminal building during the summer months will be holidaymakers off to destinations in and around the Mediterranean. The year-round scheduled flights to and from Bristol International Airport fly to a wide range of European city destinations. Amongst other domestic services, the airport also has regular flights to the Jersey, Guernsey and the Isles of Scilly; these scheduled services are provided by Air Southwest and Flybe, Aurigny Air Services and Isles of Scilly Skybus respectively. There are plans to expand the airport but the have been put on hold while research is made into the airports impact on the environment.

The bulk of air traffic handled at Bristol International Airport serves international (European) and domestic destinations. Domestic routes include Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Belfast, the Channel Islands and Isles of Scilly. Air Southwest, who provide the Jersey, Leeds/Bradford and Manchester routes also provides services to Newquay and Plymouth. Flights to Bristol International Airport come mainly from European destinations. The main scheduled operators at the airport are the budget airlines EasyJet and Ryanair; services provided by these airlines include Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Ibiza, Krakow, Lisbon, Milan, Prague, Valencia, Bratislava, Dublin, Riga, Salzburg and Turin. Ryanair even provides a service to Marrakech in Morocco. Other airlines operating scheduled services from Bristol are Aer Arann, Air France, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa. Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways are the largest charter operators at Bristol International Airport; they provide services to destinations such as Corfu, Dalaman, Kos, Monastir, Rhodes, Cancun, Orlando-Sanford, Sharm el-Sheikh and Zakynthos. Other charter airlines operating from Bristol are Air Europa, KoralBlue Airlines and Onur Air. A scheduled transatlantic service to Newark is provided by Continental Airlines. If you can’t find flights to Bristol International Airport (or from), then the nearest alternative airports are Cardiff International Airport, Exeter International Airport and Bournemouth International Airport.

Bristol International Airport is well integrated into the local transport network. The airport is located just off the A38; passengers arriving by car will likely be coming to Bristol on the M5 and will find it clearly sign posted from the Motorway. Those arriving in Bristol by train or coach will find the airport shuttle bus the easiest way to reach the airport from the city centre. The service (called the Bristol International Flyer) runs regularly throughout the day and can be caught from a number of central locations. Regular services run daily and the journey time is around 30 minutes from central Bristol. Adult singles cost from £6 and family tickets are available. More information can be found on the airport website. Taxis are readily available throughout the city but will be a more expensive way of reaching the airport.