Bristol Airport Parking

Bristol airport history

A group of local entrepreneurs in 1937 raised £6,000 through public subscription to inaugurate a flying club at Filton Aerodrome. By 1929 the flying club had become such a successful venture it was decided that a farm located in Whitchurch near Bristol would be developed into an airport. Prince George, son of King George V opened Bristol Airport in 1930— Britian's third airport of it's kind. Passenger numbers grew from 935 in 1930 to over 4,000 in 1939.

The airport was the only civilian airport still in operation during WWII; thus flights bound for London terminated in Bristol. The British Overseas Airways Corporation were dispersed to Whitchurch from Croydon and Gatwick Airports. Routes included to and from Lisbon, other neutral countries as well as flights of a more classified nature.

A new airport was constructed in 1955 at Lulsgate Bottom Airfield near Redhill; formerly an RAF base, operating in peacetime as a glider station. The new airport was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport. The new airport was opened in 1957 by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. 33,000 people used the airport in its inaugural year. In 1963 the runway was lengthened and in 1965 the terminal was also extended — all due to rapid expansion. In 1968 a new 5,000 square foot (460 m²) building was built— again as the airport expanded. In 1974 the airline "Court Line" collapsed, causing a fall in passenger numbers.

By 1980 17 charter airlines were flying from the airport. In 1984 major changes were made, with the addition of an international departure lounge, duty free shops, a 24-hour airside bar, an arrivals concourse, a short-term car park and more. On the 1 April 1987 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 began trading. Over the next few years business boomed with over 100,000 passengers each month in the summer of 1988.

An easyJet Boeing 737 and an Air Southwest Dash 8 at Bristol Airport. The runways are 622 In 1996 Bristol Airport was sold by Bristol City Council. In March 1997 its name was changed from Bristol Airport to Bristol International Airport. In December 1997 51% of the airport was sold to FirstGroup plc, while the remaining 49% stayed with Bristol City Council. A new terminal building was built in April 1999 and opened in March 2000. In 2000, passenger numbers exceeded two million for the first time.

Macquarie Bank and Cintra bought the airport in January 2001 for £198m. Passenger numbers exceeded three million mark in 2002, largely due to the arrival of the low-cost carrier Go Fly. Continued expansion by Easyjet led to another increase in passengers — to 3.8 million. In May 2005, Continental Airlines introduced direct flights from Bristol to New York using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.

The proposed expansion of the airport is steeped with contention. A group was formed to fight the expansion (known as Stop Bristol Airport Expansion)has been formed by Bristol Friends of the Earth, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and other groups and individuals in North Somerset, Bristol and BANES. The coalition has a website at www.stopbristolairportexpansion.co.uk.

This history article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bristol Airport".