Bristol Airport

About Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport (IATA: BRS, ICAO: EGGD) is the largest airport in the South West of England. It sits beside the A38 at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, about 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Bristol city centre, at an elevation of 622 feet (190 m) above sea level. Its bus and coach links reach Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Cardiff, Exeter and Plymouth as well as Bristol itself.

The airport handled 10,832,713 terminal passengers in 2025, around 10.8 million, according to UK Civil Aviation Authority data. Planning permission granted in 2022 allows it to grow to 12 million passengers a year, and a programme of more than £400 million is under way to upgrade its facilities.

Bristol Airport Limited runs the airport. Macquarie Asset Management became its largest shareholder in November 2025 when it bought a 55% stake from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. The remaining shares are held by New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp), the Australian Retirement Trust and StepStone. The single runway, 09/27, is 2,011 metres long with a grooved asphalt surface.

How to get to Bristol Airport

By bus and coach

Buses and coaches use the Transport Interchange, a short walk from the terminal. The Airport Flyer routes are:

• A1 Bristol Airport Flyer, from Bristol Bus Station via the city centre, Temple Meads and Bedminster, daily and up to every 8 minutes
• A2 Portishead Airport Flyer, via Clevedon, Nailsea and Backwell, up to hourly and 24 hours a day
• A3 Weston Airport Flyer, from Weston-super-Mare railway station via Worle and Congresbury, up to every 30 minutes at peak times
• A4 Bath Airport Flyer, via Saltford, Keynsham and south Bristol, hourly

Direct long-distance services include National Express route 216 from Cardiff and Newport, National Express route 100 from Birmingham via Gloucester and Cheltenham, the South West Falcon from Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton (booked through Megabus) and Flixbus from Swansea, Bridgend, Cardiff and Newport. Passengers on other National Express and Flixbus routes can change at Bristol Bus Station for the A1. The WESTlink on-demand service also covers the airport.

By train

The airport has no railway station. Rail passengers usually travel to Bristol Temple Meads and take the A1 Airport Flyer, or to Weston-super-Mare station for the A3.

By road

From the north, leave the M5 at junction 18 and follow signs for the A4 and A370 towards Bristol and the airport. This route passes through Bristol, where Clean Air Zone charges apply to some older vehicles. From the south, leave the M5 at junction 22 and follow the A38. Drivers on the M4 from the east join the M5 southbound at junction 20, and from Bath the A4 and A4174 lead towards the airport.

Parking is available on site in the multi-storey, short stay, mid stay and Silver Zone car parks, with meet and greet and a drop-off car park also offered. The postcode for most car parks is BS48 3DY.

Terminal and facilities

Bristol has one passenger terminal, which opened in 2000 and has since been extended at both ends. Facilities include:

• Escape Lounge, on the mezzanine level of the departure lounge, bookable by passengers flying with any airline
• Fast Track Security, which can be booked in advance
• Special assistance for passengers who need extra help at the airport
• Shops, bars and restaurants, with a reserve and collect service for some retail purchases

The £60 million Public Transport Interchange, which opened in 2025, increased the number of bus and coach bays and added a new car park.

Airlines and destinations

The airport's airline directory lists easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2.com, TUI, KLM, Aer Lingus, Aurigny, Edelweiss, Loganair, Pegasus Airlines and SunExpress. Most of the network is short-haul, made up of city breaks and Mediterranean holiday destinations across Europe, with a mix of year-round and summer-only routes. KLM flies to Amsterdam, where passengers can connect to its worldwide network, and Pegasus Airlines and SunExpress link Bristol with Turkey. Edelweiss offers flights to Switzerland.

In August 2026 Discover Airlines, part of the Lufthansa Group, announced a twice-weekly service to Frankfurt starting in May 2027.

History

Bristol's first airport opened at Whitchurch on 31 May 1930 and was only the third civil airport in the UK. It was requisitioned during the Second World War, and afterwards it was judged unsuitable for peacetime growth because its runway could not be extended. In 1955 the Bristol Corporation bought the disused wartime airfield at Lulsgate Bottom for £55,000, and the new Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport was opened in 1957 by the Duchess of Kent. It carried 33,000 passengers in its first year.

A new terminal was opened by the Princess Royal in 2000. The following year Macquarie and Cintra bought the airport for £198 million, and the low-cost airline Go chose Bristol as its second UK base, the forerunner of easyJet's operation today. Continental Airlines began the South West's first scheduled non-stop transatlantic service, to New York Newark, in 2005. The terminal was enlarged in 2015 and 2016, and the old 1950s terminal building was demolished from 2019. After a complete closure during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the airport secured permission in 2022 to raise its passenger cap to 12 million, and opened its new transport interchange in 2025.