Bristol Airport - expansion plans, car parking, public transport links - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Airline opens flights from Bristol to Dublin (and onward to the US)

Two airlines have announced they will begin flying between Bristol Airport and Dublin with the option of onward connections to America.

Aer Lingus and Aer Arann will fly between the airports three times a day on weekdays from March 2011.

The firm added that passengers who were travelling to America could clear US customs at facilities in Dublin.

A direct Continental Airlines service from Bristol to New York, which was launched in 2005, was axed in November.

A spokesman for the airport said he hoped the ability to pre-clear customs in Dublin would make travelling to America from Bristol a more attractive option.

[inspector_blakey]

Good news for BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement) - at least Dublin's in the right direction, currently they suggest connecting at Schipol, Brussels or Paris for the US! And the advantages of US customs and immigration pre-clearance in Dublin are not to be underestimated...straight off the aircraft at the other end with no mucking about, compared to an hour or more hanging around in the immigration queue.

Also makes connecting flights in the US easier, since you're treated as a "domestic" arrival having already been through Customs in Ireland which I think means that bags can be checked through to your destination, rather than the usual farce where you have to clear immigration, collect your bags, re-check them and go through security all over again...

[standclearplease]

Removed for good!

[inspector_blakey]

Hmm, you've never flown to the US and connected have you? You'd be right about more or less any other country but here things are a little different.

I can assure you that as an international arrival with a connecting flight, the US requires you to clear immigration and customs at your first airport. So, for example, if I flew to Newark with a connection to Philadelphia I would have to clear immigration and customs at EWR. You then have to collect your bags, leave the secure area, re-check them and clear security again. The same applies at all US airports to my knowledge.

Unusually, the US government also requires all passengers in transit, even if they're just changing planes in the States on their way to another country, to clear immigration and customs, so you still need a visa or to be eligible for a visa waiver in order to transit through.

[Brucey]

The process of not having to check in again is known as Sterile Transit ... which the US does not participate in.

I like the idea of clearing immigration before you leave - I'd rather time my journey to check in earlier rather than being delayed on arrival.  Reminds me of how immigration/customs works on Eurostar.

[Mookiemoo]

Also makes connecting flights in the US easier, since you're treated as a "domestic" arrival having already been through Customs in Ireland which I think means that bags can be checked through to your destination, rather than the usual farce where you have to clear immigration, collect your bags, re-check them and go through security all over again...

Not quite! If you arrived as an international passenger (i.e, no from DUB) on a connecting ticket, you shouldn't need to recheck your bags or exit the airside area to continue onto a US domestic flight.

All the pre-clearance does as you rightly said is formalise the immigration process at Dublin; which means the passenger arrives as a domestic passenger.

I like your alternate universe - go read up on real life

[standclearplease]

Also makes connecting flights in the US easier, since you're treated as a "domestic" arrival having already been through Customs in Ireland which I think means that bags can be checked through to your destination, rather than the usual farce where you have to clear immigration, collect your bags, re-check them and go through security all over again...

Not quite! If you arrived as an international passenger (i.e, no from DUB) on a connecting ticket, you shouldn't need to recheck your bags or exit the airside area to continue onto a US domestic flight.

All the pre-clearance does as you rightly said is formalise the immigration process at Dublin; which means the passenger arrives as a domestic passenger.

I like your alternate universe - go read up on real life

Okay, I'm wrong.. I admit to that. But there is no need to be rude. It does you no favours.

[Tim]

Hmm, you've never flown to the US and connected have you? You'd be right about more or less any other country but here things are a little different.

I have flown Vancouver-Detroit-Gatwick.  I cleared US customs/immigration in Vancouver before getting on the first plane and did not have to re-check baggage or go though anything other than security screening in Detroit.  I think Canada and Ireland may be the only countries where you can do this.  Flying Bristol-EWS^▸ (English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd, now known as DB Schenker Rail (UK^▸ (United Kingdom)))-Houston required clearance of immigration and customs and bagage rechecking at EWS. 

[Brucey]

The only problem I can see with "pre-clearance" is that if every country starting doing this, our airports would become full of different immigration checks.  Looking at this image of Shannon airport, the US desks take up quite a fair amount of space in the terminal.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

Thailand, Rio, Dubai: Bristol Airport expansion will bring direct flights to some of the world's most glamorous locations



People living in Bristol will be able to fly direct to some of the most glamorous locations and holiday destinations in the world within a couple of years ^ if everything goes to plan.

Bristol Airport is pushing ahead with expansion plans designed to allow a new breed of aircraft to land at Lulsgate.

In the past when it came to the truly glamorous destinations in far-off locations, Bristol always lost out to its rivals.

Thanks to the location of the city's airport the huge planes which fly people half way round the world have never been able to land at Bristol Airport.

Until now the huge success of the airport has been largely built on the rise of the budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet to European destinations.

But exotic destinations including Rio de Janeiro, the Caribbean and Thailand could be within the airport's grasp in a few years.

The West Coast of America could also be included on the airport's departure board along with the Middle East.

Other destinations being looked at include Mexico, South Africa and the Far East.

Continental Airlines flew direct to New York from Bristol for five years but decided to pull the plug when the recession saw demand for the lucrative business market collapse overnight.

Bosses at Bristol Airport are locked in talks with airlines and hopes are high that direct to the US could return in the near future.

At present the furthest direct flights from Bristol are to Turkey and Morocco but it looks as though all could be about to change.

As reported in the Bristol Post a new ^6.5 million central walkway complete with six departure gates has just been built.

The walkway has been designed with the next generation of jets in mind which include Boeing's Dreamliner and the Airbus A350.

Both planes are built with lightweight carbon materials and as a result are capable of flying further on less fuel.

The airline industry is increasingly turning its back on the huge passenger jets in favour of the cheaper more environmentally friendly planes which are starting to roll off the production lines in ever larger numbers.

The plan is to increase passenger numbers at Bristol Airport by four million a year and to offer more destinations.

Chief executive Robert Sinclair said: "The central walkway sets a new benchmark for passenger facilities at Bristol Airport. This significant investment demonstrates our ambition to become the airport of choice for passengers across the South West and South Wales. High quality infrastructure will also make Bristol Airport even more attractive to airlines, helping to extend the choice of destinations available ^ including long-haul services to North America and the Middle East in future."

I rather like the faintly quaint references in that Bristol Post article to 'people living in Bristol', and 'Lulsgate'. 

[Red Squirrel]

I rather like the faintly quaint references in that Bristol Post article to 'people living in Bristol', and 'Lulsgate'. 

Very modish, 'Lulsgate'. I still like to think of it as 'Lulsgate Bottom'.

[John R]

At Keflavic Airport in Iceland, all the screens refer to it as Bristol Lulsgate. I nearly said "still refer to it" but then flights only started last year, so someone must have made a conscious decision to load it in to the system as such, as opposed to around 30 (?) years of inertia.

[BerkshireBugsy]

I have to admit I haven't flown from Bristol airport for years but if I had the choice of flying from Bristol or gatwick (I live in Thatcham) I would choose Bristol due to my preference for small regional airports.  In fact the last time I flew from Bristol was on an airline called GO which dates it

I have only used Southampton once to fly to the Channel Islands but was impressed with how (struggling for a word here) much more relaxed it was compared with the London airports.

[John R]

For me, Bristol has lost much of the small regional airport feel, although being 10 mins from home it still wins hands down in terms of convenience. In particular, if you fly early morning, when the Easyjet fleet based there all get to work between 0600 and 0730 then it can take an hour from arrival at the terminal to getting to your gate if flying with hold baggage. The last time it took 20 mins just to clear security and a further 10 mins walk to the furthest gate.

Hopefully it's better once that peak passes, but I won't be able to judge that until October.

[JayMac]

In fact the last time I flew from Bristol was on an airline called GO which dates it

The last time I flew from Lulsgate was with Dan-Air! 1982.