Record number of people working at Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport is experiencing its busiest summer ever, offering an extensive number of flights to destinations across the globe. In order to facilitate the volume of people using the Airport during this holiday season, hundreds of new staff have been employed to meet the growing demand from customers to travel overseas this summer. 

Image: Easyjet plane parked outside Bristol Airport 

New employees have joined the Airport this summer, working in a variety of job roles, from retail to operational including engineering and sustainability, bringing the total workforce to more than 5,500.

Many of the staff working at the Airport are benefiting from free bus travel using the A1 Flyer from Bristol Temple Meads, the A3 Flyer from Weston-super-Mare and now the A4 Air Decker from Bath, helping to reduce the number of cars on the road and encouraging sustainable travel to work.

In the last 12 months the Airport has seen a record number of customers using the A1 and A3 Flyer buses, with more than 117,000 passengers and staff using the A1 last month. And more than 17,500 using the A3. An increasing number of people now use public buses and coaches to travel to and from the Airport from the South West, South Wales and as far north as Birmingham.

Customers have been jetting off to destinations across Europe – the most popular for beach holidays are Palma, Alicante and Faro. Top city breaks include Dublin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.

Also this summer, new routes were launched to Zurich with Edelweiss and Istanbul with low-cost airline, Pegasus, which not only provides direct flights to Istanbul, but also offers connections to popular destinations such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi as well as onward flights across Turkey and further afield.

This August will also see tourists coming to explore the region – boosting the local economy and supporting hotels and the wider hospitality sector. Among the popular inbound routes are Milan, Knock in Northern Ireland, Madrid, Dublin, Bucharest in Romania, Sofia in Bulgaria and Gdansk in Poland.

Cherie Marchant, People Director at Bristol Airport explained: “We held a dedicated recruitment event in the spring for people who wanted to work at the Airport, seeking full time, part time and temporary roles. We were taken aback by the level of interest – from people keen to explore new careers to others who wanted Airport experience and summer jobs.

“This summer season we’ve filled more than 40 vacancies, not including retail and hospitality, which appointed more than 30 new staff, but we still have more roles available. On top of this our 50-plus business partners, have worked hard to train up new recruits ahead of our busiest time of the year.”

Image: Bristol Airport Public Transport Interchange 

Passengers visiting the Airport are using the £60 million new Public Transport Interchange (PTI) to access the terminal for the first time. The PTI was opened last month by North Somerset Council leader Mike Bell and Sadik Al-Hassan MP.

Customers no longer need to restrict liquids to 100ml, as of last month items up to 2 litres can now be carried through in hand luggage along with all electronics (laptops, tablets and mobile phones) which should remain inside bags while passing through security screening. But it is recommended you check before flying back, as the liquid limit still varies from airport to airport.

It’s still important to empty pockets and place loose items in hand luggage, with metal water bottles emptied before entering security (water fountains can be found opposite world duty free as well as in the PTI and outside arrivals). Coats, hats and belts should be placed in the tray provided with a hand luggage bag on top. Customers may still be asked to take off shoes. Any customers wearing sunglasses should place them in hand luggage. We recommend travelling with only essential items in your hand baggage and pushchairs to enable easy transit through security.

Pushchairs and car seats that have not been checked in, along with wheelchairs and walking aids will be searched, so customers should allow more time for this.

“Any customer travelling with a medical condition or disability including hidden disabilities should mention this to a member of staff just before screening. And they can request a private search if this makes them feel more comfortable,” explained Caroline Vear, Head of Security at Bristol Airport. “There is also a sensory room which is pre bookable and anyone looking to take a quieter route to the departure lounge, should follow the sunflowers on the floor from security.”

Parents should prepare for children who are 1 metre tall and above to use the security scanner or if they are unable to hold the position required or are under 1 metre tall, then they will be hand searched. For further information please check the security section at the Airport on the website.

Bristol Airport recommends all customers should prepare and plan ahead, checking in online, arriving in plenty of time before their flight departure to complete check-in, bag drop, security checks and boarding processes. Please check with your airline directly to confirm the precise check-in opening times. Some airlines offer Twilight bag drop the day before, for customers departing on early morning flights, with free car parking in the Short Stay car park.