Bristol Airport publishes 2040 Master Plan aiming to boost regional economy and expand connectivity

Following a comprehensive consultation, Bristol Airport (BRS) has published its final Master Plan to 2040, outlining its long-term vision to meet growing regional travel demand.

The draft Master Plan was launched in November 2024, accompanied by a 10-week public consultation. Feedback was invited from local communities, customers, businesses and stakeholders. Over 19,000 people viewed the consultation online, more than 200 attended events, and 2,381 individuals submitted written responses. This feedback has shaped the final Master Plan, which will guide a detailed planning application to be submitted later this year.

The proposals aim to enhance connectivity by offering more destinations, including a limited number of new long-haul routes to places like the east coast of America and the Middle East. These connections would open new markets for inbound tourism and support regional businesses.

The development is forecast to generate £3 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and create 1,000 new jobs, with employment focused on areas such as Weston-super-Mare and South Bristol. More than 70 per cent of current airport employees are local residents.

Bristol Airport plans to increase its passenger capacity from 12 million to 15 million annually by the late 2030s. This would involve expanding infrastructure and increasing annual aircraft movements from 85,990 to 100,000. On a peak day, this would equate to 35 additional aircraft movements. While night flying restrictions would remain in place, an increase of 1,000 night flights per year is proposed, averaging four additional flights on busy nights in peak periods.

Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport, said: “We’re enormously pleased with the level of response to our draft Master Plan consultation and grateful for everyone who took the time to share their views. Our team has carefully studied all the responses and are using them to shape our detailed proposals before submitting a planning application.

“We’re continuing to see strong demand to travel to and from our region, with business travel surprisingly holding up since the pandemic and people wanting to connect with friends and family across Europe.

“More than 10 million people from our catchment continue to travel to fly from Heathrow and London airports every year. We’re confident we can capture a section of that demand and boost the economy of our region by providing direct connections to North America and the Middle East.

“We recognise the concerns about carbon emissions resulting from Airport growth and the implications for climate change. So, we’re bringing forward proposals for what we consider to be responsible growth.”

The UK Government supports sustainable airport growth outside the South East that makes best use of existing runways.

Find out more here. 

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