Planning Inspectorate gives go-ahead for Bristol Airport expansion
| Company | Bristol Airport |
|---|---|
| Date | 03.02.2022 |
The independent Planning Inspectorate has today announced it will allow Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity to proceed
This will lift the cap on Bristol Airport’s capacity from 10 million passengers a year to 12 million and enables investment – including new upgrades to the terminal building, parking facilities, and public transport links.
Expanded capacity will add 800 jobs at Bristol Airport and up to a further 5,000 regionally. The Airport has an existing plan in place to ensure that local residents are offered future job opportunities and a fund will be created to help support those facing barriers to employment, transitioning people in low paid work into careers at Bristol Airport, with up to £300,000 being made available to kick-start training, work experience, apprenticeships, and job readiness.
Bristol Airport has made one of the fastest recoveries from the pandemic, compared to other UK airports, and expanded capacity will allow the Airport to explore new direct links to Europe and further afield, including the Middle East and North America. As well as providing economic links for our region, new routes will remove some of the 8 million car journeys made from the South West to London airports that were made each year before the pandemic.
Bristol Airport put sustainability at the heart of their expansion proposals and will now push ahead with its multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030.
Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport said:
“Bristol Airport welcomes the decision of the Planning Inspectorate. The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead and provide more choice for our customers, supporting inbound tourism, and reducing the millions of road journeys made to London airports each year.
We will now push ahead with our multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth.”
