Passenger numbers at Bristol Airport soared to a new record of more than three quarters of a million last month as new scheduled services took off and the market for foreign holidays recovered strongly from the recession.
Some 768,587 travellers passed through the terminal in August – up 6% on the same month last year. It is the first time the figure for August – the airport’s busiest month – has exceeded 750,000. 
And with more new flights, the Rugby World Cup and the interest in Banksy’s Dismaland ‘bemusement park’ at Weston-super-Mare expecting to keep passenger numbers high for the remainder of this year, the annual total could be higher than last year’s record of 6.3m.
Dismaland is also expected to boost the airport’s private charter business as well-heeled international art lovers and celebrities jet in to visit the exhibition.
Airport bosses said growth in August was the result of extended flight and holiday programmes from the ‘big two’ tour operators Thomas Cook and TUI Group – which includes the Thomson and First Choice brands – along with new destinations from scheduled airlines. Load factors on many routes also increased.
In May Thomson Airways added a third aircraft to its Bristol-based fleet which opened up new destinations including Dubrovnik, Pula and Santorini. Thomas Cook operates two Airbus A321s from Bristol to 20 holiday destinations.
EasyJet launched flights to Bilbao, the Isle of Man, Porto, Gibraltar, Lanzarote, Catania and Zante earlier this year while Wizz Air, the largest low-cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, entered the South West market for the first time in June, launching twice weekly flights to Katowice in Poland.
Bmi regional has also increased its route network from Bristol, this year adding Paris, Nantes and Düsseldorf.
Bristol Airport, which opened in 1957 and is now owned by Canadian investment fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has been transformed in recent years as passenger numbers have climbed steadily.
Since 2010, some £120m has been spent upgrading and extending facilities to prepare for a predicted annual total of 10m passengers.
An enlarged departure lounge opened in July and work is already underway on a second £24m extension to its terminal featuring state-of-the-art technology aimed at streamlining passenger security checks and ending peak-time bottle necks.
The airport handles flights to 114 destinations across 30 countries – a route network that bosses hope to extend with the re-introduction of direct flights to the US and new services to the Middle East.
Chief executive Robert Sinclair said: “The growing number of passengers choosing Bristol Airport demonstrates the strong demand for air travel to and from the South West and Wales and underlines why we continue to invest in enhancing facilities for passengers.
“By combining a comprehensive route network with a friendly and efficient airport experience we want to be the number one choice when customers in our region are making their travel plans.”
The airport said prospects remained strong for the rest of the year with new scheduled routes launching in the coming months, including Wizz Air to Kosice in Slovakia in October, and easyJet to Vienna and Basle in November.
The Rugby World Cup in September and October is expected to provide a further boost to inbound passenger numbers along with Banksy’s Dismaland at Weston-super-Mare.
