Passenger numbers at Bristol Airport soared by nearly half a million last year to reach a record 6.76m – with bosses predicting further growth will lift 2016’s total above 7m.
The 7.7% year-on-year increase in 2015 was the sixth consecutive year of growth for England’s third-largest regional airport, which has a long-term plan to handle up to 10m passengers a year.
Both charter and scheduled airline operators contributed to the rise, with increased capacity on existing routes and the introduction of a number of new destinations. 
The ‘big two’ tour operators Thomas Cook and TUI – which includes the Thomson and First Choice brands – increased sales of holidays departing from Bristol and sold more seats on their charter flights while the airport described traffic to European hub airports such as Amsterdam, Dublin and Frankfurt as strong, with many passengers making onward connections by long-haul flights.
New scheduled routes were introduced by the airport’s established airlines such as easyJet, bmi regional and Ryanair to destinations including Basle, Bilbao, Munich, Düsseldorf and Vienna.
Meanwhile Wizz Air, a new entrant to the South West market, launched services to Katowice in Poland and Kosice in Slovakia. Flights to the Bulgarian capital Sofia will follow later this month, taking the total number of destinations to 118 across 30 countries, including 17 capital cities.
Continued growth this year – with more routes and new operators – is expected to lift passenger numbers above 7m for the first time in the airport’s 59-year history.
Alongside growth from existing carriers, Bristol will become only the second UK departure point for Icelandic low-cost airline WOW air when it starts flights to North America via Reykjavik in May.
Thomson Airways started flights to Cape Verde in November and expects the route to prove popular this year.
The airport, owned by Canadian investment fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has been transformed in recent years as passenger numbers have climbed steadily and is now the UK’s ninth busiest airport and the fifth largest outside London.
Since 2010, some £120m has been spent upgrading and extending facilities to prepare for a predicted annual total of 10m passengers towards the end of the decade.
Work is underway on a £24m west terminal extension to transform the security search process for passengers. When completed later this year it will also create an enlarged baggage reclaim area, customs facilities and meet-and-greet area.
This follows the opening of an £8.6m extension to the departure lounge last July with new shops, food and drink outlets, an outdoor terrace, second executive lounge and hundreds of additional seats.
When the present terminal building was opened in 2000 the airport handled just 2.2m passengers. A 201-room Hampton by Hilton hotel on the airport site will open later this year.
The airport is contributing more than £4.7m towards the construction of the South Bristol Link road – part of the MetroBus network of rapid transit routes in the West of England – which will enhance access to the airport from the north, east and west.
This payment is part of a planning agreement allowing the airport to develop its facilities to handle up to 10m passengers a year.
Airport chief executive officer Robert Sinclair said: “Increased demand for air travel is a positive sign that the South West economy continues to thrive.
“Given the growth in our route network and continued improvement in facilities and services, passengers are increasingly turning to Bristol as the premier gateway airport serving the South West and Wales.”
