• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Wednesday February 1 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Business leaders respond to Bristol Airport expansion go-ahead

The expansion of Bristol Airport – which will see up to two million passengers extra fly from the hub every year – will be allowed to go ahead, the High Court has ruled.

The application – which the airport said would create up to 5,000 new jobs – was rejected in 2020 by North Somerset Council on environmental grounds.

However, the Planning Inspectorate decided in February 2022 to allow Bristol Airport to increase its cap on passengers from 10 million passengers each year to 12 million.

Yesterday (Tuesday) the High Court dismissed the legal challenge brought against the Planning Inspectorate’s permission for Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity.

Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport, said: “Bristol Airport welcomes the High Court Judge’s decision to dismiss the claim and uphold the planning permission to increase Bristol Airport’s capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per annum.

The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create up to 5,000 new jobs, deliver more international destinations for the South West and South Wales, and invest hundreds of millions of pounds improving the customer experience.

“We will do this while working towards our ambitious target of net zero carbon operations by 2030. We look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver our vision to be everyone’s favourite airport.”

Expanded capacity will add 800 jobs at Bristol Airport and up to a further 5,000 regionally, adding an estimated £430 million to the South West’s economy.

Bristol Airport made the fastest recovery from the pandemic of any major UK airport and is anticipating a busy 2023.

Expanded capacity will allow the airport to explore new direct links to Europe and further afield.

As well as providing economic links for our region, new routes will remove some of the millions of car journeys made from the South West and South Wales to London airports each year, argues the airport.

Bristol Airport said it 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, alongside its work with partners in the region to accelerate the development of zero emission flight.

The news has been welcomed by business leaders.

Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, said: “Business West welcomes this confirmation of Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity.

“We have strongly supported Bristol Airport’s commitment to net zero operations and we will continue to work in partnership with them to accelerate the decarbonisation of flight through the Hydrogen South West consortium.

Lee Nathan, FSB regional chairman, said: “In a time of continuing economic uncertainty for SMEs in our region, the sustainable growth of our regional gateway has never been more important – with international links providing opportunities for new jobs, trade, tourism, and investment from overseas.

The small business community is fully committed to the sustainability agenda and we very much respect all the various views about these plans but we believe Bristol Airport put forward a strong case that they will be able to realise their ambitions while staying on course to be net zero in their operations by 2030.”

Ben Rhodes, CBI South West regional director, said: “Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity will open up new markets for the South West’s world class businesses, with new direct connections and improved frequency to key European cities.

As one of our region’s largest private sector employers, we look forward to Bristol Airport creating thousands of new jobs and boosting the South West’s productivity.”

And Kathryn Davis, director of tourism at Visit West, said: “This year is when we hope to see further recovery of inbound tourism.

“Bristol Airport is the West of England’s international gateway, providing direct access to one of the UK’s most beautiful areas and its diverse visitor experiences that make the region so popular.

The visitor economy is of huge importance to our region, worth more than £2.33 billion, supporting around 45,000 jobs and welcoming more than 1million visiting from overseas before the pandemic hit.”