Short-stay Bristol Airport car park torn up in £60m project latest

Bristol Airport's short-stay car park has been relocated as part of a £60 million project to create a public transport interchange and an additional multi-storey car park. This is the largest single investment since the terminal opened in 2000, with work commencing in September last year and expected to continue for 18 months.

Eyewitnesses have reported that the former short-stay car park, previously situated in front of the terminal building, has been cleared to make way for the new public transport interchange. The short-stay facility has now been moved to the rear of the existing multi-storey car park.

The upcoming interchange will be located on the top level of the multi-storey car park, providing 10 new bays for coaches and buses. This more than doubles the current number of bays (six), positioning the airport to have one of the largest bus/coach interchanges in the South West region.

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The top tier of the multi-storey will also serve as a dedicated drop-off and pick-up point. Alongside the interchange, safety measures will be enhanced by separating pedestrian and vehicle traffic within the internal road system.

The new multi-storey car park will offer over 2000 spaces, complete with waiting rooms and rest facilities, and will be connected to the existing multi-storey car park.

A glazed bridge link will provide easy access for pedestrians to the terminal. Consequently, the current pedestrian route, which involves steps and slopes between the car parks and the terminal, will be discontinued.

The CEO of Bristol Airport, Dave Lees, said in September: “This project is transformational for our customers. It is the largest single capital investment project since the terminal opened in 2000 and will take 18 months to complete.

“As with all large-scale projects, they are complex and the development work will need to be phased to accommodate the normal day to day Airport operations. During the project, customers will see several temporary changes taking place, including temporary relocation of some car parks and changes to internal roads layouts. We will continue to keep customers informed of the changes via directional signage, customer messaging on car park bookings, the website and on social media.”

The project forms part of plans to make Bristol Airport able to accommodate 12 million passengers per annum and will create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead. The project “is the first of many” to make the customer experience better at Bristol Airport whilst commuting to be a net zero airport by 2030.