Record number of people working at Bristol Airport as demand soars

Hundreds of new staff have been employed at Bristol Airport in order to meet the growing demand for people looking to travel during the holiday season.

New employees have joined the Airport this summer working in a variety of job roles, from retail to operational including engineering and sustainability, bringing the total workforce to more than 5,500. Many of the staff working at the Airport are benefiting from free bus travel using the A1 Flyer from Bristol Temple Meads, the A3 Flyer from Weston-super-Mare and now the A4 Air Decker from Bath, helping to reduce the number of cars on the road and encouraging sustainable travel to work. 

In the last 12 months the Airport has seen a record number of customers using the A1 and A3 Flyer buses, with more than 117,000 passengers and staff using the A1 last month. And more than 17,500 using the A3. An increasing number of people now use public buses and coaches to travel to and from the Airport from the South West, South Wales and as far north as Birmingham. 

Customers have been jetting off to destinations across Europe – the most popular for beach holidays are Palma, Alicante and Faro. Top city breaks include Dublin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. 

Also this summer, new routes were launched to Zurich with Edelweiss and Istanbul with low-cost airline, Pegasus, which not only provides direct flights to Istanbul, but also offers connections to popular destinations such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi as well as onward flights across Turkey and further afield. 

This August will also see tourists coming to explore the region – boosting the local economy and supporting hotels and the wider hospitality sector. Among the popular inbound routes are Milan, Knock in Northern Ireland, Madrid, Dublin, Bucharest in Romania, Sofia in Bulgaria and Gdansk in Poland. 

Cherie Marchant, People Director at Bristol Airport explained, “We held a dedicated recruitment event in the spring for people who wanted to work at the Airport, seeking full-time, part-time time and temporary roles. We were taken aback by the level of interest – from people keen to explore new careers to others who wanted Airport experience and summer jobs. 

“This summer season we’ve filled more than 40 vacancies, not including retail and hospitality, which appointed more than 30 new staff, but we still have more roles available. On top of this our 50-plus business partners, have worked hard to train up new recruits ahead of our busiest time of the year.” 

Passengers visiting the Airport are using the £60 million new Public Transport Interchange (PTI) to access the terminal for the first time. The PTI was opened last month by North Somerset Council leader Mike Bell and Sadik Al-Hassan MP.

Caroline Vear, Head of Security at Bristol Airport, added, “Any customer travelling with a medical condition or disability including hidden disabilities should mention this to a member of staff just before screening. And they can request a private search if this makes them feel more comfortable. There is also a sensory room which is pre bookable and anyone looking to take a quieter route to the departure lounge, should follow the sunflowers on the floor from security.”