News Release (18/03/08)
80,000 expected to travel through Bristol International this weekend
Bristol International Airport is expecting 80,000* passengers to pass through its doors between Thursday 20th and Monday 24th March as travellers take advantage of the early Easter weekend to visit friends and family, get some late winter sun, hit the slopes or simply enjoy a city break. Increased demand for flights is also being seen in early April, when local schools break up for belated Easter holidays.
Popular destinations include New York, where visitors can enjoy an Easter Parade down Fifth Avenue, as well as European capital cities including Paris, Rome, Madrid, Brussels, Berlin and Lisbon. Favourable ski conditions in the Alps are also making Turin, Chambery, Milan and Geneva popular destinations for the Easter weekend.
Further afield, flights to long-haul destinations such as Orlando and the Dominican Republic were packed out earlier this week as sun-seekers looking to get away from it all enjoy an extended break.
But it’s not all one-way traffic. Thousands of inbound passengers are expected to fly in to the South West to be reunited with relatives or to enjoy the attractions of Bristol and Bath.
Jason Wescott, Sales Manager at Bristol International Airport, said:
“It will be a busy weekend but we are working hard to ensure that all passengers enjoy a great start to their Easter break, whether they are departing from Bristol International or arriving here in the South West.”
Passengers at the airport on Thursday morning will be entertained by Oscar winners while they check in. Wallace & Gromit will be getting Easter off to a ‘cracking’ start by handing out chocolate eggs as they help to raise money for the Grand Appeal, the airport’s charity of the year. All donations will go towards the Appeal’s ‘cots for tots’ campaign to provide life-saving cots, incubators and vital medical equipment for premature and critically ill newborn babies being treated at the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit in Bristol.
*76,000 passengers used Bristol International over the Easter weekend in 2007.