News Release (27/07/10)
251 room facility to provide passengers with overnight accommodation
A planning application for the development of an on-site hotel at Bristol Airport has been submitted to North Somerset Council.
Plans for a 251 room facility adjacent to the terminal building have been put forward by Pedersen Airport Hotels. The development would generate 24 full time equivalent jobs in the construction industry and lead to the creation of around 125 direct jobs once completed.
The proposed hotel would be positioned approximately 100 metres from the terminal building, providing passengers arriving late in the evening, or travelling from further afield for an outbound flight, with a convenient location at which to break their journey with an overnight stay. The on-site hotel will also make public transport accessible to passengers with early morning check-ins, enabling them to arrive the previous day.
Facilities will include meeting rooms, a licensed bar and restaurant, as well as dedicated car parking. Bristol Airport and Pedersen expect to select an internationally recognised brand over the course of the next few months.
Bristol Airport is currently the largest airport in the UK without an on-site hotel. The proposed development will meet existing demand from passengers and air crew and provide the Airport with a much-needed facility for both the business and leisure markets. It will also offer inbound visitors arriving on evening flights the option of convenient and stress-free accommodation on their first night in the region before continuing their onward journey to destinations across the South West the following morning.
The planning application for the hotel will be considered separately from Bristol Airport’s proposals to develop and enhance facilities to enable 10 million passengers per annum to be handled by 2019/20. The latter proposals earmarked a site for an on-site hotel, with further details now brought forward in Pedersen’s submission.
Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer at Bristol Airport, said:
“An on-site hotel has long been high on the list of facilities requested by our passengers. The proposed hotel development would enable us to provide a service which visitors to the South West expect to be available at the region’s airport.”
Dependent on receipt of the relevant approvals it is anticipated that construction could start as early as 2011, with completion targeted for winter 2012/2013.
In March, Bristol Airport marked the tenth anniversary of its terminal building by unveiling a new brand identity to guide its business over the next decade. The new brand represents ‘people’, ‘place’ and ‘region’ – the three pillars on which the airport’s success rests – and promises ‘Amazing Journeys Start Here’.
A state-of-the-art ‘walk through’ tax and duty free store opened in April, with regional products showcased in a ‘Best of the West’ range. In May, a new walkway came into operation, reducing the need to bus passengers between aircraft and the terminal building. These two developments together represent an investment of £12m in passenger facilities.
Transport improvements have also been introduced recently, including a new code of conduct for taxi-drivers, a new fleet of vehicles, and improvements to the Flyer bus service at a cost of £2 million.
The terminal is expected to handle its 50 millionth passenger towards the end of the year.