Our future plans
We're planning for the future to ensure we meet the demand for air travel to and from the region we serve.
Plans to transform your local airport
We've submitted a planning application to further develop your local airport. It would enable you to visit more destinations, including world cities within Europe and beyond with a limited number of new longer-haul flights to North America, Middle East, with connections to Asia.
Plans include a transformed customer experience which will see travelators, more space in the terminal and a wider choice of shops and restaurants. The plans would see an additional 1,000 on-site local jobs.
Our Master Plan to 2040
Our Master Plan to 2040 provides a long-term projection of how the Airport will transform. It identifies future infrastructure needs and potential impacts on the natural environment, providing transparency to our communities and aiding the long-term planning for businesses.
Developing our Master Plan
We developed our Master Plan following consultation with local communities, stakeholders, local authorities and other interested parties. Feedback in response to the consultation is set out in our Consultation Report, along with a summary of how issues are being addressed. A suite of Master Plan Supporting Documents which have helped to inform and shape the Master Plan can also be viewed. A supplementary consultation ran from 7 November to 19 December 2025 on proposals to modify our runway approach lighting. You can find further information here.
Why do we need a Master Plan?
Government encourages airports to produce Master Plans to enable future development to be given due consideration in local planning processes.
We've previously published two consultation documents on Bristol Airport's Master Plan.
Previous planning applications
A planning application was submitted to North Somerset Council in December 2018 to expand capacity from the current limit of 10 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 12 mppa. This included terminal expansion, improved public transport options, road infrastructure, and enhanced environmental projects. Planning permission was allowed for Bristol Airport to increase its capacity from 10 million passengers per annum to 12 million, following a Planning Inspectorate decision in 2022.