Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on the site of a former RAF airfield, it opened in 1957 as Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport, replacing Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport as Bristol's municipal airport. From 1997 to 2010, it was known as Bristol International Airport. In 1997, a majority shareholding in the airport was sold to FirstGroup, and then in 2001 the airport was sold to a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and others. In September 2014, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought out Macquarie to become the sole owner. In 2019, it was ranked the eighth busiest airport (overtaking Glasgow Airport from the previous year) in the United Kingdom, handling over 8.9 million passengers, a 3% increase compared with 2018. A passenger survey carried out in 2015 found that 32.5% of journeys using the airport started or ended in the city of Bristol, 9.6% in Gloucestershire, 24.5% in Somerset and 16.9% in Devon. Airlines with operating bases at the airport include EasyJet and Ryanair. The airport has a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P432) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction. Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport In 1927, a group of local businessmen raised £6,000 through public subscription to start the Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club, a flying club initially based at Filton Aerodrome. In 1929, Bristol Corporation took up the club's proposal to develop farmland located at Whitchurch, to the south of Bristol, into a municipal airport. On its opening by Prince George, Duke of Kent in 1930, Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport was the third civil airport in the United Kingdom. Passenger numbers grew to 4,000 by 1939. During World War II, Whitchurch was the main civil airport remaining operational. The newly formed British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was transferred to Whitchurch from Croydon Airport and Heston Airport.