Airport could still be used

“BristolFlyer and BV_BV asked where the reference came from regarding out of area usage of airports - look under the following link:

Department for Transport - The Future of Air Transport - December 2003
http://tinyurl.com/3y3qxxr
Page 101
Key issues
10.1
"The South West is the largest of the English regions. Its size and population distribution mean it is difficult for any one airport to serve the whole region. As a result, the regioncontains several airports, many of them serving a distinct geographical area or commercial role, supporting air services which are of considerable importance to the regional economy. But most offer only a limited range of services at present, leaving many from the South West (currently around 70 per cent) to use airports in adjacent regions, mainly those in the South East, and Heathrow and Gatwick in particular."”

“'Bristol airport may be awkward to reach but it is still only a 40 minute drive from Bath. I could believe that if you were surveying public transport then Bristol airport is very difficult to reach and Heathrow and Gatwick would be far more accessible.
SO, where was that statement printed?'

BV_BV, I don't know where you are in Bath, but I live in Bath, and it takes an hour to get to Bristol Airport, much more at peak times. Its takes 1.5 hours to get to Heathrow, where the choice of flights is much better, not the mention the substantially better services and better treatment. I also prefer Cardiff Airport, about 1 hr 15 mins from Bath. Filton is 30-40 mins for me. I try to avoid Bristol Airport when I can.”

“Filton may not be THE longest, but it is 16th longest civil airfield, and capable of taking anything currently in service.

The reason for lulsgate being so heavily used it not because of it being a good airport: it is short, it has very bad weather (it was built as a bad weather training airport in fact due to 80% chance of rain, side winds, fog or ice), it has appalling accessibility. So what is keeping it so busy? Bristol needs an airport! It is the key aerospace city of the UK and employees need to travel, It is one of the new international airports in the South West just outside of easy range to London, and Bristol is something like the 4th or 5th city of England (possibly of UK)? There is a need in the SW for a serious airport, but Lulsgate is the best we've been allowed by the cash hungry BAE and SGC/Avon councils who have built houses around Filton from all sides over the last 20-30 years.

The North Fringe of Bristol cannot take more traffic. It already has too many houses, too few facilities and a massive shortage of jobs. Even the local developments haven't finished stabilising from their construction due to weak planning and not following the promises made. We the North Fringe needs is the Airfield that is the backbone of local industry and jobs, is a link to the rest of the world (except for users being strategically pushed away by uncompetitive pricing and overly short leases), and which is also the most historically significant airfield in the world.”

“FromMendip is correct about the "longest runway" misquote (I've seen it as oftern as "Filton's Runway needs resurfacing" - it doesn't; it's concrete, not asphalt!)
However, the runway is the widest in the UK, at just over 90m. This means it is one of few that can handle Category VI aircraft such as the A380 without modification. With UK airlines taking A380 deliveries over the coming years, airfields like this will be gold-dust when it comes to looking for maintenance bases. We don't think long-term in the UK though.
Alas, BAE Systems don't want the airfield for the large number of businesses it could currently support, they need the instant cash from housing development. Speaking of which, if you think the "Rong" Road and Almondsbury interchange are busy now, just wait until there's an extra 6,000 houses there!”

“For less than the £88m being spent on the motorway junction at Almondsbury they could have built the four miles of track necessary to link Bristol Airport to the mainline. (Best estimated cost of new railway seems to be around £8m per km.)”

“Bristol Airport might be considered inaccessible by some but it's not stopped it being the third busiest regional airport in England and Wales with only Manchester and Birmingham busier.

At just under 6 million passengers a year it's well ahead of the next busiest, Liverpool, which has 4.5 million a year.

Of other major cities East Midlands (catering for Leicester, Nottingham and Derby) and Newcastle airports have between 4 and 4.5 million a year and Leeds-Bradford just under 3 million.

Bristol's neighbouring airports fare much worse: Cardiff has 1 million passengers a year and Exeter fewer than 700,000. All figures are the latest CAA official stats up to the end of November 2012.

And once again someone comes up with the myth that Filton has one of the longest runways in the country. It has not. At 2467 metres in length it's shorter than runways at at least ten other UK airports, in many cases much shorter.

Filton as Bristol's airport was missed fifty years ago. In the past 20 years and more environmentalism and nimbyism have meant that there has been no chance of Filton becoming an important regional airport. In the mid 1990s BAE tried to turn it into a city airport but after a public enquiry even that relatively modest initiative was rejected.

People should get over it and accept that after the major conurbations of Manchester and Birmingham the airport at Lulsgate offers more services and carries more passengers than any other in the provinces.

The one thing that is now blocking further progress at Lulsgate is lack of terminal space.

Expansion is desperately needed and the next thing on the list is a central pier with air bridges that lead straight onto aircraft. This will also free up some space in the often over-crowded departure lounge area.

This is a problem that many regional airports that are currently struggling to attract airlines and passengers would love to have.”

“Any airport without a rail ink is inaccessible. unfortunately vested interests rather than public interest will see Bristol Airport retained and Filton sold.”

“Has Neil tried using the Avon Rong Road A4174? It can be an absolute nightmare especially if there is one of the frequent accidents, or the never ending road improvements? Just spotted my typo but I think it is appropriate!”

“I was amazed to read "I was not surprised to read that nearly 75 per cent of the West Country residents currently prefer to use out of region airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick etc"
Bristol airport may be awkward to reach but it is still only a 40 minute drive from Bath. I could believe that if you were surveying public transport then Bristol airport is very difficult to reach and Heathrow and Gatwick would be far more accessible.
SO, where was that statement printed?
I would have thought the former RAF Lyneham would have been a better candidate for a regional airport with its close links to the M4 and has until recently been an active air base so there should be little local opposition. It might even be close enough to Heathrow to warrant being considered as the extra runway.”