BAAN (Bristol Airport Action Network) has fact checked seven key statements by Bristol Airport, revealing a cynical web of distortion, obfuscation, and outright misleading claims.
Statements by Airport leaders and in official documentation about a wide range of issues deliberately omit vital context to present the potential problems as inconsequential, such as the claim that expanding to 15 million passengers per annum (mppa) represents a 0.1% increase in the UK’s Carbon Budget.
BAAN has analysed the claims so that local residents have access to the facts – such as understanding that, in reality, 0.1% of the UK’s 6th Carbon Budget equates to 83% of total CO2 emissions from all of North Somerset’s transport, homes, and industry for all of 2023.
The analysis comes ahead of Bristol Airport’s expected planning permission request this week (w/c 9 March 2025) in which many of these claims are likely to feature.
Mary Collett, a local environmental campaigner speaking for BAAN said:
“From touting misleading ‘net zero operations’ to unfounded promises of economic benefits, the Airport continues to play fast and loose with the facts to justify its profit-motivated, climate-wrecking expansion.
“Local residents deserve the truth about how this expansion will affect their lives and damage their health – not more shameful obfuscation.
“It’s outrageous that local residents need to be fact checking statements about an expansion that will affect all of us. But if the Airport keeps promising investment in Bristol’s economy despite clear evidence that new flights will do more for Dubai and Trump’s America than for us here in the South West, we promise to keep holding them to account.
“We hope North Somerset councillors can see through the Airport’s distortions, spin and omissions. Until we have proven low-carbon technologies and proper, dedicated mass transit systems actually in place, we need to reject this unnecessary and unjustifiable expansion.”
The seven key fact checks published here raise serious questions about whether Bristol Airport has consulted honestly and transparently with local residents.
BAAN research has currently debunked the following seven Airport claims – but there are plenty more…
| Airport Claim | BAAN Verdict |
| “A preliminary assessment of emissions as a result of growth to 15 million passengers and the associated increase in air traffic movements concludes that they would be less than 0.1% of the Sixth Carbon Budget.” – Bristol Airport Masterplan to 2040, p.77 | This lacks crucial context. 0.1% of the Sixth Carbon Budget works out to an extra 965,000 tonnes of CO2e. That’s 83% of the annual CO2 emissions for the entire North Somerset region’s transport, homes, and industry in 2023. It is downright misleading to present this as a tiny-seeming increase, particularly as the Airport appears to be comparing their annual growth to the 5 year total in the UK Carbon Budget. |
| “Emissions from aircraft and ground operations and road traffic affect air quality in the immediate vicinity of the Airport. Emissions from Bristol Airport will increase as passenger throughput grows from 12 to 15 million passengers per annum (mppa). At this stage, emissions impacts at ecological receptors…are predicted to remain within all legal limits.” – Bristol Airport Masterplan to 2040, p.76 | A staggering understatement to say that an extra million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year will ‘affect’ air quality. The UK’s relevant legal limits are up to five times higher than WHO guidelines for air quality – simply being below those limits will not prevent harm. The Airport’s Master Plan makes no direct mention of aircraft emissions other than CO2. Particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, soot, and Ultra Fine Particles (UFPs) are also emitted from planes and are all strongly linked to long-lasting negative health impacts. |
| “We’re delighted to open the Public Transport Interchange ahead of schedule and on budget… By more than doubling the number of bus and coach bays, this demonstrates we are committed to encouraging customers to use public transport where possible.” – Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport in Airport Industry News, July 2025 | Deceptive PR spin. The public transport figures are still woefully inadequate at around 16% of all passengers. Car parking is one of the Airport’s main sources of income, earning £75 million in 2024 (approaching 40% of the airport’s total revenue). The 15mppa expansion calls for a further 33 hectares of green belt land to be repurposed for thousands of new car parking spaces, rather than calling for a much higher level of public transport. Additional emissions from the extra cars required to keep the Airport financially afloat will entirely outweigh any carbon savings made through more public transit. |
| “We recognise the concerns about carbon emissions resulting from Airport growth and the implications for climate change. So, we’re bringing forward proposals for what we consider to be responsible growth, which is both within the current UK carbon budgets required to meet net zero for all emissions by 2050, and with measures to achieve net zero airport operations by 2030” – Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport, Airport’s International July 2025 | Misleading. What does ‘responsible growth’ even mean? The UK’s Climate Change Committee has repeatedly advised against airport expansion until working decarbonisation technology is available. ‘Net zero operations’ represent less than 1% of the Airport’s climate impact – a laughable measure that completely ignores the emissions from actual aircraft. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has estimated that Bristol Airport’s previous expansion to 12mppa alone will cause up to £13.4 billion in climate damage through to 2050. |
| “Our proposals to grow would deliver 1,000 extra on-site jobs, create new direct links to the Middle East and North America, and generate an additional £1bn for our regional economy.” – Airport statement in Bristol 24/7, October 2025 | There’s no evidence that this will happen – and previous expansions argue against it. Construction work for 12mppa expansion hasn’t finished yet, so it’s hard to be sure of any long-term job increases. Expansion in 2006 from 6mppa to 10mppa only delivered around one third of the promised 1,500 jobs within 10 years (Comparing FTE figures Masterplan 2006 pg 38 to Bristol Airport AMR 2021 pg 36) Research by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) cited in the 2022 inquiry into Bristol Airport 12mppa expansion said that claims for economic growth from airport expansion were ’grossly exaggerated’. The report found that Bristol Airport actually creates an ‘outbound tourism effect’ whereby for every one inbound tourist, five UK residents fly out from Bristol on holiday – seriously draining the local economy. NEF research also found that much of the economic activity associated with airport expansion is displaced from other airports like Heathrow – it’s not creating new benefits. Their analysis found that, once that displacement is factored in, the economic case for expansion to 12mppa was overstated by 50-70%. |
| “Since publishing the Master Plan the Airport has continued to refine its design to ensure it meets all relevant safety standards set by the Civil Aviation Authority, the UK’s independent regulator for aviation. “In order for the runway to continue operating safely, for all types of aircraft and in all weather conditions, the airport would need to relocate the existing approach lighting and install additional safety features at the eastern end of the runway. This is required in order to facilitate the new routes to America and the Middle East.‘” – Airport statement to Bristol Post, November 2025 | False and misleading. Freedom of Information requests by BAAN revealed that there has been no consultation between Bristol Airport and the CAA about needing to extend the runway or change the approach landing lights. There are already flights from Bristol to Egypt, and previous long-haul services operated as recently as 2023. Devastating Felton Common has nothing to do with meeting safety standards. This isn’t about safety – it’s about profit maximisation. Bristol already meets CAA standards and the regulator has said absolutely nothing about whether expansion or a runway extension is needed in the first place. |
| “We’re enormously pleased with the level of response to our draft Master Plan consultation and grateful for everyone who took the time to share their views. Our team has carefully studied all the responses and are using them to shape our detailed proposals before submitting a planning application.” – Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport in the International Airport Review, June 2025 | Another misleading dodge. The Master Plan consultation is a private document and there is no public access to comments. Winford Parish Council published its official response to the draft Master Plan raising many concerns about expansion and the potential impact on Felton Common of extending the runway. Bristol Airport did not respond to any of the questions. The Final Master Plan made zero references to Felton Common despite knowing that catastrophic expansion onto that unique community space was part of the plan. The Airport only commented once BAAN went public with concerns about the expansion plans. They described the devastating plans as “necessary”. |