Tag: News

Fill in Bristol Airport’s consultation feedback to express your outrage before 19th December and encourage everyone else you know to also fill out the feedback. Numbers of responses really matter.

https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/lighting-consultation/

You can use the consultation points listed in the separate news item https://eyesonbristolairport.org/important-points-to-make-in-your-consultation-feedback-emails-letters/

Email or write to your MP and your local councillors.

Useful emails are:

sadik.alhassan.mp@parliament.uk (if you want to know more about Sadik’s voting record see: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/26527/sadik_al-hassan/north_somerset)

Annemieke.Waite@n-somerset.gov.uk (Winford)

winfordpc@gmail.com

bridget.petty@n-somerset.gov.uk (Backwell)

thomas.daw@n-somerset.gov.uk (Wrington)

You can find your local councillor here: https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1

Or your MP here: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/

Again you can use the consultation points listed in the separate news item https://eyesonbristolairport.org/important-points-to-make-in-your-consultation-feedback-emails-letters/

Write a letter to King Charles III (as an advocate for sustainable futures and the protection of wildlife) here: https://www.royal.uk/contact.

Join the ‘Hands Off Felton Common’ planning group. Email eyesonbristolairport@gmail.com

Sign the ‘Protect Felton Common’ petition

Ask a question about the proposed CPO & the landing lights or attend the ACC (Airport Consultative Committee) next meeting at 10.30 on Thursday 15 January 2026. Meetings take place quarterly and are held in Lulsgate House.  Anyone wishing to attend a meeting needs to email the Consultative Committee Secretary in advance (at least 5 days in advance). The request will be reviewed, and response will provide necessary details regarding visitor passes and car parking. You can also request attending via zoom. The email address for the Consultative Committee is baccsecretary@gmail.comQuestions should be submitted by email in advance giving at least 2 weeks notice if you require a written response before the meeting, which then enables you to ask a further question at the meeting. Otherwise you can ask one question at the meeting which should get a written answer at a later date.

You can see agendas and minutes of previous meeting here https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/corporate/community/airport-consultative-committee/

Please sign the national petition set up by our UK organisation NoAirportExpansion.

More than 20 airports across the UK have expansion plans, which will result in a combined increase of 60%+ capacity.

Sign this petition

More flights means more emissions, at a time when we should be doing everything we can to reduce emissions and avert climate catastrophe. More flights also mean more noise and air pollution, which is linked to poor physical and mental health for those living near airports.

The Climate Change Committee says there should be no net airport expansion unless aviation is outperforming its emission baselines. Local people and politicians oppose airport expansion plans, but central government can overrule their decisions.

Sign this petition

We think airports are big enough. Stop airport expansion.

At 10,000 signatures…

At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition

At 100,000 signatures…

At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

Share this petition

• Facebook
• Email
• X

The short answer is NO

We have produced the following infographic which illustrates that so-called ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuels’ (SAF) are unlikely to be any kind of answer.

Currently, the only sustainable way to fly is to fly less.

BAAN members have had recent meetings with North Somerset councillors and North Somerset planners and it appears likely that Bristol Airport’s new planning application to expand to 15mppa will be made this Autumn.

Please make sure that you gather your thoughts and any evidence to write to your councillor and MP and let them know your views on the threat of further expansion.

We really need everyone to write and oppose the plans.

Please also sign the government No Airport Expansion petition

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714927

You may have heard that the owners of the airport, Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan, have put it up for sale along with its stakes in London City, Birmingham, Brussels and Copenhagen airports.

We suspect that the prospect of a sale is what has accelerated Bristol Airport’s desire to expand again.

See the full story here in the Guardian

Did you catch the BBC’s latest documentary called Cheap Flights; What They Really Mean For You?

Fronted by Justin Rowlatt, the programme systematically looks at the ways in which the aviation industry is looking to decarbonise over the coming years and in each case the evidence offered concludes that the promised de-carbonisation just won’t be happening for many years.

It’s a timely and informative programme, particularly as Bristol Airport is obviously hell bent on expanding whatever the cost. 

The Government is due to make key decisions on the expansions of Gatwick and Luton airports in the first few months of 2025 so we will see how their promises of a low carbon future match up with their desire for perceived economic growth.

Click here to watch the programme

We know that Bristol Airport’s Masterplan will be focused on extolling the perceived benefits of what we know will be unsustainable growth.

To balance the airport’s approach, we thought we would create our own master plan that considers the impact of expansion on the lives of those who live around the airport as well as the surrounding environment.  BAAN’s Alternative Masterplan can be seen here.

Below is our flyer which advertises the BAAN Alternative Master Plan and the BAAN survey

Our reaction to the recent news of yet further expansion plans for Bristol Airport was summed up by our member Steve Clarke in this 24/7 article:

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/campaigner-brands-bristol-airport-latest-expansion-plans-bonkers

Further condemnation by Wrington councillor Tom Daw can be read in this article too:

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/bristol-airport-could-increase-passenger-numbers-again

At this very early point in fighting further expansion plans we’re asking as many people as possible to write to their MPs to protest about airport expansion and request that the government urgently re-view the ANPS (Airport National Policy Statement).

We feel that lobbying government for changes to national aviation policies could be our best route to stopping expansion.

Please copy (cc) us in on any emails at eyesonbristolairport@gmail.com. 

If possible please also try to get an appointment to argue your case with your MP in person, especially if you live in North Somerset (MP Sadik Al-Hassan) or Weston-Super-Mare (MP Dan Aldridge) as we are hearing that they both need further persuading to understand resident’s objections.

Points that you could mention:

• The ANPS has not been amended since 2018, which means it does not include the UK’s legally binding net zero commitments or take into account the 2019 government declaration of a ‘climate emergency’.
• The Climate Change Committee’s 6th carbon budget recommends ‘demand management policies’ for airports e.g. reducing passenger demand for flying through carbon pricing, a frequent flyer levy, fuel duty, VAT or reforms to Air Passenger Duty, and/or restricting the availability of flights through management of airport capacity.
• SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) is currently less than 1% of fuel & it won’t be possible to scale up production in any meaningful way for many years. SAF actually produces the same amount of carbon as kerosene when it comes out of a jet engine and takes land away from food production.
• Any improvements to fuel efficiency by newer planes are massively outweighed by increases in passenger numbers.
• The CCC also recommend ‘no net airport expansion’ until the Government has developed a ‘capacity management framework’ for aviation (https://www.aef.org.uk/2023/06/28/halt-airport-expansion-say-governments-climate-advisors/)
• An excellent report by NEF has shown that the economic arguments for airport expansion are seriously over valued (https://neweconomics.org/2023/07/losing-altitude). Please ask your MP to read at least the executive summary & the recommendations.
• Basically, airports fly people out of the UK to spend their money abroad,According to the ONS in 2023 overseas residents spent £31 billion on their visits to the UK. However, UK residents spent £72billion on visits abroad. THat’s a loss of over £40billion to the UK economy!
• Bristol Airport in its 2006 masterplan (for expansion to 10 million passengers in 2010) promised >3800 jobs by 2015. Employment by 2015 was actually ~1,000 fewer than promised. And it’s hard to measure any employment gains from the 2023 expansion as construction work is in progress.

If you’re not sure how to write to your MP you can use this online tool https://www.writetothem.com/

Highlights:

Turnover up 28%.

Boss’s pay up almost 27%.

A whopping £52m dividend for Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (zero in 2022).

In Detail:

£56.3m profit (£38.9m in 2022) on a turnover of £178.5m (£139.4m in 2022)

Top director: £681,000 (£537,000 in 2022).

Car park revenue: £68.9m (£53.3m in 2022).

Aeronautical revenue: £57.6m (£44.8m in 2022).

Concessions: £46.2m (£35.5m in 2022)

Just a shame that these huge profits don’t benefit the local community – the majority going straight to Canada and the OTPP and a rather paltry £171,000 going to the community fund – that’s around 0.3% of their profit.

The huge almost £70 million revenue from car parking highlights why Bristol Airport is not too concerned about more sustainable methods of getting to the airport – and why Bristol was voted last month as the ‘UK city with the worst public transport link to it’s airport’ by travel expert Simon Calder.

The 2023 expansion works underway will add a further 2,000 car parking spaces and add to congestion on local roads – showing that Bristol Airport really is a carpark with an airport attached!