Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport, located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is 7NM 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 Group and others. In September 2014, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought out Macquarie to become the sole owner.In 2016, it was the ninth busiest airport in the United Kingdom, handling over 7.6 million passengers, a 12% increase compared with 2015. According to a 2012 passenger survey, 25.7% of journeys using the airport started or ended in the city of Bristol, 18.9% in Wales, 18.5% in Somerset and 12.4% in Devon.Airlines with operating bases at the airport include EasyJet, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson Airways and BMI Regional. The airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P432) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction. The ground handling agents are Swissport and Menzies Aviation. Swissport handle most of the airlines including EasyJet, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson Airways, BMI Regional and British Airways, while Menzies handle Aer Lingus, Jet2 and Aurigny.