page_title: Bristol Airport
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bristol Airport / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Bristol International Airport, terminal building departure check in area.
context_page_description: Bristol Airport, at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is 7 nautical miles southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on the site of a former RAF airfield, it opened in 1957 as Bristol Airport, replacing Bristol 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 2018, it was ranked the ninth busiest airport in the United Kingdom, handling nearly 8.7 million passengers, a 5% increase compared with 2017. 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.
caption: Terminal building check-in area in 2008
exif: {}