The airport closed its runway on Friday and flights were suspended for hours
Dan Haygarth
A woman said she had “never seen” anything like the travel chaos as at Bristol airport after a runway defect suspended operations for hours leading to cancellations and delays.
Many were left stranded on Friday after the airport’s runway was closed at around 6pm. It remained shut, with no flights coming in or out, until 8am on Saturday, but operations have now resumed.
Though the runway has now reopened, passengers faced hours of delays, with some reports that passengers from Friday had waited up to 15 hours for their flight to take off on Saturday.
Sophie Brazier-Smith was due to fly from Bristol to Nice in France on Friday night to see family for the summer and said the “experience has been extremely frustrating and confusing”, leading her to go home and book a new flight for Monday.
She told The Independent: “I completely understand closing a runway due to a defect, but we were actually boarded onto our easyJet flight between 6.15 and 6.20pm.
“I later found out the airport had decided to suspend all flights at 6.08pm. The decision to board us and keep us on the flight for an hour is baffling.”
Ms Brazie- Smith said there was “absolutely no information” once they disembarked the plane and the airport had “descended into chaos.”
She added: “We got home and have a new flight booked for Monday, but I am extremely unhappy with the way this situation was handled on all fronts.”
An updated statement on the airport’s website said: “Flights have resumed at Bristol Airport this morning. There will be some disruption to some flights today and customers are advised to refer to their airlines with any flight queries. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Earlier, the airport said that it had suspended operations to assess and repair a “defect on the runway.”
Among the many flights to be delayed this morning, according to the airport’s online departures board, are the 5.55am service to Faro, which was then scheduled to take off at 10.40am, and the 6.20am flight to Menorca, which was due depart at 11.30am.
Another passenger Lucy, who did not wish to give her surname, was not aware of the delays until she and her family got in a taxi from Bristol to the airport for their flight on Saturday morning.
Her flight to Olbia in Sardinia was delayed from a 10.10am departure to 3.15pm and said she was “getting pretty annoyed” as she waits in the departure lounge.
She told The Independent: “We’ve been pushed back, which means we land a lot later. With young children, that’s a little bit difficult”
“It’s very busy here”, she added. “There were a lot of people out on the forecourt, I’ve never seen it like this.”
“We’ve heard some people were delayed from last night by about 15 hours, and others due to fly this morning were delayed by about seven hours.
“We’re not quite as bad off as that. We’ve got a four-year-old and a two-year-old, so we’re just haemorrhaging cash, really.”
Paul Smith, who was due to fly to Glasgow on Friday for his son’s 20th birthday but had to cancel the holiday, told the BBC: “The communication, advice and support for passengers has been really poor”.
Mr Smith said there were no announcements for more than an hour on Friday and claimed that he was only getting information from EasyJet staff in the departure lounge.
On X, responding to a passenger asking if flights have been cancelled today, airline Jet2 said: “Our flights have not been cancelled. They are currently delayed, and are expected to fly later today when the runway re-opens.”
A Bristol Airport spokesperson told The Independent: “We’re very sorry to all customers who experienced disruption during this busy time. Tannoy announcements were made within the terminal and customers were advised to contact airlines regarding their flights.
“We realise how frustrating this was for all those affected, but the safety of our customers and staff is of paramount importance, which is why runway operations were temporarily suspended. Repairs took place throughout the night to repair the defect.”
EasyJet, which operates a major base from the airport, has been contacted for comment.
