Bristol Airport has announced that the High Court has dismissed a legal challenge against the Planning Inspectorate’s permission for the airport to expand its capacity.
In February 2022, the Planning Inspectorate decided to allow Bristol Airport to increase its cap on passengers from 10 million annual passengers to 12 million.
As part of this expansion, Bristol Airport would invest in its terminal building, parking facilities and public transport links.
This plan was challenged in the High Court, but has now been dismissed.
Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport, said:Bristol Airport welcomes the High Court Judge’s decision to dismiss the claim and uphold the planning permission to increase Bristol Airport’s capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per annum.
The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create up to 5,000 new jobs, deliver more international destinations for the South West and South Wales, and invest hundreds of millions of pounds improving the customer experience. We will do this while working towards our ambitious target of net zero carbon operations by 2030. We look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver our vision to be everyone’s favourite airport.
Expanded capacity will allow Bristol Airport to explore new direct links to Europe and further afield. It is hoped that this will reduce the millions of car journeys made from the South West and South Wales to London airports each year.
