Bristol Airport is calling for improvements to its road and rail links to prevent millions of people from the region travelling to London to catch flights.
Research commissioned by the airport shows that last year 7m people journeyed to London airports from the South West and South Wales – more than the total who flew from Bristol. The figure increased by 20% over four years. 
Travelling to and from airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick added significant cost and time to their holiday, short break or business trip, according to the research, with each passenger £27 worse off in terms of lost time and travel costs per trip.
The analysis by York Aviation consultancy revealed that last year alone, leisure passengers wasted £101m and business passengers £82m. The average holidaymaker lost £17 each per trip compared with £67 extra for each business passenger.
Most of the ‘leakage’ from the South West and South Wales to London, according to the report, was for short-haul travel – 3.8m passengers – with 3.1m long-haul passengers.
In total passengers flying from Heathrow lost £100m, those traveling from Gatwick incurred £54m extra costs, Stansted £19m and Luton £10m.
Significantly for Bristol Airport – and the regional economy – more than 2.7m people chose to fly from London to destinations served by Bristol Airport, costing them 200m minutes and £72m in lost time and money.
As a result, Bristol Airport bosses are calling for improvements to road and rail links – pointing out that with nearly 7m passengers flying to 116 destinations across 30 countries this year, Bristol is the main airport serving the South West and South Wales,but is the only Top 10 UK airport without a rail link or dual carriageway access.
Chief executive officer Robert Sinclair said: “We are well placed to play our part in solving the country’s airport capacity crisis and save travellers hundreds of millions in lost time.
“With the third runway at Heathrow still several years away, it makes little sense to continue funnelling passengers from other regions to airports in the South East.
“With better road and rail links, we could take the pressure off Heathrow and Gatwick and keep business connected and holidaymakers flying.”
A proposed Bristol South West Economic Link – including road improvements and consideration of potential light and heavy rail options – would transform surface access to the airport, as well as improving resilience on a busy commuter route, he said.
However, government support will be required for this step change in multi-modal transport provision to be achieved.
Bristol Airport contributed £388m to the local economy last year and has invested £150m in new facilities since 2010. It was also the most punctual airport in the world last year.
International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox, whose North Somerset constituency includes the airport, said: “It is vital that businesses can connect efficiently with markets in the post-Brexit world. Building world-class infrastructure around our regional airports will play a crucial role in supporting the trade links our country needs.”
According to the research, the top five ‘leaked’ routes from the South West and South Wales were Dubai, New York (JFK), Hong Kong, Doha and Singapore.
Dubai has the largest share of passengers and was the fastest-growing ‘leaked’ route over the last four years, demonstrating its increasing role as an international hub.
The top five ‘leaked’ routes which are also served from Bristol Airport were Munich, Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt.
