The UK High Court has dismissed the legal challenge brought against the Planning Inspectorate’s permission for Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity.
The airport’s plans include investment in the terminal building, parking facilities and public transport links. The Planning Inspectorate decided in February 2022 to allow Bristol Airport to increase its cap on passengers from 10 million passengers each year to 12 million. This decision was challenged in the High Court but dismissed by the judge.
The expanded capacity is predicted to add 800 jobs at Bristol Airport and up to a further 5,000 regionally, adding an estimated £430m (US$529m) to the local economy. The expansion is also expected to enable the airport to explore new direct links to Europe and further afield. As well as providing economic links for the region, these routes are expected to remove some of the millions of car journeys made from the Southwest and South Wales to London airports each year.
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 Southwest and South Wales, and invest hundreds of millions of pounds in 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 favorite airport.”