Bristol Airport disruption a 'shambles' as flights restart

Image source, Paul Smith

Image caption, People were left trapped at the airport on Friday evening

BySarah Turnnidge

Bristol

Updated 1 hour ago

Disruption because of a runway defect at Bristol Airport continues, as flights start to depart.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded on Friday evening after the decision was made to close the runway shortly after 18:00 BST. All flights were suspended until 08:00 on Saturday.

Flights have since restarted amid delayed take offs and diversions.

In a short statement on the airport website, a spokesperson said: "There will be some disruption to some flights today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Anyone caught up in the disruption should contact their airline, they added.

No further official information about the nature of the defect has been released.

A number of people spoke to the BBC on Friday evening about their experience at the airport - among them Paul Smith, who was due to fly to Glasgow for his son's 20th birthday but had to cancel his trip.

He said: "The communication, advice and support for passengers has been really poor."

Image source, Finn Holland

Image caption, Finn Holland was stranded in Bournemouth after his plane to Bristol was redirected

Dave Blackwell, travelling home from Rhodes in Greece, said it had been "a shambles" since his flight back to Bristol was diverted to Newcastle.

"We were in Rhodes Airport for three hours with no information. Now we have all been told our flight is going to Newcastle and then a five or six hour bus ride - why Newcastle? How appalling," he said.

Finn Holland, 18, who was stranded in Bournemouth after his plane to Bristol was redirected, said: "It was quite a long day. We got in around 06:00 this morning."

He added "we had to sort our own taxis back. It wasn't very organised".

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