bmi expands its Bristol - Paris service

BMI has announced it will be expanding the #Paris CDG service from its Bristol hub, with increased frequencies starting from 14 May 2018. The airline currently flies twice daily between Bristol and Paris but, in response to demand from customers, will be adding a further flight three times a week - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

bmi offers flights from Bristol to Paris from £70 one way. All fares are inclusive of 23kg of hold luggage, allocated seating, complimentary in-flight drinks and snacks and speedy 30 minute check-ins.

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BMI flies to Gothenburg

BMI has announced plans to launch a new route from Bristol to Gothenburg. Launching on 22 January 2018, bmi will be operating a twice weekly route between the two cities.

This brings the number of destinations served by bmi from Bristol to nine. The bmi network out of Bristol includes Paris, Milan, Munich, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Aberdeen. Bristol is bmi’s biggest UK hub and with onward connections via the likes of Munich, Brussels and Frankfurt, customers from the South West can travel further into Europe and other global destinations.

Gothenburg is the airline’s first Swedish route from Bristol. It is the location of Scandinavia’s largest port and is a hub for global trade, currently enjoying unprecedented economic growth. It is a popular mini break destination thanks to its fabulous food, eclectic culture and vibrant nightlife, as well as being the gateway to the stunning coast of West Sweden.

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On the runway

FOLLOWING a record summer in which passenger numbers reached eight million in a 12 month period for the first time in its history, Bristol Airport will be seeking views later this month on how to meet demand for air travel over the next 30 years and more. Feedback will help shape Master Plan for 2050.

Currently the ninth busiest airport in the UK, and the fifth largest outside London, Bristol saw passenger numbers grow by more than 10 per cent in 2016. Passing the eight million milestone demonstrates continued strong demand for air travel to and from the South West of the UK, highlighting the need to begin investigating options for extending capacity beyond the current limit of 10 million passengers a year.

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Play Me . . .

BRISTOL artist Luke Jerram's musical art trail, Play Me, I'm Yours, has returned to the streets of Bristol this week from August 17 to September 7th.

The pianos - each decorated by a different #Bristol artist - will be installed in public spaces across a city for everyone to play and enjoy.

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Bristol Street Art & Banksy-inspired Giveaway

UPFEST 2017, Europe’s largest, free, street art & graffiti festival, will take place from 29 to 31 July when over 300 artists will paint at 35 venues throughout Bedminster & Southville.

Talented artists travel from 30 countries and across the UK to paint live on 30,000sqft of surfaces in front of 35,000 visitors.

Ashton Gate will be the biggest area at the festival with more than 100 artists painting live, inside and outside of stadium. The venue will also host the longest painting surface for the festival to date with 50 artists painting on a 200m stretch, alongside a New York Style Subway Train, live entertainment, a plethora of children's workshops including Morph making sessions in association with Aardman and an art fair area featuring hundreds of pieces of affordable art and exclusive prints from a selection of festival artists.

And for a chance to win a Banksy-inspired giveaway enter online at visitbristol.co.uk/competition

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On the Runway . . .

BRISTOL Airport has held on to the top spot in the ASQ Survey in UK airports, an international airport passenger experience benchmarking programme, run by Airports Council International. 

The programme measures passenger satisfaction at leading UK airports, as well as airports from over 80 countries. Having been ranked number one for overall satisfaction in the UK, in the third and fourth quarters of 2016, the latest results reveal Bristol retained this position for the first quarter of 2017 (January - March).

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Bristol to Cologne

Ryanair, Europe's No.1 airline has launched a new winter route from Bristol to Cologne, with a four times weekly service, as part of its Bristol winter 2017 schedule.

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Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival

BRISTOL Jazz & Blues Festival returns from Thursday March 16 to Sunday March 19 with an incredible line-up of over 50 events across three venues. 

One of this years highlights is Macy Gray and Saturday night looks to be a spectacular night with iconic movie themes from the 60's and 70's featuring the Army of Generals string orchestra and a 21-piece jazz orchestra.

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Bristol in Rough Guides Top Ten Cities

#BRISTOL made it to number four in the Rough Guides Top ten cities to visit beating Atlanta and Osaka to make it in the top 5.

Here are the top ten:

1. Paris, France

2. Isfahan, Iran

3. Nairobi, Kenya

4. Bristol, United Kingdom

5. Antwerp, Belgium

6. Medillen, Colombia

7. Atlanta, USA

8. Osaka, Japan

9. Guadalajara, Mexico

10. Palma, Mallorca

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Picture Credit: Ali Mannan 69752950@N04/28700545590 #Bristol via photopin

Win with #visitbristol

VISIT Bristol is running a Christmas competition to win an overnight stay with Mercure Bristol Brigstow Hotel, £250 Cabot Circus shopping vouchers, dinner at The Glassboat restaurant and tickets to At-Bristol's Ice Rink and Brunel's ss Great Britain.

Enter here http://visitbristol.co.uk/competition

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Picture Credit: ClaraDon flickrphotos/7267297@N05/23502862682 Merry Christmas via photopin

Up in the air . . .

SINGAPORE AIRLINES is to begin a non-stop service between Singapore and Manchester, England, in October. The flights will run five times weekly and will continue on to Houston, Texas, which is currently served via Moscow. 

The airline’s services to Christchurch, New Zealand will increase to 10 times weekly between November and February 2017, while flights to Adelaide, Australia, will also increase to 10 times weekly from December 1 to January 31.

RYANAIR will change its Bristol to Venice Treviso to Venice Marco Polo Airport from September. Treviso is 19 miles from Venice, while Marco Polo is much closer at 4.6 miles.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT has opened an expanded Escape Lounge in Terminal Two. The airport has spent £1.9 million on the lounge which has increased in capacity by a third with room for up to 212 passengers.

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At-Bristol celebrates record visitor numbers

AT-BRISTOL SCIENCE CENTRE, an educational charity and one of the UK's leading interactive science centres, is celebrating a record number of visitors for the last financial year, when welcomed more than 304,000 visitors through its doors, including 62,100 schools visitors … a 13% increase on the previous year.

A contributing factor to the rise in visitor numbers was the opening of the revamped Planetarium, the UK's only 3D digital planetarium, which has welcomed 123,358 visitors since re-opening in April 2015.

Phil Winfield, At-Bristol's Chief Executive said: ‘We're dedicated to sparking and fostering that natural curiosity that people have about the world around us, and we're trying to create the maximum impact by giving people a genuinely inspiring experience here in #AtBristol. We've got lots of exciting initiatives in the pipeline.

www.at-bristol.org.uk

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Up in the air . . .

RYANAIR has further expanded its London Stansted winter 2016 schedule with a new daily service to Luxembourg from September, 2016.

WOW AIR has started its Reykjavik-Bristol route. The route will be operated three times a week year round. With the new service, WOW air becomes the second airline to link Bristol to Iceland with a direct service, after British airline easyJet.

NORWEGIAN continues the expansion of its low-cost long-haul network by launching the UK’s only direct flights to Oakland, California. Three weekly flights will depart Gatwick serviced by Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
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Picture Credit: Luxembourg Grund night panorama via photopin.com

£1 ticket offer launches Plymouth-Bristol bus route

BUS company Stagecoach South West has launched Falcon, the first dedicated 24/7 coach service connecting major locations across the region.

Claimed as a cost-effective alternative to the train, the Falcon service will operate 19 journeys a day, seven days a week, between Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, Bristol Airport, and Bristol city centre, both day and night.

To mark the launch, single and return journeys will initially cost £1 until February 27. From the end of February, normal fares will apply, which include £5 return journeys anywhere along the route for under 25’s and OAP’s and adult returns from £7.50.

Bob Dennison, managing director of Stagecoach South West, said: ‘Falcon is a bold step in making it easier for people to travel across the region. It’s a ’round the clock’ service between the main towns and cities across the South West, plus Bristol Airport.

‘I am confident this 24/7 connection will prove extremely popular with commuters, university students, shoppers, day trippers and, of course, holidaymakers flying from Bristol.’

Tickets, including weekly season tickets, can be bought in cash direct from the driver. A select number of tickets will also be available to pre-book via www.megabus.com.

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Christmas in … Bristol

BRISTOL’S German Christmas market in Broadmead is already open, as is At-Bristol's open-air ice rink in Millennium Square.

The market runs until December 22, while from November 28 to January 6, the SS Great Britain becomes a Dickensian wonderland, and Clifton, with its many boutiques and independent shops, has a 50ft Christmas tree.

Music events include Carols by Candlelight in Bristol Cathedral on December 18.

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Europcar expands in Bristol

EUROPCAR has opened an additional branch in Bristol. A five-minute walk from the city’s Temple Meads train station, it’s the network’s sixth rental location in Bristol. 

‘Bristol is a thriving business centre, as well as a great starting point for holidaymakers heading to Wales and the South West,’ says Ken McCall, managing director, Europcar UK Group.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58433307@N08/6466232797">Bristol Temple Meads station</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)

Up in the air . . .

Flybe launches Liverpool -Amsterdam route … FLYBE has started flights between Liverpool and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Fares start from £34.99 one way including taxes and charges.

Wizz Air starts Glasgow-Bucharest service … Flights between Glasgow and Bucharest are to be introduced by Wizz Air in May next year. It is also increasing the frequency of flights from Luton to Bucharest.

EasyJet increases capacity and routes for spring 2016 … easyJet has hiked capacity next spring with more than 22.5 million seats going on sale. The budget carrier is to run 136,000 additional flights across its network between March 21 and June 26. Sample flights include Bristol to Barcelona from £22.24 one-way, Belfast-Amsterdam from £25.49, Inverness-Luton from £12.49, Southend-Malaga from £28.24, Gatwick-Copenhagen from £30.24, and Luton- Malaga from £30.24.

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A drink – or two – at the harbour

BRISTOL’S Grape and Grain Festival (September 18-20) will give locals and visitors the opportunity to sample West-Country and international craft beers, ciders, wines, and food. 

Highlights of the harbourside festival include:

• Rick Stein's cookery school head chef, Mark Puckey, will be doing a demonstration and a fish-filleting masterclass on the Saturday afternoon 

• A Meet the Brewmaster session 

• A cocktail masterclass 

• Games and face painting for children 

Tickets are £5 per day, with children admitted free of charge.

www.grapeandgrainbristol.co.uk

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Balloons over Bristol

THE star of this year’s #Bristol International #BalloonFiesta (August 6-9) is likely to be the world’s first solar-powered hybrid hot-air balloon. Developed by Cameron Balloons, it is powered by the sun and a conventional propane burner, and will be making its debut flight at the fiesta.

The free, four-day event #AshtonCourt Estate – said to be largest of its kind in Europe – attracts half a million people who go to see more than 130 balloons of all shapes and sizes taking off and lighting up the sky from dawn and dusk.

There are fairground rides, food stalls and bars, and parachute and model aircraft displays … plus displays by Battle of Britain Spitfires and Hurricanes, and the Breitling Wingwalkers.

For the evening ascents, visitors are encouraged to arrive early to get a good spot to watch pilots inflate the balloons and take off en masse at 6pm.

www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94833286@N00/1563029463">Mass Ascension</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license), http://www.flickr.com/photos/82955120@N05/15279898793">Vibrant Hot Air Balloons</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

On-site hotel for Bristol Airport

BRISTOL AIRPORT is to get its first on-site hotel. 

Scheduled to open next year, the Hilton will have 201 rooms, a 24-hour gym, and free Wi-Fi.

Robert Sinclair, CEO at Bristol Airport said: ‘Alongside the terminal extension currently under construction, this is another statement of our ambition to be a world class regional airport serving the South West of the UK.’

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