Passengers at Bristol Airport told to anticipate 'some disruption' after runway delay
Bristol Airport reopened after a sudden runway closure, but passengers have still been told to anticipate delays
Passengers attempting to fly out of Bristol Airport are being told to expect “some disruption” following an abrupt runway closure on Friday evening.
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The runway at Bristol Airport was shut suddenly at 6:00pm on Friday evening until 8:00 am on Saturday morning due to a defect in the runway's surface.
Although the airport has began functioning again, flights remained disrupted and heavily delayed throughout Saturday, and some have been cancelled.
In a statement to X the airport’s communications team said: "Flights resumed at 8am today after we temporarily suspended operations yesterday. There's some disruption to flights today.
"Customers should contact their airline with flight queries. We're very sorry for any inconvenience caused while essential runway repairs were carried out.”
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Flights resumed at 8am today after we temporarily suspended operations yesterday. There's some disruption to flights today. Customers should contact their airline with flight queries. We're very sorry for any inconvenience caused while essential runway repairs were carried out.
— Bristol Airport (@BristolAirport) August 8, 2026
The departure’s schedule for Saturday afternoon has shown long delays, such as a 7:15am EasyJet flight delayed until 2:00pm, and an 11:40am Jet2 flight delayed until 2:40pm.
And, four cancelled flights which are EasyJet departures to Newcastle, Faro, La Rochelle, and Palma.
Arriving flights were not able to land until the runway re-opened at 8:00am Saturday morning.
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport told LBC: “We’re very sorry to customers affected and any impact this has had to their summer holiday. We continue to work closely with all airlines affected.
“The safety of passengers and staff is of paramount importance, which is why we made the decision to temporarily suspend flights as a precaution and to allow for the runway repair to be carried out.”
A spokesperson said Friday's defect in the surface of the runway "can happen from time to time due to a number of factors. So a repair was required to ensure the runway is safe to use."
Passengers leaving from and returning to Bristol on Friday evening experienced extreme disruption, with some passengers coming back from Greece reporting being placed on a flight to Newcastle followed by a six hour bus ride down to Bristol.
Other passengers accused the airport of being disorganised, with one person who was rerouted to Bournemouth saying he had to organise his own taxi.
This delay comes after Heathrow Airport had to briefly close a runway on Thursday due to a grass fire which broke out adjacent to the south runway.