Our local excuse for a newspaper, the Bristol Post, particularly its online edition Bristol Live, deals mainly in clickbait these days, often ‘stories’ that don’t even originate from or have any relevance to Bristol. However, the Post is always guaranteed the hits it so craves when it runs something about Adge Cutler International Airport.
I realise that moaning about stuff is not something that is confined to the good citizens of our fine city. People everywhere love a good moan. They always have done. And now the internet has made moaning a national pastime. The criticisms of Adge Cutler International go something like this:
- It’s too small
- It’s too crowded
- Everything is too expensive
- Parking, especially just to drop someone off, is a rip off
- The public transport links are rubbish
- It’s dirty
- The whole place is all about profit. Passengers come second all the time
- And so on
I’ve had my criticisms over the years. We’ve had to wait ages in bag drop and security, we’ve been unable to find anywhere to sit in Departures and the prices are not cheap. So far, so bad. So, how were things when we recently flew to a Canary Island and back? Here’s my review with ratings as follows. 5* -excellent. 4* – good. 3* Average. 2* Below Average. 1* – Terrible:
OUTBOUND
- Our flight was due to leave Adge Cutler at 6.05 am so we were dropped by our friend in the drop off zone at around 4.00 am. We paid £6 for the luxury of being dropped off near Check In and it was worth every penny. The nearby roads were busy but things were moving. There are way too many sleeping policemen in the airport complex but that’s a minor thing. We walked straight to the easyJet bag drop where there was a queue, but it was moving very quickly. This was a doddle. We went to Security where we could use Fast Track Security (cost on the day – £10) but chose to use the normal system and despite there being something like 32 flight from 6.00 am to 7.30 am, there were no queues. We were airside within 20 minutes of being dropped off. RATING ****
- The Departure Lounge was rammed so we had to stand for the entire time, which was a big of a nuisance, but for us no big deal. We avoided being ripped off at any of the outlets by bringing our own food and filling our bottles with free tap water. RATING **
- The Gate was a very short walk this time. A few idiots got pulled for trying to get away with bags that were too big under the regulations, but that was hardly the airport’s fault. Boarding was easy – a short walk from the Gate. RATING ****
INBOUND
- Our inbound flight was slightly late and I feared being caught up in the rush with numerous other flights, but again it was fine. Buses collected us from the plane and took us relatively near Arrivals. We arrived at Passport Control. No queues at all. RATING ****
- Baggage reclaim was again busy but my case arrived within 10 minutes of landing. RATING – ****
- We were so quickly though Passport Control and Baggae Reclaim that our lift hadn’t even parked up to wait for us in drop off/pick up. Getting out onto the main road was straightforward.. RATING – ****
All in all, a very good experience. The downside is that given the numbers who use the airport, it’s now too small. A new terminal is desperate needed as are better public transport links. Basically, it’s too popular for its own good.
If you are desperate to sit down and eat and drink, there are VIP areas, but honestly I can’t see the point. The airport for me has one purpose and one only: getting me away and seeing me home. Everything else I can switch off. Everything is overpriced for a variety of reasons so I react by not buying anything. That way I don’t need to moan about the quality or price.
The £6 drop off cost is in my view well worth it, mainly in keeping numbers down. If it was free, the whole place would grind to a halt. By the way, some people seem to think Bristol is the only place that charges a lot to park and drop off. Most airports do, except the ones like Cardiff which relatively speaking hardly anyone uses.
As we say, many of the complaints are justified but here’s the thing. Bristol is mainly used by low cost and package holiday companies who fly passengers cattle class. If you want the VIP service, don’t do low cost, fly with an airline that does Business Class, enjoy the VIP lounge because you get what you pay for. Low cost is literally an air bus. (Geddit?)
It seems to me that Adge Cutler International has got its act together, even though the things it didn’t do too well didn’t bother me too much. I’m happy to keep flying from there. I just hope the whiny whingers in the failing Bristol Post carry out their threats to fly from elsewhere. When they find that other airports aren’t much better and indeed some are worse, I hope they will complain to their local newspaper not the one in Bristol. Trouble is, knowing the Bristol Post, they’ll still run the story.
