Bristol Airport has said it is preparing for its busiest period in more than two years following the easing of Covid restrictions in England.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to use the transport hub over the Easter period, which runs until April 24, the airport said.
According to the airport, some 300,000 passengers are planning to travel through Bristol in the coming days to destinations including Spain and Portugal.
Graeme Gamble, chief operating officer at Bristol Airport, said there was “huge pent-up demand” for travel, which had built up during the pandemic.
“Following the end of all Covid-19 travel measures, we are anticipating a strong increase in passenger numbers over the Easter period,” he said. “The increase in passenger numbers this Easter demonstrates the continued customer confidence in travelling abroad.”
Mr Gamble said the airport would be “working hard” to make sure travellers through the terminal had a “smooth and easy” journey.
He added: “We strongly advise all customers to arrive at check-in at least a minimum of two hours prior to their scheduled departure time."
The news comes a month after a group of campaigners announced plans to appeal to the High Court against a decision to allow the expansion of Bristol Airport.
The expansion will allow the airport to increase its capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers a year while adding thousands more parking spaces.
The transport hub was initially refused permission by North Somerset Council in 2020 after the local authority decided environmental and societal impacts outweighed the economic benefits of the expansion. But the airport was given the green light by the Planning Inspectorate in February.
Its proposals have been backed by UK business body CBI, which said the expansion would help meet the region’s growing demand for air travel, create new international opportunities for South West businesses and be a “significant step” towards the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.
