Hundreds of people in the West of England support the expansion of Bristol Airport, according to a new YouGov poll.
The survey questioned more than 1,120 adults. Results showed 44% were in favour of the transport hub’s growth, while 32% were neutral and 24% opposed the plans.
The survey comes a month after Bristol Airport tabled proposals to expand, promising new destinations and 1,000 on-site jobs.
In 2023, the High Court granted the airport permission to increase capacity to 12 million passengers a year. Now Bristol is looking to grow to accommodate 15 million passengers.
The airport has pledged to invest around £500m in improvements to the site and local infrastructure.
Under the plans, the runway would be expanded to allow flights to more European cities and long-haul routes to the US and Middle East.
There would also be a larger terminal with more shops and restaurants, more car parking spaces, and public transport improvements.
Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport, said: “It’s great to see such strong support for our plans from across our region. This polling shows that people want to travel from their local airport.”
The YouGov poll also found that 60% of those questioned had travelled via the airport in the past two years, while 73% said they were considering using Bristol Airport in the next two years.
Of those who had used or planned to use the airport, 43% said they were more likely to consider using public transport to access it.
Currently 10.8 million people use Bristol Airport every year.
However, local residents and environmental campaigners have raised concerns about the impact of extra carbon emissions. They also claim increasing capacity could lead to more congestion on local roads and create more noise.