Bristol Airport has revealed its long-term vision for how it will grow to meet an increase in demand for travel.
The masterplan to 2040 outlines how the airport intends to expand its services, including new long-haul routes and increased passenger capacity.
The changes would allow the airport to provide more connections and serve new destinations, connecting the region directly with the east coast of America and the Middle East.
The plans follow a 10-week public consultation launched in November 2024, during which more than 19,000 people viewed the proposals online, and 2,381 individuals submitted written feedback.
Dave Lees, CEO at Bristol Airport, said: "We’re enormously pleased with the level of response to our draft Master Plan consultation and grateful for everyone who took the time to share their views.
"Our team has carefully studied all the responses and are using them to shape our detailed proposals before submitting a planning application."
The airport aims to serve 15 million passengers annually by the late 2030s, up from its current cap of 12 million.
To support this growth, it plans to submit a planning application to North Somerset Council later this year for the necessary infrastructure improvements.
Bristol Airport says the expansion will create 1,000 new jobs and contribute £3 billion in gross value added to the regional economy.
Mr Lees said: "We’re continuing to see strong demand to travel to and from our region, with business travel surprisingly holding up since the pandemic and people wanting to connect with friends and family across Europe.
"More than 10 million people from our catchment continue to travel to fly from Heathrow and London airports every year.
"We’re confident we can capture a section of that demand and boost the economy of our region by providing direct connections to North America and the Middle East."
The airport has acknowledged concerns about the environmental impact of its growth plans.
Mr Lees said: "We recognise the concerns about carbon emissions resulting from airport growth and the implications for climate change.
"We’re bringing forward proposals for what we consider to be responsible growth, which is both within the current UK carbon budgets required to meet net zero for all emissions by 2050, and with measures to achieve net zero airport operations by 2030.
"Meanwhile, we are also committed to working with partners in our region to decarbonise aviation."
Government policy currently supports the expansion of airports outside the South East that make best use of existing runways.
Bristol Airport believes its plans will help to reduce the number of passengers from the South West and South Wales who currently travel to London airports - estimated at around 10 million annually.
Under the new masterplan, annual aircraft movements would rise from 85,990 to 100,000.
This would mean an extra 35 take-offs and landings on a busy day during peak season.
Night flying restrictions will remain in place, but the airport is proposing an increase of 1,000 night flights per year, averaging four additional flights per night during peak periods.
