Bristol Airport has announced work on its largest capital project has commenced.

The South West transport hub is investing over £60m in creating a public transport interchange hub and multi-storey carpark to enhance services and accessibility for customers.

The project will include improved improved customer facilities such as waiting rooms and rest facilities. It forms part of the airport's plan to enable 12 million passengers a year to use the airport.

By investing in a transport interchange hub, bosses at the airport hope to more than double the number of bus and coach bays to 16, enabling it to be one of the region's largest bus and coach interchanges. In addition, bosses said this will contribute to Bristol Airport's commitment to improving public transport links across the region.

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The top level of the car park will provide a dedicated Drop Off and Pick-up location. The new multi-storey car park will provide over 2000 spaces; blue badge parking; and will adjoin the existing multi-storey car park. The terminal will be accessed via a glazed pedestrian bridge link. The internal road improvements and design will segregate pedestrians and vehicles, making it safer for everyone.

Dave Lees, chief executive at Bristol Airport, said: “This project is transformational for our customers. It is the largest single capital investment project since the terminal opened in 2000 and will take 18 months to complete. As with all large-scale projects, they are complex and the development work will need to be phased to accommodate the normal day to day Airport operations.

"During the project, customers will see several temporary changes taking place, including temporary relocation of some car parks and changes to internal roads layouts. We will continue to keep customers informed of the changes via directional signage, customer messaging on car park bookings, the website and on social media.”

The development of Bristol Airport to being a 12 million passenger per annum airport will create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead, open-up new direct air links, and support inbound tourism. This project is the first to enhance the customer experience at Bristol Airport whilst meeting the challenge of developing in a responsible way and the commitment in being a net zero airport operation by 2030.