Lengthy delays at Bristol Airport after runway disruption

Passengers travelling to and from Bristol Airport are facing delays of up to seven hours after its runway was closed on Friday evening.

The airport said flights had resumed at 8am on Saturday morning, but cautioned: "There's some disruption to flights today. Customers should contact their airline with flight queries."

"We're very sorry for any inconvenience caused while essential runway repairs were carried out," it added.

The majority of flights have been severely delayed, with a handful cancelled.

One of the first scheduled departures of the day from Bristol, a Jet2 flight to Faro, Portugal, was delayed from 5.55am to 11.29am, according to the airport's website. Another of the airline's flights, to Verona, Italy, is now due to take off at 8pm instead of 1pm.

Cancelled flights include domestic EasyJet services heading for Newcastle and Edinburgh, and another going to Pula, Croatia.

Read more: Your rights when a flight is delayed or cancelled

Replying to customers on social media, Jet2 has said travellers should still arrive at the airport for their original departure time.

EasyJet has issued the same advice, and is also urging customers to use the flight tracker feature in its app to receive real-time updates.

Arrivals have also been impacted, with no aircraft able to land before 8am.

The airport had been forced to close at around 6pm on Friday.

TUI customers told Sky News of their frustration.

Abbie, who was at the airport in Bristol, said: "We boarded to fly at 5.30pm yesterday; which meant had there been no crew sickness we'd have departed on time."

Instead, they got caught up in the runway repairs and sat on the plane for two-and-a-half hours.

They were told they would be put in taxis to supplied accommodation, Abbie said, but this didn't happen.

"We are still sat in bag drop 24 hours on; waiting for a flight at 8pm," she said this afternoon.

But she praised three TUI reps who have been on hand since 4am.

Another passenger, Lydia, told Sky News she was on the TUI plane from Bristol to Marrakesh yesterday for two hours before being told they had to stay at a hotel for evening.

But they were told there were no hotels after exiting the plane, she said. So they slept on the airport floor with no food or water. She described her children "lying on the cold marble floor shivering".

She too was waiting for a flight rescheduled for 8pm, by which time she calculates she would have waited 30 hours for take off from the time they arrived at the airport.

TUI has been contacted for comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Lengthy delays at Bristol Airport after runway disruption