Present warning for Christmas fliers

PASSENGERS flying away to celebrate Christmas are being advised to pack presents in their hold baggage – to avoid them being unwrapped at the airport.

Bristol Airport is expecting 2018 to be a record holiday season with an estimated 235,000 passengers set to pass through the terminal between December 21 and January 3 - up 10 per cent on the same time last year.

The busiest day is expected to be December 23, when 24,000 passengers will fly in and out of the airport, while around 1,000 will be travelling on Christmas Day itself.

Bristol Airport head of security Chris Morgan said: “Passengers may be tempted to take wrapped presents in their hand luggage when travelling during the festive season, but they should be aware these may need to be unwrapped as part of the security search process. It is best to wait until you get to your destination to do the wrapping if you can – but if that’s not possible, we advise that any wrapped gifts should go in checked-in bags. We also recommend checking with your airline if you plan to travel with Christmas crackers, as policies on this can vary.”

Bristol Airport is on track to handle 8.7 million passengers in 2018, boosted by additional ski flights to Andorra and Ostersund in Sweden, along with increased capacity to popular winter city break destinations including Berlin, Copenhagen and Vienna.