When local aviation pioneers decided to develop a fully-fledged airport for Bristol, an area of farmland at Whitchurch was bought and the new airport began in 1929. The official opening of Bristol Airport took place in May, 1930. Whitchurch developed slowly with passenger numbers of 935 in 1930 increasing to 4,000 by 1939. With the outbreak of the war the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was the only civil airport in operation in the U.K. In the 1950's, a new site at Lulsgate Bottom, formerly an RAF airfield, was purchased and developed. Bristol International is located 8 miles south of Bristol City Centre on the A38. The airport handles about 2.8 million passengers per year.
