Bristol Airport stays open and operates flights every day of the year, including Christmas Day, so a Christmas Day departure or arrival is not unusual. What does close is the public transport link: the A1, A2, A3 and A4 Airport Flyer bus services do not run at all on 25 December, so anyone flying that day needs a taxi, a pre-booked transfer or their own car. Checked 2026.
Does Bristol Airport operate on Christmas Day?
Yes. Bristol Airport does not close for Christmas, and a number of flights run on 25 December every year, mostly to and from destinations popular with people visiting family or taking a winter break, such as Amsterdam, and seasonal routes to the Canary Islands. In the 2025/26 festive period, the airport operated 14 flights on Christmas Day itself, including services to Amsterdam, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, and expected around 430,000 passengers to travel through the terminal across the wider festive period from 19 December to 4 January. The exact routes and flight count change year to year depending on which airlines schedule Christmas Day services, so always check your own booking rather than assuming a specific flight will run.
The Flyer bus does not run on Christmas Day
This is the detail that catches people out. First Bus, which operates the Bristol Airport Flyer (the A1 to Bristol city centre and Temple Meads, A2 to Portishead, A3 to Weston-super-Mare and A4 to Bath), runs no service at all on Christmas Day. That is different from Boxing Day and New Year's Day, when the A1 and A3 run a reduced Saturday timetable and the A4 runs a Sunday timetable. On Christmas Day itself, there is no exception for the airport routes: if you are flying on the 25th, the Flyer is not an option in either direction.
In practice this means anyone travelling to or from the airport on Christmas Day needs to arrange a taxi, book a private transfer in advance, or drive and use one of the car parks. Given the reduced public transport options and the general disruption of the holiday period on the roads around Bristol, booking a taxi or transfer ahead of time is worth doing rather than expecting to find one at short notice on the day. See the taxis page for how the rank and pre-booking work.
Boxing Day and New Year's Day
Services pick back up, but not to a normal timetable, on the two other statutory holidays either side of Christmas. On Boxing Day (26 December), the A1 and A3 Flyer routes run a Saturday-level timetable and the A4 to Bath runs its usual Sunday timetable. New Year's Day follows the same pattern: A1 and A3 on a Saturday timetable, A4 on a Sunday timetable. Normal weekday and weekend timetables typically resume in the first few days of January, though the run-up to New Year (27 December to 2 January) often still runs on adjusted "special" timetables with earlier last departures than a normal week, so it is worth checking First Bus's live timetable pages for your travel date rather than assuming a fully normal service.
Parking over the festive period
The car parks themselves operate as usual over Christmas and New Year, since they are not affected by the bus timetable changes. The festive period is one of the busiest stretches of the year for the airport, with the single busiest day of the 2025/26 season falling on 28 December, when nearly 32,000 passengers passed through the terminal, and a first peak around 21 December when over 12,000 people arrived in a single day reuniting for Christmas. Car parks, particularly Short Stay and Meet & Greet, sell out on the busiest days, so booking online in advance is the safer and usually cheaper option rather than turning up and paying the gate price. See parking for a comparison of the airport's car parks.
What to expect if you're flying on Christmas Day itself
Christmas Day traffic is much lighter than the days either side of it, since most people travel on Christmas Eve or in the days after Boxing Day rather than on the day itself. With a shorter flight schedule and typically the lightest passenger volumes of the festive fortnight, security queues and terminal congestion on 25 December tend to be noticeably calmer than a normal day, let alone the late-December peak. That does not remove the need to plan the journey there, given the bus service gap described above, but once you are through the doors, Christmas Day itself is usually one of the quieter travel days of the year at Bristol Airport.
| Date | Flyer bus (A1/A2/A3/A4) | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| 24 December (Christmas Eve) | Special timetable, most journeys finish around 8pm | Last normal-ish service of the year; plan an earlier journey |
| 25 December (Christmas Day) | No service | Flights still operate; use a taxi, transfer or your own car |
| 26 December (Boxing Day) | A1/A3 Saturday timetable, A4 Sunday timetable | Reduced frequency, not a full weekday service |
| 27 Dec - 2 Jan | Special/adjusted timetables | Often earlier last departures than a normal week |
| 1 January (New Year's Day) | A1/A3 Saturday timetable, A4 Sunday timetable | Same pattern as Boxing Day |
| 3 January onwards | Normal service resumes | Back to the standard published timetable |
For the full year-round terminal opening pattern outside the festive period, see is Bristol Airport open 24 hours. For the bus service in normal operation, see the A1 Flyer guide and Flyer prices and times.
FAQs
Does Bristol Airport close on Christmas Day?
No, the airport itself stays open and flights operate on 25 December every year, though with a shorter schedule than a normal day. What does not run is the A1/A2/A3/A4 Flyer bus service, which has no service at all on Christmas Day.
Can I get the Flyer bus to Bristol Airport on Christmas Day?
No. First Bus, which operates the Airport Flyer, runs no service on 25 December. It resumes on Boxing Day and New Year's Day with a reduced Saturday or Sunday timetable, so if you are travelling on Christmas Day itself you need a taxi, a pre-booked transfer, or your own car.
Is Bristol Airport busy on Christmas Day?
Less busy than the days around it. Most festive travel happens on Christmas Eve and in the days after Boxing Day, so Christmas Day itself tends to have a shorter flight schedule and lighter passenger numbers than the peak days of late December, such as 28 December.
Do Bristol Airport's car parks operate normally over Christmas?
Yes, the car parks run as usual throughout the festive period. It is still worth booking in advance, since the surrounding weeks are some of the busiest of the year and the cheaper online rates and available spaces can run out on peak days.
What about New Year's Eve and New Year's Day?
New Year's Eve typically runs a special timetable with earlier last departures than a normal day. New Year's Day follows the same reduced pattern as Boxing Day, with the A1 and A3 Flyer running a Saturday timetable and the A4 running a Sunday timetable, rather than being fully suspended like Christmas Day.