The September MoU expands an existing workforce initiative into placements, T Levels, guest lectures, curriculum projects and employer engagement for local learners.
Bristol Airport and City of Bristol College have formalised a wider skills partnership covering placements, employer engagement and aviation-focused learning opportunities.
- Bristol Airport and City of Bristol College signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 3, 2026, at the South Bristol Skills Academy.
- The partnership will support placements, guest lectures, networking, curriculum development, T Level placements, Supported Internships and employer-led projects.
- The agreement expands an existing relationship that includes the Take Off Programme, which Bristol Airport said had supported 15 people and helped seven into employment by March 2026.
- The skills initiative comes as Bristol Airport seeks permission to raise its annual passenger cap from 12 million to 15 million by the late 2030s.
(NEWS) BRISTOL, England, United Kingdom, 2026-Sep-16 — /Travel PR News/ — Bristol Airport and City of Bristol College are widening their local skills partnership beyond a single employability programme, signing a Memorandum of Understanding that will bring aviation employers more directly into student training, placements and curriculum development.
The agreement was signed on September 3 at the college’s South Bristol Skills Academy, with representatives from Jet2, DHL, easyJet and Ryanair among those attending. The airport’s September 16 announcement says the new arrangement will give learners access to industry insight, work placements, guest lectures, networking and projects shaped around real aviation-sector needs.
For the airport and college, the MoU is an extension of a relationship already producing employment pathways rather than the start of a new connection. In 2025, Bristol Airport began funding the Take Off Programme with Partners in Bristol, a subsidiary of City of Bristol College, to help people facing barriers to employment build confidence and practical workplace skills.
From employability support to a wider talent pipeline
The new agreement broadens that work into the college’s mainstream learner experience. Bristol Airport is expected to contribute to curriculum development and industry-relevant projects while supporting work experience, T Level placements and Supported Internships. Employer forums, events and advisory panels are also planned, alongside continuing professional development opportunities where relevant.
Cherie Marchant, People Director at Bristol Airport, said the aim is to help local people understand the range of careers available in aviation and gain the skills, experience and confidence needed to pursue them. She linked the partnership directly to the airport’s future workforce requirements as its operation grows.
The emphasis on practical exposure is significant for students entering an industry where many roles depend on operational knowledge that is difficult to reproduce in a classroom. Site visits, employer interviews, work placements and contact with airlines, logistics companies and airport teams can give learners a clearer view of careers spanning passenger operations, engineering, ground handling, logistics and other functions.
The Take Off Programme provides an early model
The existing Take Off Programme shows how that type of employer connection can translate into employment outcomes. Bristol Airport said in March 2026 that the programme had supported 15 people since launch and that seven had gained employment by that point.
The initiative covers areas including CV writing, interview techniques, professional communication and workplace skills, with participants also gaining hands-on experience with airport business partners. Its focus includes people returning to the workforce after caring responsibilities or retirement, as well as others facing barriers such as low confidence or limited access to opportunities.
Rob Hazelton, Managing Director of Partners in Bristol and Strategic Partnerships, said the MoU recognises a relationship that is already delivering. He pointed to apprentices working with Bristol Airport and full-time students receiving employer insight, visits and interviews that cannot be replicated through classroom teaching alone.
Airport growth raises the importance of local recruitment
The partnership also sits against Bristol Airport’s longer-term expansion plans. The airport has submitted proposals to increase its current permitted passenger cap from 12 million to 15 million passengers a year, a level it expects could be reached in the late 2030s. Current airport information says around 10.8 million passengers use Bristol Airport annually. The planning application remains subject to approval by North Somerset Council.
Those proposals include new infrastructure and would require a larger workforce if delivered. Bristol Airport’s published growth plans therefore give the college partnership a longer-term context: local skills development is becoming part of the preparation for possible expansion rather than an isolated education initiative.
The airport has also proposed a maintenance, repair and overhaul hangar that it says could create more than 100 highly skilled jobs and apprenticeship opportunities if planning permission is secured. That makes engineering and technical training another potential area where closer links with local education providers could become increasingly relevant.
For learners in Bristol, North Somerset and the wider West of England, the value of the MoU will ultimately depend on how many of the promised placements, employer encounters and progression routes translate into sustained opportunities. The structure now being created gives the airport and college a formal mechanism for doing that across a broader range of courses and career stages.
The agreement also gives employers a more direct role in shaping the skills pipeline they may later recruit from. With airline, logistics and airport businesses already participating in the partnership’s launch, the next test will be how consistently that industry presence carries through into placements, curriculum input and jobs.
