Not to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight

I wouldn’t do that myself but yeah, try it, why not?

Security fast track often doesn't work, well not at Manchester anyway. Last time we went, there were horrendous queues at security, even the fast track line was out into the main concourse, made worse because passengers delayed in the "normal" queues whose planes were boarding were being moved into the front of the fast track queue to get them through security and to the gates in time, thus the fast track queue was being constantly held back!

Why give yourself the stress?

Arriving at the airport an hour before departure could be enough but it could very easily not be.

As PP have noted, the gate for your flight will likely close at least 20 minutes, and quite possibly 30 or 40 minutes, before departure. So in reality, if you arrive at the airport an hour before take off, you would only have 20-40 minutes to get through security and on to your flight.

Tbh, I’m stressed just thinking about your plan to arrive 1 hour before!!!

NO way! For years I've travelled through smaller provincial airports, and they have got worse and worse, and more unpredictable. I used to be someone who'd rock up 30 minutes beforehand!

A recent flight was just before 6am, and I imagined that the airport would be deadly quiet when I arrived at 4am. The queues for security were the longest I'd seen - lots of early morning flights to Europe and London, and possibly fewer staff on duty.

You'll also need to factor in the length of time it might take to walk to the departure gate, and to queue for the toilet. There might be a bus to take you to the plane rather than direct boarding - that always takes longer so the gate might close early.

Many airports give the departure gate 1 hour before take off. I'd always want to be airside by then. So you need to factor in security before that. There's nothing worse than the stress of waiting in security (and there's no rushing that part) not knowing if you'll make your flight!

Why do you want to cut it so fine? Years ago when I was almost commuting by plane, every 5 minutes in bed counted. Not now. For my recent 6am flight I had to be up at 3am, of course it was a pain but I snoozed on the plane and caught up my sleep by the next morning. What's the worst that happens by being there on time? You can have an extortionately priced coffee in a relaxed time-frame.

I mean it’s not being unreasonable unless you make it someone else’s problem. If you get there with an hour and spend 40 minutes in security because of low staffing/system error/other unforeseen thing will you just laugh it off and swallow the cost to pay to get the next flight?

if you would be angry, unpleasant or blame the staff then yes you’re being unreasonable.

An hour is cutting it fine but not impossible. You do you 🤷‍♀️

Depends on the airport and all the other previously mentioned variables.

Plenty of frequent/seasoned travellers still rock up at the major airports with an hour or a bit less to go...and that usually works fine at airports that are set up for it though there's increased jeopardy once the holiday season traffic picks up.

That said I wouldn't risk an hour anywhere if I was setting off on a holiday.

Even Fast Track can take longer at Bristol than many other airports. Plus, they seem to like to make it as unpleasant as possible. Lots of shouting at people.

Just do the two hours.

I think you are chancing it arriving only an hour before. Airports have a number of variables, and it seems that planning for holiday times and the extra demand is not one of their great skills. After all, the law giving you paid holidays only came in during the 1930s, not much warning.

Yes, because it’s not about the check-in desk - it’s about the queue to get through passport control and security. That can take longer than 2hours.

It's Ryanair. Who seem to take a pleasure in being unpleasant. Or Michael O'Leary bullies staff into having no sensible discretion.

Having had the displeasure of living close to Bristol airport and using it more than once, I would say that 1 hour you've got no chance, 2 hours is absolutely the minimum and 3 hours is probably closer to it if you want to play safe.

It takes one accident on the A38 for all the traffic in the area to stop absolutely dead. These happen fairly frequently in the summer. How are you even getting to the airport? If you're driving I would strongly suggest booking airport parking (and not one of the scamalamadingdong parking outfits either) in advance. There are public transport options but they're not always the cheapest and besides they're using the same roads as everyone else.

The queues for security and check in are slow. As in 'end up on the local news' legendarily slow.

I can't comment on Bristol airport specifically but I fly very regularly out of various London airports. Assuming you are not getting on tiny prop plane that seats 40 people, they will start "boarding" people anywhere up to 1hr before the flight. What that actually means is checking tickets and passports and moving you into a holding area usually a sweltering corridor with no seating. The gate often closes well before the flight goes anywhere as the staff are also often the aircraft hosts. If you haven't checked luggage you're more at risk of being blocked.
Security queues are mental this time of year. Even fast track can take 30 mins.

2 hrs is really not that long. That will include time for boarding etc so really you only have 1.5 hrs. You'll easily use up 30 mins of that through security, potentially more if it's busy. Then you will have less than an hour to nip to the loo, buy some water and walk to the gate. If you get bored you can pop out on the balcony bit and watch the planes. Some gates at Bristol are a long walk so factor that in as well.

We flew from Bristol in April, early flight 9am on Maundy Thursday. Baggage plus carry on luggage. I've not flown for a long time and i was pleasantly surprised how quick it was to get through security. However, when we were driving to the airport, there were lots of roadworks plus about a million tractors and farm vehicles about which delayed us.
I'm one of those who likes to be at the airport as far ahead as possible, and although we left in plenty of time I was getting a bit twitchy. We had time for a coffee and cake when we got there, leisurely wander through duty free and no rush for the gate.
Depending when you're going, school holidays will be busy, going in school run time will be horrendous, farming vehicles, the list of possible issues is too varied to say yes or no, sorry if that's no help!
I think now that you don't have to take your liquid stuff out separately when going through the scanner for hand luggage, I vaguely recall that being on the website so have a look.

Because of heightened security the days of turning up an hour before your flight are long gone even if you are travelling without checked in luggage.

Honestly whilst Bristol is a smallish airport it has a lot of customers and some of the gates are a decent walk away (like 10 mins) from the terminal central.
its also undergoing a huge redevelopment so there are building works everywhere.
it also depends what time you’re flying. Early hours is horrendous, although they do seem to have sorted out security a bit. We last flew lunch time (May half term) and that was busy but less so than early doors.
i’d say 1.5 hours minimum. We usually arrive 2 and have time to grab a coffee and get to the gate and that’s it!

I fly out of Bristol a lot. Even for a domestic flight with no luggage (not even hand luggage, just coats) it's tight on less than 75 mins. The security queue can be five mins or 45 mins, you just don't know. Adding in passports etc you'd want more than an hour.

Check how many other Easyjet flights are flying out of Bristol at a similar time. A few years back I got an early flight from Bristol. My OH insisted I didn't need to be there two hours early so dropped me off later. There were huge queues for the Easyjet check in (and security) because there were several flights leaving at similar times and I only just made the flight.

In my experience the budget airlines are quite random in their closing times: whatever it says their timings are in practice. The worst, as someone says upthread, is when they scan you for the closing time and then leave you sitting on a staircase or in a large standing queue - especially fun with children.

There’s always one

It can sometimes differ on the day. I’ve flown with Ryanair and it’s been anything from 30 to a full hour

A number of posters have asserted that Ryanair shuts its gates 40 minutes before departure. This is not correct. Whilst Ryanair is pretty ruthless in shutting its gates on time, the time is 30 minutes before departure (not 40 minutes) - https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb/articles/12890675763089-When-will-the-boarding-gate-for-my-flight-close.

Agree with posters though that one hour is cutting it too fine. Like most posters on this thread, I don't have direct experience of Bristol airport - but those who have have given helpful advice and their opinion that one hour is too short, particularly in peak holiday season

Just go, get a coffee and chill. Or be happy accepting the risk if you miss your flight.

I just don’t understand people that need to go against the recommendations.

Airports all tell you what time you should get there for flights, what can you possibly be doing that an extra hour there is going to inconvenience you so much you risk missing the flight.

Fkew to/from there last month (albeit with a checked bag) and it was OK, but the problem with Bristol is it’s a small regional airport that has expanded its flight schedule rapidly but hasn’t expanded the infrastructure to get passengers through quickly at the same time. It can be an absolute shitshow during the holidays.