The Bath Half Marathon is taking place on Sunday 15th March 2020. Due to the high volume of both participants and spectators anticipated to attend this event, extensive road closures will be in place which will effect our A4 Air Decker service as follows:

Bath to Airport – Journeys in the early morning will depart the city centre and serve all stops as normal, up to and including the 09:00hrs departure. Journeys after this time will be unable to serve the city centre, and will start from The Globe roundabout until roads reopen. At present the first complete journey Bath to the Airport will be 15:30. Normal service will resume from this point on.

Airport to Bath – Journeys in the early morning from the airport into Bath will enter Bath as normal. The last complete journey from the Airport will be the 07:30 departure. All journeys after this time will terminate at The Globe roundabout and will not serve Bath City Centre. At present the first complete journey from the airport to Bath will be 14:00. Normal service will resume from this point on.

Please note all passengers who wish to use the service whilst these closures are in place will either have to make arrangements to get to The Globe. Alternatively, take a train from Bath Spa to Keynsham, and join the A4 service at Keynsham Church.

These timings are subject to change depending on the duration of the event.

Following the earlier accident in Keynsham today (08/02/2020) all roads have now reopened.

The A4 Air Decker will now resume normal route.

Due to an RTC in Keynsham the A4 Air Decker is currently diverted along Keynsham ByPass. Roads are closed at The Talbot.

We will re-enter Keynsham from Hicks Gate to serve Keynsham Church only.

Normal route will resume once roads are cleared.

Due to roadworks, Beechmount Grove bus stop (Airport to Bath direction) has officially been suspended by Bristol City Council, and will be until further notice.

A temporary bus stop is in place opposite Hengrove Avenue, just before the junction of Wells Road/ Airport Road.

Bath to Airport Beechmount Grove stop has also been suspended. A temporary bus stop is in place at Wootton Park for passengers to board and alight. Again this is until further notice.

The following journeys will not operate today:

14:30, 16:30 &18:30 Bristol Airport to Bath services

15:00 & 16:00 Bath to Bristol Airport will start at Unity Road, Keynsham, and will not serve Bath and Saltford

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

The following journeys have been cancelled today:

11:00 Bath to Bristol Airport

11:00 Bristol Airport to Bath

All other services are scheduled to operate as per the timetable. Apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause to travel plans.

Two further brand-new Air Deckers have joined the fleet at Bath Bus Company and were launched at Bristol Airport this week.

Costing almost half a million pounds and manufactured by Volvo/ MCV, these vehicles have the lastest low emission Euro 6 technology in readiness for new proposed restrictions in several West of England and Somerset locations. When introduced into service, they will bring with them upgraded ticket machines with the ability to accept contactless card payments and scan QR codes present on tickets purchased through airdecker.com. They also have specially designed luggage racks for secure storage, table seating on the upper deck, automatic and live announcements providing bus stop information and journey updates, and a revised version of the familiar Air Decker livery and paintwork. PopIn Vehicle Graphics printed and fitted the livery and are now the first port of call for any work required on both the Air Deckers and Open-Top tour buses.

Craig Lovegrove, MD, PopIn Vehicle Graphics says:

Having worked with Bath Bus Company and provided vehicle graphics for Cardiff Open-Top tour buses in the past, we are pleased to now be the provider of vehicle graphics across their entire fleet. Having extensive experience in providing fleet graphics across the Wales and the West, it is great to add another company to our portfolio. Bath Bus Company placing this business demonstrates the quality and high standards we deliver.

The A4 service provides an alternative to using a car or taxi as well as offering frequent daily links between Bath Spa train station and Bristol Airport.

Passenger growth on this service has been phenomenal from its launch back in 2013 and has increased by approximately 20% year on year. In 2019, over 414,000 people used the A4 for both airport travel and local journeys. The route has assisted commuters that reside in South Bristol to work in both Bath and at the airport respectively. The recently introduced 01:00hrs departure from Bristol Airport is already proving popular with travellers, cabin crew and airport staff.

Martin Curtis, MD says

“This investment and further update to the Air Decker fleet, which has grown to meet the demand, now offers a range of vehicles with reduced emissions on this Bristol Airport service. Passenger numbers have increased with more opting to pre-book airport travel online than previously. Internet ticket sales are up by 30% on 2018.”

Paul Baker, Surface Access Strategy Manager, Bristol Airport said

“We are delighted to see the additional new buses added to the A4 fleet, continuing to enhance our sustainable methods of transport bewteen Bath and the Airport. It is great to see the growth on this route for customers and staff and the addition of these new Euro 6 low emission vehicles will contribute to reducing our carbon emissions.”