"Seven or eight years ago Bristol Airport was regarded as a bit of joke.

It was being compared with Heathrow and Gatwick and people were arriving here at the old terminal and feeling short-changed.

"But gaining planning permission for the new terminal, which was designed in 1990, was ridiculous.

" It took about six years, with one of the main objections being'is there a need for an airport in this area?'."

These are the reflections of Bristol International managing director Andrew Skipp, who can now afford a smile as last year he saw 5.2 million passengers pass through with 17 per cent coming from South Wales.

That's a handsome comparison with 2000 when just 2 million passed through.

He's hoping to win South West business of the year as a morale boost for his team.

The airport was recently nominated by Travel Weekly's travel agent customers as one of the UK's top five airports.

In the final it lost out to the big guns of Gatwick and Manchester. "But it's the first time we were nominated, so we were pleased," he said.

Mr Skipp is currently supervising an expansion of the new terminal to accommodate up to 6 million passengers this year.

It's a temporary measure as airport terminals are allowed to expand by 15 per cent without a full planning application.

"The additions will serve us for about four years during which we hope to gain approval for a major extension."

The low-cost airline operators have been a godsend to regional airports.

Their point-to-point services are slowly consigning the major operators' "hub and spoke" operations (with small feeder flights consolidating big aircraft loads at large airports like Heathrow) to the dustbin of history.

Bristol is EasyJet's second biggest site after its Luton base and it's adding new destinations every year.

"Low cost operators pay less for airport services, but on the other hand the speed of their turnarounds means they make much lighter use of our facilities.

"That means we can handle more business. We're looking to spread the activity peaks out by offering airlines attractive rates to use off-peak slots."

The increase of low cost has also meant that airports like Bristol must become more reliant on commercial activities such as shopping, duty-free or otherwise.

Inside the terminal it's a case of permanent revolution as new facilities and new operators are brought in to complement the shopping/eating experience.

Mr Skipp has a background in accountancy and joined the airport as finance director in 1989.

"Within a few days of arriving I knew this was where I wanted to work.

"I was previously in animal feeds and bearings, but it's so much better to be working in a business where you're also a consumer of the product."

He became deputy managing director in 1996 and managing director in 2002.

His philosophy is based on having a happy staff and happy airline operators.

"This is a village, with 2,500 working here. The majority work for third parties, but if you ask them they'll say'I work for Bristol Airport'."

"There's a great buzz and commitment and we do whatever we can to recognise and reward it.

"Last night a contractor took the cap off a high-pressure water line thinking it had been switched off and flooded the terminal with at least 400 gallons of water.

"The response of the staff was magnificent, many worked all night and today you would not realise we'd had a problem."

Mr Skipp aims to keep airlines happy by working with them to see what added value the airport can bring to their services.