AN application to build a 250-bedroom hotel at Bristol Airport has been lodged with North Somerset Council.

The hotel is a key part of the proposed £150 million redevelopment of the airport and the application has been put together by Pedersen Hotels.

The firm already owns three hotels in Bristol and the £20 million addition to its chain will be aimed at people flying in the early hours, along with pilots and airline staff.

The hotel is being built 100 metres from the airport terminal in the area of the car park used by car hire firms and will be connected to the main building by a footpath.

Pedersen say the development will create about 125 new jobs but will not affect the hotel trade in North Somerset and Bristol. The airport is the biggest in the UK not to have its own dedicated hotel.

Although facilities will include several meeting rooms, a bar and a restaurant, it is expected that most customers will use the hotel for overnight stays.

The application is being considered separately to Bristol Airport's application to expand its terminal building and create a new public transport terminus. The redevelopment is expected to see passenger numbers increase from six million to ten million per year.

Robert Sinclair, the chief executive at the airport, said: "An on-site hotel has long been high on the list of facilities requested by our passengers. The proposed hotel development would enable us to provide a service that visitors to the South West expect to be available at the region's airport."

Developers are hoping to start work on the four-storey building as early as next year so it can open for business in the winter of 2012.

A statement from Pedersen read: "The airport has a great need for this facility and is the largest airport in the UK without an onsite hotel. The hotel is an essential facility to enable people in the South West to make use of their regional airport and avoid the need to travel to airports outside the region.

"The hotel improves the accessibility of the airport for all passengers and also allows inbound business passengers to meet and do business at the airport."

According to Pedersen there is a shortage of hotel beds supplying the airport despite a large number of guest houses, bed and breakfasts and pubs offering accommodation in the surrounding area.

The new hotel is expected to be priced higher than most of its competitors as a result of its convenient location.

So far there has been one objection on the grounds that it will have an impact on traffic in the area.

Pedersen already owns the Novotel in Victoria Street, the Mercure in Welsh Back and the Ibis at Temple Quay.