Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[marsh.ger]

Ok great stuff, have added a small variety of images taken previously. All future images will be uploaded as and when I get the opportunity to head up to the airfield

 

[Jerry]

Airbridges

As of this very moment the following airbridges can be used for the following types at CWL.

Airbridge 7 - B752, B753, A332,A333, B788, B789, B762, B763
Airbridge 9 - No no longer in use
Airbridge 10 - B762, B763, B752, B753, A318, A319, A320, A321

Thanks for that info! Have to ask but why isn't Airbridge 9 used?

Or does Cardiff Airport hunt for an operator to fly to a focus longhaul destination such as New York / Dubai. There would be far less of footfall increase.

I don't think there is enough money around for both of my above options however there are hints that something is coming.

Even though as regular transatlantic passenger I would love to get on a plane at Cardiff and fly to the US especially the west coast! But as someone who really wants to see Cardiff airport succeed and be busy i think getting a LCC to base 2-3 aircraft and do the extra routes that Cardiff needs is the biggest priority. Personally i would love to Vueling base 3 aircraft at CWL. 2 A320's 1 of which can be seasonal to do the sun routes and a A319 to do the thinner routes and cities.
Or it could be possible to do both if they attracted Norwegian but then Vueling might be pushed out and they have been loyal and built their brand up at CWL so that would be a shame.

 

[marsh.ger]

Thanks for that info! Have to ask but why isn't Airbridge 9 used?

By law the old agnus guidance system for the aircraft to approach the stand had to be replaced. These are now replaced by a new type of docking system which does not come cheap.

At present I am unsure whether it is planned to bring the airbridge back in use.

 

[Jerry]

Interesting Q&A on Jason Mohammed's Radio Wales show with Roger Lewis this morning. A few interesting things came up. Investment in the airport under the previous owners was minimal so there will be more investment in the terminal. The arrivals area was specifically mentioned as something to be looked at in the future to be expanded. I think more car parking space was mentioned as well but I started to lose radio signal at that point. As well as engaging with government to improve transport links to the airport ie bus travel and train travel.
The LCY flight was mentioned a lot! And Roger Lewis is pushing for that to become permanent as it has especially considering the journey back from LCY is a lot of cases is not even 40 mins.
Another point was that he mentioned the airport is talking to airlines all the time and transatlantic was mentioned but what was more interesting was that a delegation from the Middle East is coming to Wales and that Roger Lewis had been talking via email to a large airline though he didn't mention a name but apparently smiled when the presenter said Emirates is what the presenter said. Whether anything can be read into that who knows but also Debra Barber and team are out in China at a global routes conference.
And whether universities in Wales could help with pilot training was also mentioned.
In all he sounded very positive about the future of the airport so hopefully there is still more good news to come!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CWL Chairman - live question and answer session on Radio Wales this morning

I've since listened to the broadcast on 'catch-up'. It's a pity there were so many breaks for music and some of the questioners were allowed to make what amounted to speeches. One bloke took three minutes to tell us that you only get one chance to make a good first impression. The last few minutes were taken up with a look back at the chairman's previous role as WRU CEO which must have been irksome to anyone hoping to get on the air and ask about the airport.

Apart from the announcement of the Ryanair expansion (and did the chairman really think that Faro is in Greece?) most of what he said was standard stuff that you'd expect any senior representative of an aspiring airport to say. To his credit he told us that he is still learning a lot about the aviation business.

He would know that he was speaking to a general audience most of whom would not be aware how airlines and airports operate to the extent that perhaps some aficionados are. Therefore the allusions to recently speaking to major airlines, the routes conference in China and the ongoing attempts to secure US and ME routes would all play well with most of the listeners who might view such things as out of the ordinary.

I have to say I like his style. He came across as someone enthused about his role and the airport. He is a good salesman having several times dropped in the fare price for CWL-LCY. From the number of trips that he says he's already made on the route he might well be trying to boost the load factor single-handedly.

The other thing that caught my attention was the reference to the 'multi millions' recently spent on new fire appliances and terminal amelioration. As the airport is still not making a profit so far as I'm aware this must be from borrowings. Added to the £13 million the WAG lent its airport company for route development means that the airport will have to work very hard to manage this debt in the coming years. That being the case I still wonder whether the ultimate aim will be to sell the airport into the private sector with the purchaser taking on the debt.

The main thing the interview did for me was to confirm the far more optimistic outlook and feel-good factor around CWL these days.

 

[superking]

lets hope good news keeps turning up for cwl

 

[marsh.ger]

It is always refreshing to hear the airport management speaking so optimistically about the airport. This can be seen by both Roger Lewis & Deb Barber.

This is a huge contrast to how previous managers have come across.

 

[Jerry]

Yes it is good! Hopefully their optimism about the airport will rub off on airlines and bring in new destinations to the airport!

 

[Jerry]

Just been listening to the BBC Wales News and the WAG will be reviewing the Cardiff to Anglesey route. I believe it's still to go out to tender so they could end the route saving £1.5 million a year as the pax numbers have been steadily declining.
Could the money be invested into the LCY route instead?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Just been listening to the BBC Wales News and the WAG will be reviewing the Cardiff to Anglesey route. I believe it's still to go out to tender so they could end the route saving £1.5 million a year as the pax numbers have been steadily declining.
Could the money be invested into the LCY route instead?

Cardiff-Anglesey is a PSO (Public Service Obligation) route. Cardiff-London could never be a PSO route as the two capital cities are well connected by rail and road. After the UK leaves the EU, assuming it does, the UK government would be free to ignore all the EU rules on such things as PSO routes if it wanted to, assuming that any Brexit agreement it makes with the EU doesn't intrude.

The funding for the Cardiff-Anglesey route comes from the WAG's overall budget, not the budget that it sets aside to allow its wholly-owned airport company to operate.

It could certainly make another £1.5 million available as a loan to its airport company if it so wished but it couldn't just switch the £1.5 million to CWL-LCY as a subsidy in the way that it subsidises the Cardiff-Anglesey PSO route. That would be illegal under EU rules.

 

[marsh.ger]

I believe this is the 2nd time that such a review has taken place. I wouldn't mind betting that passenger figures were similar during last review so can't see much of a change.

It is a shame that LinksAir went bust as it was one thing they did well was promote the route and get the numbers up.

 

[Jerry]

I believe this is the 2nd time that such a review has taken place. I wouldn't mind betting that passenger figures were similar during last review so can't see much of a change.

It is a shame that LinksAir went bust as it was one thing they did well was promote the route and get the numbers up.

I have never understood why they don't use Hawarden and base the aircraft there have a codeshare with Flybe as well and have 3 rotations a day and maybe use the aircraft for another route. Anlgesey just seems to be out of the way and the aircraft itself under used.

 

[Jerry]

Just watched Roger Lewis's interview on Ian King Live on Sky news (I believe it was filmed yesterday). Good to have the airport promoted on a national news channel. Lots of mention about the LCY route! he's definitely plugging it wherever he goes! and that CWL fly's to lots of buisness destinations not just sun routes. Also he suggested that CWL could help relieve the South East congestion and get a Brexit boost by APD being devolved to Wales because 1 million passengers a year fly long haul from London who are welsh. Interesting little interview and Roger Lewis does seem passionate about beating the CWL drum!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Good to hear that he's so involved with publicising the airport, and having a government for Wales certainly helps raise the profile of the country and all segments of it including the airport. Over 5 million from South West England use LHR annually (CAA surveys) so there are certainly enough punters in south west Britain to make long haul scheduled flights viable.............in theory anyway.

 

[Jerry]

Good to hear that he's so involved with publicising the airport, and having a government for Wales certainly helps raise the profile of the country and all segments of it including the airport. Over 5 million from South West England use LHR annually (CAA surveys) so there are certainly enough punters in south west Britain to make long haul scheduled flights viable.............in theory anyway.

I suppose that is the challenge! Making theory into a practical and sustainable reality!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I note that Blue Air is to open a one-aircraft base at Liverpool with routes to Rome, Bergamo, Alicante and Hamburg. Although Blue Air already has a small non-based presence at LPL the news seems to have surprised many.

I wonder if the airline approached CWL or vice versa. This is the sort of thing that would help CWL along, provided it didn't cut across a bigger initiative that another airline might be planning.

 

[Tinkerman]

I was actually thinking along a similar line myself Local. Blue Air seems to have done rather well out of LPL and is their first foray into the UK market with a base anyway.

I'm still firmly of the belief that CWL has something in store for next Summer. Whether this is a new operator at the airport, or indeed an expanded schedule from BE.

 

[Jerry]

Blue Air at Liverpool was a surprise! Basing 1 aircraft like at LPL and they could do Alicante and Malaga say 3 weekly each without affecting Vueling that much and could add say Larnaca, Rome, Naples and Athens as well maybe. Not sure if Bucharest would work though. In fact there maybe a few airports around the UK where a LCC could base 1 aircraft but 2 might be too much. Examples being Norwich and Exeter.

I'm still firmly of the belief that CWL has something in store for next Summer. Whether this is a new operator at the airport, or indeed an expanded schedule from BE.

Flybe keeps responding to a twitter user that the schedule won't be released until late October early November. Too me that sounds a little late but idk maybe they have to revise it because of FR doing Faro or they are waiting for LCY figures possibly?

 

[marsh.ger]

It's pretty much the same Time as last year as they kept on delaying the announcement of the cardiff schedule.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A rumour doing the rounds that there is to be a major CWL announcement tomorrow. easyJet announces the first part of its summer 2017 schedule tomorrow I believe.

A previous major announcement turned out to be a huge Flybe marketing initiative around Cardiff and its region giving away free flights etc.

Worthy as that was it's to be hoped that if there is an announcement tomorrow something more tangible is involved.