Random Stuff!!

Obviously this is UK wide but the more people looking to travel to Europe from Wales the better as that can only help push passenger numbers up.

In other news polling seems to suggest that Plaid Cymru may well be the largest party in the Senedd after 6th May and are the most likely to form a government.
Seat projection
Plaid Cymru 39
Reform 34
Labour 10
Conservatives 6
Green Party 4
Liberal Democrats 3
49 seats required for a majority.

Latest poll for the Senedd election in May Plaid predicted to win and quite ahead of Reform in this one. At the moment it looks like Cardiff Airport will stay in public ownership.
Seat prediction
Interestingly Plaid ahead of Reform for the first time in a Westminster poll as well.

Wales opponents in the Nations League group stage will be Denmark, Norway and Portugal. So hopefully Cardiff will see some charters.

Rarely do I see CWL feature is such campaigns, but it seems one of JFCs mail-outs this week was solely for CWL originating cheap flights!

That's good to see!

Senedd Election 2026 result
Plaid Cymru 43
Reform 34
Labour 9
Conservatives 7
Green Party 2
Liberal Democrats 1

A historic result

Why have my people voted for an England centric party? Embarrassing! At the least the Scots had sense to keep
Refom out.

Nuffsaid said:

Why have my people voted for an England centric party? Embarrassing! At the least the Scots had sense to keep
Refom out.

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People are complicated but the Tories have always had a decent vote share in Wales and Reform have taken that over and tapped into people's frustration but at least they are not the largest party and Wales has made history with a Welsh party winning the election. The UK now has 3 pro independence parties in charge in the nations definitely a massive political change.

Jerry said:

Senedd Election 2026 result
Plaid Cymru 43
Reform 34
Labour 9
Conservatives 7
Green Party 2
Liberal Democrats 1

A historic result

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Very happy to see Plaid come through. It’s a shame they had to push the “us or Reform” narrative over their other policies, but needs must I guess. Given the long wait, I just pray they do a good job.

Samdorob said:

Very happy to see Plaid come through. It’s a shame they had to push the “us or Reform” narrative over their other policies, but needs must I guess. Given the long wait, I just pray they do a good job.

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It seemed to work though. Of course the hard part begins on Monday. Making a difference while being a minority government who will have to rely for the most part of on the party that's just been embarrassed and aren't used to being in opposition.

Jerry said:

It seemed to work though. Of course the hard part begins on Monday. Making a difference while being a minority government who will have to rely for the most part of on the party that's just been embarrassed and aren't used to being in opposition.

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It is a shame that the "stop Reform" message clouded the issue as otherwise Plaid were organised and disciplined with very few gaffs along the way. They seemed to strike the right balance without resorting to gimmicks, over-simplification of their proposals and of course the immigration card (regardless of it not being a devolved matter). The relatively high turnout worked in their favour and the electorate took the fight down to the wire in the new valley heartlands which Reform assumed they'd win hands down.

As for Labour, they won't be only embarrassd. They will be in utter disarray for quite a long time as they react to the public's backlash. Not sure they will form much of a support to Plaid for some time.

Plaid's win also raises two key quesitons. How will they deliver against a hostile Westminster Government (be that Labour today or perhaps Reform in the future) and will Reform be able to organise themselves as an effective opposition without becoming a collection of rats in a sack? If Reform can swallow the loss and build credibility without resorting to their usual nonsense then Plaid will have a battle on their hands to deliver anything as Labour won't necessarily be there to prop them up.

CAN&I said:

It is a shame that the "stop Reform" message clouded the issue as otherwise Plaid were organised and disciplined with very few gaffs along the way. They seemed to strike the right balance without resorting to gimmicks, over-simplification of their proposals and of course the immigration card (regardless of it not being a devolved matter). The relatively high turnout worked in their favour and the electorate took the fight down to the wire in the new valley heartlands which Reform assumed they'd win hands down.

As for Labour, they won't be only embarrassd. They will be in utter disarray for quite a long time as they react to the public's backlash. Not sure they will form much of a support to Plaid for some time.

Plaid's win also raises two key quesitons. How will they deliver against a hostile Westminster Government (be that Labour today or perhaps Reform in the future) and will Reform be able to organise themselves as an effective opposition without becoming a collection of rats in a sack? If Reform can swallow the loss and build credibility without resorting to their usual nonsense then Plaid will have a battle on their hands to deliver anything as Labour won't necessarily be there to prop them up.

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It's the challenge of government Plaid Cymru will no doubt relish. As a party they've been used to striking deals and working with others. I'm sure they'll be able to do that as a government.
As Reform it's probably just a matter of time until they get defections and people leaving their group.

Rhun ap Iorwerth has been voted in as Wales first non Labour and first Plaid Cymru First Minister of Wales.

It'll be interesting to see who in the Cabinet will get the transport portfolio and also if CWL will be part of that portfolio or another one, like tourism or economy.

Em0866 said:

It'll be interesting to see who in the Cabinet will get the transport portfolio and also if CWL will be part of that portfolio or another one, like tourism or economy.

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Under the previous government it was shifted to the Economy portfolio under Rebecca Evans. Hence the big emphasis on economic development as part of the support package. In the manifesto it was part of the Enterprise, innovation and connectivity section with the other forms of transport. So it might go back to transport. It is transport infrastructure so logically should be part of that portfolio.

The 1st Plaid Cymru cabinet has been announced
The Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy (guessing the closest to Economy Minister) is Adam Price
The Deputy Minister for Transport is Mark Hooper. He's a MS for Cardiff Airport constituency. Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg. He is on record as disagreeing with the Welsh governments decision to purchase the airport in 2013. It'll be interesting to see whose portfolio it comes under.

Have a feeling Cardiff Airport is going to fall under the Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy brief.

Adam Price is no fan either. He has a history of questioning the Government’s management of the airport. He has called for greater accountability transparency regards taxpayer spend and was not supportive of the original purchase back in 2013.

Welsh Labour lost the electorate on the matter precisely because it was never transparent regards its plans to generate growth and move to a position of profitability (as far as you can with a commercial enterprise at arm's length). They failed to take the public on the "journey" when it came to the rationale behind the support and the overall benefit to the wider economy.

As soon as opposition parties were able to grasp the "wasteful spend that should have gone to the NHS" stick there little in the way of defence and ultimately no way back. It didn't help that as soon as Carwyn James departed the Government's interest waned and the airport was left to its own devices at the worst possible time.

It's unsurprising that the vocal naysayers were constantly pushing the negatives fed to them by the opposition parties and the media when they saw years of continued losses and money thrown at airlines (Flybe, Qatar, Wizz, Play, Loganair) only for them to disappear. Although, let's be fair, these are the same naysayers who think the answer is simply a case of "better links", "lower fees", "better management" and "doing deals" and throwing "incentives" at airlines!!!

Despite the lack of enthusiasm shown by Adam Price and Mark Hooper in the past, Plaid does see the airport's worth to the economy and in putting "Cymru PLC" on the map. They have after all committed to:

"A viable international airport is essential for Wales’ global connectivity. We (Plaid) will take a strategic approach to secure Cardiff Airport’s long-term sustainability and seek the devolution of Air Passenger Duty."

Completely agree with far greater scrutiny so long as its fair and not set up to let the airport fail. Perhaps a more demanding owner is exactly what the airport needs?

Let's see what they can do differently to the previous owners. We can only hope a corner will be turned one day, assuming it's not already too late in today's climate.

CAN&I said:

Have a feeling Cardiff Airport is going to fall under the Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy brief.

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Transport is under that as well. It was part of the same section in the manifesto. So the Deputy Minister would be under the Cabinet Minister.

CAN&I said:

Adam Price is no fan either.

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When he was leader the manifesto included continued support for Cardiff Airport. Also included setting up a national climate offset company based at the airport as well as boost airfreight, MRO etc.
I don't see what else they'd be able to do that Labour hasn't.

Jerry said:

Transport is under that as well. It was part of the same section in the manifesto. So the Deputy Minister would be under the Cabinet Minister.

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Yes, Mark Hooper is a Deputy Minister so it all depends whether the airport falls under the cabinet brief or the subset under Mark.

Jerry said:

When he was leader the manifesto included continued support for Cardiff Airport. Also included setting up a national climate offset company based at the airport as well as boost airfreight, MRO etc.
I don't see what else they'd be able to do that Labour hasn't.

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As with all politicians, what they say in pblic and what is written in the manifesto can differ depending on the direction of the wind! Plaid is on record as being supportive, doesn't meant Adam Price is a fan, which he isn't according to his own words. Regardless, he has to make the business work whether he likes it or not.

Going off at a tangent here but the Welsh Conservatives are the masters of the manifesto stating one thing, Darren Miller, Andrew R2D2 Davies and Natasha Ashgar saying another just to stir up the pitchfork brigade.

Their recent manifesto stated "Return Cardiff Airport to private operators to save taxpayers’ money and help it thrive. Support route development at Cardiff Airport, prioritising direct flight links to North America.", yet the Welsh Conservatives have taken every opportunity to criticise and diminish the airport's value to the point of worthlessness over the last 13 years. Exactly how they would sell such a worthless asset and where the queue of private entities lining to purchase are is anyone's guess. Always easy to poke, criticise and over-simplify to garner votes from the naysayers when you're not the entity dealing with the situation.

As you say, none of them could have done any better than Welsh Labour asides offering more transparancy and taking the electorate on the "journey" as to 1) why the investment is needed, 2) why the airport's survival and success is important and 3) how they are going to turn the corner so it becomes a sustainable business and not as heavily reliant on Government support.

CAN&I said:

Exactly how they would sell such a worthless asset and where the queue of private entities lining to purchase are is anyone's guess.

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Also it's likely any private operator would seek continuing financial support from the government. Privatising it isn't the guarantee that there'd be no public money going into the airport that some think it is.