Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[Foxlimayankee]

As far as I know there is no planning cap on passenger numbers through CWL but does anyone know the realistic maximum through the current facilities? I had an idea there was talk of a new terminal or at least an upgrade of the existing one when passenger numbers reached a certain level but I can't recall the detail.

I've had another read through the 2019 Masterplan and it doesn't actually state the capacity of the current terminal. I'm pretty sure the previous 2006 masterplan did. I'm sure it was around the 3m capacity mark. I've searched the internet and can't find the 2006 in circulation anywhere

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Many thanks Jerry and Foxlimayankee for your replies.

 

[Jerry]

It'll be curious to see if they put the Masterplan into action and go ahead with the new terminal potentially using government money or if they'll seek private investors especially considering Labour have a majority now. Any new terminal construction could be framed as part of COVID recovery.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It'll be curious to see if they put the Masterplan into action and go ahead with the new terminal potentially using government money or if they'll seek private investors especially considering Labour have a majority now. Any new terminal construction could be framed as part of COVID recovery.

(Jerry, you will know the background to this but there might be others who read this thread who might not).

Lots of pressure being put on the Westminster Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to block any further expansion of airports, of which a number of planning applications are at various stages in the procedure. Only today the local rag carries a story of campaigners writing to the minister demanding that he halt Bristol Airport's expansion plans.

Of course, that only applies to English airports. Wales has its own Planning Inspectorate with the minister responsible being, as far as I'm aware, the WG's Minister for Housing and Local Government.

It might be that the Westminster secretary of state judges that airport expansion in England is no longer compatible with his government's climate change aims. If that was the case and airport expansion in England was stopped it would be fascinating, for a number of reasons, to see whether his WG counterpart took the same view regarding Welsh airports.

 

[Nigel B]

I would like to think the WG regard CWL as an important asset/gateway for inward investment tourism etc.
North wales is out of the picture for CWL,but i am sure the airport can expand in the longer term, including both passenger and freight traffic.

 

[Jerry]

to see whether his WG counterpart took the same view regarding Welsh airports.

Well i suppose for Cardiff it wouldn't be really expansion but replacement. They could put in a cap of 3 million passengers a year and build an environmentally friendly terminal which could in the future be expanded to 4 or 5 million passengers capacity.

I would like to think the WG regard CWL as an important asset/gateway for inward investment tourism etc.
North wales is out of the picture for CWL,but i am sure the airport can expand in the longer term, including both passenger and freight traffic.

The south of Wales is definitely an area that is potentially untapped tourist wise in Wales with a lot of focus on the north and west of the country. Looking on Cadw website and it's surprising how much is close by.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Well i suppose for Cardiff it wouldn't be really expansion but replacement. They could put in a cap of 3 million passengers a year and build an environmentally friendly terminal which could in the future be expanded to 4 or 5 million passengers capacity.

it's a valid argument, one that the LBA people are putting regarding their planning application for an environmentally-friendly new terminal that would allow a throughput of 7 mppa. They already have planning permission for a less environmentally-friendly terminal that could handle that number.

The Leeds City Council planning panel has approved the application for the environmentally-friendly terminal but Jenrick, the Westminster Secretary of State, has issued a blocking order whilst he decides whether to call in the application in order to make the decision himself.

The environmental lobby is demanding that he does call in the application. If he accedes it would be enlightening to see whether he rejects the application on environmental grounds. That would be a similar situation to the new terminal that you suggest might be put forward for CWL at some point. Of course, the WG minister would be under no obligation to follow suit with CWL.

 

[Jerry]

"International travel will resume from Monday 17 May. A traffic light system, aligned with England and Scotland, will be introduced. Countries will be classified as green, amber and red. This means people living in Wales will be able to travel to a small number of foreign destinations without the need to quarantine on their return. Mandatory quarantine for countries not on the green list remains in place.

From Monday 24 May, a paper-based vaccination status will be available for people in Wales who have had 2 doses of vaccination and need to urgently travel to a country that requires covid vaccination proof.

However, the Welsh Government continues to advise people to only travel abroad for essential purposes."

Wales moves to alert level 2 | GOV.WALES

Wales will move into alert level 2 on Monday, the First Minister will confirm today as coronavirus levels remain low and vaccination rates remain the best in the UK.

gov.wales

 

[Jerry]

Turned away at check in.

Man, 81, denied Spanish holiday at airport - BBC News

Cardiff Airport staff told Garry Tate while it was legal to fly, Spain remains shut to tourists.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[KARFA]

Good. He was rightfully turned away. UK citizens who are not Spanish residents have no automatic right of entry to Spain for months now. There are plenty of places he could have checked this online, including the FCO travel advice site.

 

[Jerry]

I think he's made the mistake that because it's on the amber list for the UK it ok to travel, he's forgotten to check Spain's entry requirements and i wonder how many other people will do the same.

 

[KARFA]

And yet like most he is blaming everyone else but himself. Self responsibility has really become very unfashionable these days.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Going back to the terminal Cap I read somewhere myself that it was capacity of up to 3m passengers per annum however having seen what it was like when it reached 2.1m then at peak times the infrastructure wouldn’t be able to cope.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Going back to the terminal Cap I read somewhere myself that it was capacity of up to 3m passengers per annum however having seen what it was like when it reached 2.1m then at peak times the infrastructure wouldn’t be able to cope.

Many thanks, mathers.

 

[geoff]

I also remember the airport at 2.1 million and it was pretty packed at that time, but they used to use the second floor and outside viewing area then, which used to spread the passengers over a slightly larger area, if only it was as busy now.

 

[Jerry]

Nice to see some normality starting to come back! View attachment 23507

 

[geoff]

Any idea what the EXCEL2 flight to Faro is, they have had the Welsh football team contract lately.

 

[Jerry]

Any idea what the EXCEL2 flight to Faro is, they have had the Welsh football team contract lately.

Exactly that. Training camp in Portugal before the Euros.

 

[Jerry]

This is so far the return/start dates for airlines at Cardiff Airport
Eastern Airways 27th May Belfast City
Ryanair 4th June Faro
TUI 3rd June Faro
Wizz 17th June Palma de Mallorca
Aer Lingus 28th June Belfast City
Loganair 1st August Edinburgh.

 

[geoff]

What is good about the gradual restoration of the bread and butter routes from CWL, is that they are being operated by three different airlines, rather than the one dominant airline we had on the routes previously. Ref to your previous entry Jerry, what date is Dublin restarting?