- Moderator
- #3,021
Would it though?
Bristol congestion charge could boost Cardiff Airport passenger numbers https://t.co/a1zN28Sryn
Bristol congestion charge could boost Cardiff Airport passenger numbers https://t.co/a1zN28Sryn
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The article has exaggerated the effect of the Bristol CAZ. Already over 70% of cars are compliant and will not be subject to the charge with the number set to grow which will cause people to wonder about the point of it all.Would it though?
Bristol congestion charge could boost Cardiff Airport passenger numbers https://t.co/a1zN28Sryn
Based on BRSs pre pandemic numbers that would be around 3 million people from southern Wales using Bristol. To me that sounds more like the combined number of people from southern Wales and Devon and Cornwall that were using Bristol pre pandemic.would be amazed if the proportion of passengers from Wales using BRS is anywhere near 30% of the airport's total.
I think that is far more likely and is in line with the sort of numbers mentioned pre-pandemic. Still a big pool from which to grab some back though.Based on BRSs pre pandemic numbers that would be around 3 million people from southern Wales using Bristol. To me that sounds more like the combined number of people from southern Wales and Devon and Cornwall that were using Bristol pre pandemic.
One of the arguments made by many who are anti aviation is that the amount of flights taken is actually taken by very few individual people and on some routes they have a point, routes like Dublin and Edinburgh for instance will attract people taking multiple journeys a year whereas routes like Dalaman less so but I think like everything flying can be a habit in that people get comfortable with a certain airport and airline and go back for repeat custom. Passengers like that will be key to CWLs recovery.I think that is far more likely and is in line with the sort of numbers mentioned pre-pandemic. Still a big pool from which to grab some back though.
Its another ill informed article written by someone who thinks they know everything about aviation (and the world)The article has exaggerated the effect of the Bristol CAZ. Already over 70% of cars are compliant and will not be subject to the charge with the number set to grow which will cause people to wonder about the point of it all.
It's something the government (the one that is quite content to permit South West England including Bristol to rely almost entirely on old polluting diesel trains for many years to come) pushed the city council into doing when they had other plans to tackle the problem.
I would be amazed if the proportion of passengers from Wales using BRS is anywhere near 30% of the airport's total. The article suggests that the scrapping of the Severn tolls in 2018 led to the increase. If it did then there must have been a corresponding decrease in West Country passengers when the overall passenger increase in that period is taken into account. This seems very unlikely. At the time it was thought the scrapping of the tolls would benefit CWL not hinder it.
Well that's down to Loganair, I'd be very surprised if the airport hasn't tried to engage them to offer more than 6 weekly flights.For where I currently live, bristol airport is about 10 minutes further from Cardiff for me, but it just seems like Cardiff could be having this business with better flight times and better fares.
Back in 2008 4hr+ flights weren't operated by many low cost Airlines, including EZY and FR. It was deemed unsuitable for the low cost model which at the time was to fit as many flights in per day, per aircraft and per set of crew as possible.With the launch of Wizz Air it's been often mentioned that they are the first based low cost airline at Cardiff since BMIbaby. BMIbaby at their height based 3 aircraft in the summer and i believe 2 in the winter so i looked back to August 2008 and December 2008 to see what BMIbaby route network was like from Cardiff back then.
Summer
Palma de Mallorca 7 weekly
Edinburgh 13 weekly
Warsaw 3 weekly
Malaga 8 weekly
Amsterdam 5 weekly
Alicante 8 weekly
Murcia 3 weekly
Glasgow 7 weekly
Belfast 6 weekly
Jersey 2 weekly
Barcelona 3 weekly
Faro 4 weekly
Winter
Edinburgh 13 weekly
Amsterdam 4 weekly
Glasgow 6 weekly
Palma de Mallorca 1 weekly
Belfast 6 weekly
Alicante 4 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly
Geneva 2 weekly
Faro 1 weekly
Jersey 1 weekly
Warsaw 1 weekly
What is interesting looking at BMIs route network is there's no Canary Islands in summer or winter and nothing in Italy or Eastern Med/Turkey either and that there was quite few city routes.
Looking at Spain in the summer, between Vueling and Wizz Alicante departure wise is at the level it was with BMI but with bigger aircraft so with more seats, Mallorca has less frequency by 3 departures a week, Wizz doesn't operate Malaga but between Ryanair and Vueling there are 6 weekly flights with bigger aircraft so seat wise may well be around the same as BMIbaby days.
Faro between Wizz and Ryanair has more seats on it with the same amount of departures. For Spain the routes that are missing are Murcia and Barcelona. It does seem like capacity wise for LCC Spain and Portugal is very similar to what it used to be in the BMIbaby days so maybe we'll see Wizz especially focus elsewhere with any future expansion.
I suppose that shows how much the industry has changed considering now that the bulk of Wizz routes from Cardiff are in the 4 hour sector range.Back in 2008 4hr+ flights weren't operated by many low cost Airlines, including EZY and FR. It was deemed unsuitable for the low cost model which at the time was to fit as many flights in per day, per aircraft and per set of crew as possible.
I remember Onur Air - BH air and Eurocypria used to come in too.Back in 2008 4hr+ flights weren't operated by many low cost Airlines, including EZY and FR. It was deemed unsuitable for the low cost model which at the time was to fit as many flights in per day, per aircraft and per set of crew as possible.
bmibaby also flew older 737-300's which although could make 4hr flights, were a struggle. Thomson used to use the 737-300 to Tenerife at times but it was stretching the performance.
Also back pre-2010 there were a lot more charter Airlines around offering packages, and that demand has shifted to low-cost now, as well as a huge consolidation of Tour Operators. Back then there were big offerings from different Tour Operators to Turkey, often using Onur Air or Freebird. I think Onur Air used to have 5-6 flights a week to Turkey, some on the A300 with 350+ seats.
There was Thomson, First Choice, MyTravel and Thomas Cook, as well as smaller tour operators chartering their own Airlines in such as Spanair, Futura, Astraeus, Air Malta to name a few.
What is does show is demand is there, it's just a case of winning a lot of it back from other Airports.
There’s used to Futura and Air Europa operating weekly flights too.I remember Onur Air - BH air and Eurocypria used to come in too.
The comments were from a previous article about the airport that Wales Online posted about the airport. When I read through the comments of that article there was the usual negative comments but also a fair amount of positive comments as well concerning the airport experience and WizzAir. CWL is never going to satisfy everyone. There's always going to be someone who'll find a cheaper flight elsewhere or a destination that CWL doesn't have or no flights on the day they want to go or at the time or it's not their preferred airline or type of aircraft. People need to realise how lucky they are having so much choice close by.I agree entirely with you Jerry, the Welsh Government rules regarding Covid were in force much longer than those in England. I wonder where the people they interview live, they might get different answers from people in West Wales, the further 60 miles from CWL to BRS, can make a big difference if you have already travelled up from Tenby or Cardigan and then get stuck on the M4 at the Brynglas Tunnels.
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