Cardiff: General Airport Discussion & Updates

[Jerry]

It's interesting that TUI do seem to get a lot of criticism at Cardiff but are the biggest airline by far and have been at Cardiff for a long time. Them and KLM can be considered as Cardiff's most loyal airlines over the years. Hopefully with Wizz in place and travel resuming Cardiff can begin it's post pandemic recovery and we can see other airlines like Loganair and Ryanair bring passengers back to previous levels on routes like Edinburgh and Dublin and we'll see routes like Belfast and Paris and Barcelona return over time.

 

[Jerry]

So according to a post online CWL will be getting a Smartlynx A320 operating for Easyjet overnighting until I think the 14th July due to apparently engineers not being able to get airside passes at Bristol until then. Sounds a bit odd to me.

 

[geoff]

I noticed on SWAG yesterday, the Easyjet flight to and from BRS in the early hours of yesterday morning, which I thought was quite strange, could be the poster was correct.

 

[Jerry]

Starting in September, Cardiff Airport is working with cardiffmet and Embry Riddle - Worldwide to launch a three-year, BA (Hons) in Aviation Management. Students will benefit from work experience at the airport across a variety of areas.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537747387002888192

 

[bluebols]

Per the upcoming Swansea Air show,, as the Red Arrows and Memorial Flight are flying both days will there be a chance of one or both overnighting in CWL ?

 

[Jerry]

Well the Red Arrows often do base themselves at Cardiff so hopefully they will this time!

 

[rollo]

The Red Arrows did a display a couple of weeks or so ago at Ragley Hall in Worcestershire where I live (Worcestershire that is not Ragley Hall) and were temporarily based at Fairford so I guess thats the best bet as flying time is similar but but you never know.

As an aside the day they did the Ragley Hall air festival they also did the Queens flypast (the monarch that is not the group) over Buckingham Palace.

 

[Jerry]

The Red Arrows did a display a couple of weeks or so ago at Ragley Hall in Worcestershire where I live (Worcestershire that is not Ragley Hall) and were temporarily based at Fairford so I guess thats the best bet as flying time is similar but but you never know.

As an aside the day they did the Ragley Hall air festival they also did the Queens flypast (the monarch that is not the group) over Buckingham Palace.

Hopefully they'll base themselves at Cardiff again as they have before put on a mini display when returning to the airport for the onlookers.

 

[Jerry]

Airport bosses have been getting their grilling from the Senedd

Cardiff Airport bosses admit making a profit is a 'long way' away

The airport has seen a huge decline in numbers since the pandemic

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[geoff]

There wasn't much good news to come out of the Senedd grilling, except Spencer Birns said that Wizz were satisfied with their progress. The Financial Director doesn't say much at these meetings other than the fact that he usually states he is unable to reveal details to answers in public.

 

[Jerry]

There wasn't much good news to come out of the Senedd grilling, except Spencer Birns said that Wizz were satisfied with their progress. The Financial Director doesn't say much at these meetings other than the fact that he usually states he is unable to reveal details to answers in public.

The airport is essentially now only just going to begin it's recovery from the pandemic which saw it essentially wiped out as a business. If it wasn't for the government it's owner bailing it out it i'd expect it would've gone bankrupt and closed. A lot of the financial stuff is often commercially sensitive so will only be disclosed behind closed doors. The airport does have it's pre pandemic holiday network back essentially and Wizz is bedding in and will take time to grow. One of the challenges will be too get routes like Amsterdam, Dublin and Edinburgh back to previous numbers and flight frequency and diversify the business so more of the income comes from non passenger related revenue.

 

[Jerry]

Cardiff Airports route network for peak summer 2022 and the airlines that operate on those routes. Subject to change.
Aircraft types that we could see are 737 800 from Ryanair and TUI, Embraer E145 from Loganair, E175 and E190 from KLM, ATR72 from Aer Lingus, A320 and A321 from Vueling and BH Air and A321neo from Wizz. (Updated 30/6/22).
Britain and Ireland
Dublin 4 weekly (flights Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday) Ryanair
Edinburgh 6 weekly (no flight Saturdays) Loganair
Belfast City 5 weekly (no flights Tuesday and Wednesday) Aer Lingus operated by Emerald Airlines
The Netherlands
Amsterdam 13 weekly KLM
France
Paris Orly 3 weekly (flights Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) Vueling
Portugal
Faro 4 weekly flights (flights on Tuesday and Saturday) Ryanair and Wizz
Spain
Alicante 10 weekly Vueling, TUI and Wizz
Ibiza 3 weekly (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) TUI
Malaga 7 weekly (no flights Monday and Friday) Vueling, Ryanair and TUI
Menorca 2 weekly (Monday and Friday) TUI
Palma de Mallorca 10 weekly (no flights Monday) TUI, Vueling and Wizz
Reus 1 weekly (Tuesday) TUI
Canary Islands
Lanzarote 2 weekly (Sunday and Thursday) TUI
Gran Canaria 1 weekly (Saturday) TUI
Tenerife 6 weekly (no flights Sunday, Thursday and Saturday) TUI and Wizz
Bulgaria
Bourgas 3 weekly (Monday, Thursday and Saturday) TUI and BH Air
Cyprus
Larnaca 3 weekly (Sunday and Thursday) TUI and Wizz
Paphos 2 weekly (Sunday and Wednesday) TUI
Croatia
Dubrovnik 1 weekly (Thursday) TUI
Greece
Corfu 4 weekly (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday) TUI and Wizz
Crete Heraklion 4 weekly (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday) TUI and Wizz
Kefalonia 1 weekly (Tuesday) TUI
Kos 2 weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) TUI
Rhodes 2 weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) TUI
Zante 2 weekly (Tuesday and Friday) TUI
Tunisia
Enfidha Hammamet 1 weekly (Friday) TUI
Turkey
Antalya 2 weekly (Monday and Thursday) TUI
Dalaman 3 weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) TUI

 

[Jerry]

* Updated 30/6/22
This is only an approximation of what winter 2022/23 could look like from Cardiff Airport as some airlines aren't onsale so i've made an educated guess on what their schedule could look like. For the others i've gone from the 1st week of December. I haven't included Eastern because i have my doubts they will be operating from the airport in the future. Hopefully airlines will add more routes and flights.
Just to summarise winter 2022/23 could see 2 based aircraft at the airport, 1 overnighting aircraft, 13 destinations, 63 weekly departures, 18,186 seats onsale.
TUI 1 based 737 8
5 routes 9 weekly departures 3402 seats
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Malaga 1 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Wizz Air 1 based A321?
6 routes 14 weekly departures 6440 seats (5040 if an A320 is used)
Larnaca 2 weekly
Sharm el Sheikh 2 weekly
Faro 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Lanzarote 3 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Loganair E145
1 route 6 weekly departures 588 seats
Edinburgh 6 weekly
KLM E175 & E190
1 route 20 weekly departures 3664 seats
Amsterdam 20 weekly
Ryanair 737 8
1 route 4 weekly departures 1512 seats
Dublin 4 weekly
Vueling A320
3 routes 5 weekly departures 1860 seats
Alicante 3 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
Aer Lingus
1 route 5 weekly departures 720 seats
Belfast City 5 weekly

 

[Jerry]

Interesting to note that when it starts the Belfast City route will be bigger seat wise than the Edinburgh route which has historically always been one of CWLs top routes.

 

[Jerry]

Welsh Lamb being advertised at the airport.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1549393825965162505

 

[Jerry]

Cruise flights that are onsale over next few winters flying direct from Cardiff.
4th November 2022 P&O Cruises to Bridgetown. Barbados
27th November 2022 TUI/Marella Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
29th January 2023 TUI/Marella Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
4th February 2023 P&O Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
27th October 2023 P&O Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
7th January 2024 TUI/Marella Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
16th February 2024 P&O Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
10th March 2024 TUI/Marella Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados
21st march 2024 TUI/Marella Cruises to Bridgetown, Barbados

 

[Jerry]

Stand 10 is going to be out of action for a few weeks apparently as they do maintenance on the boarding bridge.

 

[Severn]

Aircraft Based / Overnighting at CWL - August 2022

TOTAL: 5

TUI (3)

B738 (3)​

Wizz Air UK (1)

A321 (1)​

KLM (1)

E175 (1)​

 

[fly4gigs]

Any reason why the Holiday Inn Express is not taking reservations?
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpre...cw.ma.ul.ki.va.ii.sp.nd.ct.sx.we.lx&qPm=CDFAP

 

[StanMan]

Any reason why the Holiday Inn Express is not taking reservations?
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/cardiff/cdfap/hoteldetail?qDest=Port Road, Cardiff, GB&qCiD=13&qCoD=14&qCiMy=92022&qCoMy=92022&qAdlt=1&qChld=0&qRms=1&qWch=0&qSmP=1&setPMCookies=true&qRtP=6CBARC&qAAR=6CBARC&qAkamaiCC=GB&srb_u=1&qRad=30&qRdU=mi&qpMn=0&qSHBrC=EX&presentationViewType=select&qSrt=sBR&qBrs=re.ic.in.vn.cp.vx.hi.ex.rs.cv.sb.cw.ma.ul.ki.va.ii.sp.nd.ct.sx.we.lx&qPm=CDFAP

Bookings are available after 13th September, from when it seems to be back to normal. Maybe they're short of staff or its closed for a refurbishment.