Cardiff: General Airport Discussion & Updates

[CWL94]

I agree the airport can and should be doing a lot more to engage with people over social media platforms!

I have noticed the Cardiff Airport flights and deals page on Facebook is doing its best to promote the airport, fair play to them!

 

[Jerry]

I agree the airport can and should be doing a lot more to engage with people over social media platforms!

I have noticed the Cardiff Airport flights and deals page on Facebook is doing its best to promote the airport, fair play to them!

Yep that page also got a lot of stick for promoting Wizz flights as well. As for the airport they need someone full time to manage their social media and press. If they can't manage that i wonder if they might be better off contracting out their social media to a professional company.

 

[geoff]

Big article on the airport in Business live, the Wales on line business supplement, with an optimistic outlook by Spencer Birns, who stated that CWL should reach 50% target of 750,000 passengers this financial year. Both Dublin and Belfast routed are doing well, and KLM will , be expanding in October, but they haven't put this on the news section of the CWL web site as yet.

 

[Jerry]

New board member in the Chief Executive of the Royal Mint announced in the article as well.

Busy summer puts Cardiff Airport on track to hit passenger recovery target

The airport also has a new board member in the chief executive of the Royal Mint

www.business-live.co.uk

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2022

Good to see that the airports recovery is on track and that routes like Dublin and Belfast are doing well!

 

[Jerry]

New board member in the Chief Executive of the Royal Mint announced in the article as well.

Busy summer puts Cardiff Airport on track to hit passenger recovery target

The airport also has a new board member in the chief executive of the Royal Mint

www.business-live.co.uk

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2022

Good to see that the airports recovery is on track and that routes like Dublin and Belfast are doing well!

Looks like the same article just a different more negative headline.

Cardiff Airport's recovery lags behind other major UK airports

Cardiff Airport says it is performing better than forecast

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[geoff]

Exactly the same article, one with positive outlook, and one with negative headlines. However on another matter, I read the advertisement for the marketing executive position, and in it, it stated that the present Marketing manager has been seconded to the Welsh Government, and will be there for some time yet. That may well be the reason for little news coming out from the airport, however the advertised position of marketing executive has closed so they may have found someone for that position.

 

[Jerry]

Exactly the same article, one with positive outlook, and one with negative headlines. However on another matter, I read the advertisement for the marketing executive position, and in it, it stated that the present Marketing manager has been seconded to the Welsh Government, and will be there for some time yet. That may well be the reason for little news coming out from the airport, however the advertised position of marketing executive has closed so they may have found someone for that position.

I know that many of their staff were seconded during covid but you'd have thought that they'd all have been returned by now.

 

[Jerry]

Updated 27/9/22
This is what winter 2022/23 could look like from Cardiff Airport. Sample from the 1st week of December. Hopefully airlines will add more routes and flights.
Just to summarise winter 2022/23 could see 1 based aircraft at the airport, 1 overnighting aircraft, 12 destinations, 55 weekly departures, 14,459 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 A321
2 routes 4 weekly departures 1880 seats (1488 if A320 used)
Milan MXP 2 weekly
Bucharest 2 weekly
Loganair E145
1 route 6 weekly departures 588 seats
Edinburgh 6 weekly
KLM E175 & E190
1 route 20 weekly departures 3688 seats
Amsterdam 20 weekly
Ryanair 737 8
2 routes 6 weekly departures 2268 seats
Dublin 4 weekly
Faro 2 weekly
Vueling A320
2 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

 

[bluebols]

This approximates to 8 flights daily throughout the winter, somewhere along the line questions have to be asked by the taxpayers whether propping up the airport is a worthwhile use of ever scarce budget money.

There seems to be a conflict of interests between the climate concious in the government and a desire to get a better return on their massive investment already spent and carrying on into the future.

It seems that there is next to zero available for advertising and marketing and if a better effort was made to help Wizz during their troubled summer, they may have been inclined to risk a winter programme which would have made a huge difference .

Cardiff Airport is miles away from its neighbour but could be punching far closer to its ability if it was given a chance. The Welsh public will continue to spend money on air travel, it would be good to see more doing it without having to use other airports.

 

[Jerry]

This approximates to 8 flights daily throughout the winter, somewhere along the line questions have to be asked by the taxpayers whether propping up the airport is a worthwhile use of ever scarce budget money.

I suppose it depends on the value the Welsh government believes it has too Wales as a country in having it's own international airport, not too mention the 600 (i think it is) skilled jobs at BAMC that the site supports as well as jobs in the airport itself, then there's global trek who seem to be building a good relationship with our allied air forces. The airport was on the track to recovery pre pandemic but the loss of Flybe and the pandemic has set it back massively and now we have the challenge of economic hardship as well for people. The reality is when it comes to a government whose budget is close to £20 billion a year the money the airport has received isn't a massive % of that. I think we also need to ask would it perform better under private ownership? Or could we get a scenario like Doncaster Sheffield where the owner shuts it down most likely to sell the land itself for something like housing.
My personal believe is if Wales wants it's own international airport it's going to have to invest in it and except that the airports continuing existence is a big part of the return on that investment.

 

[MrFenner]

Due to the imminent closure of DSA, Wide Area Dispersant Application Services provider, 2Excel Aviation, has identified Cardiff as an interim solution for the B727 and associated assets (loading equipment, dispersant).

The aircraft will move to its new location before 31st October.

https://www.oilspillresponse.com/news--media/news/aviation-update---doncaster-airport-closure/

 

[Jerry]

Finger's crossed it'll become a permanent arrangement.

 

[White Heather]

W

Due to the imminent closure of DSA, Wide Area Dispersant Application Services provider, 2Excel Aviation, has identified Cardiff as an interim solution for the B727 and associated assets (loading equipment, dispersant).

The aircraft will move to its new location before 31st October.

https://www.oilspillresponse.com/news--media/news/aviation-update---doncaster-airport-closure/

Hat happened to their 2nd 727? They used to have two, G-OSRA and G-OSRB.

 

[Jerry]

I know the Oil Spill 727 has come about due too the sad news about DSAs closure but hopefully it is something that will become permanent and things like that on the general aviation side of the business will expand in the future and help to make Cardiff a more viable business

 

[Jerry]

Summer 2023 summary so far
TUI
44 weekly departures, 22 destinations, 3 based aircraft.
KLM
20 weekly departures, 1 destination, 1 overnighting aircraft.
Wizz Air
16 weekly departures, 7 destinations, 1 based aircraft.
Ryanair
9 weekly departures, 2 destinations.
Aer Lingus Regional (Emerald Airlines)
7 weekly departures, 1 destination
Vueling
3 weekly departures, 1 destination.
Loganair
6 weekly departures, 1 destination.
Balkan Holidays
1 weekly departure, 1 destination
Total so far 106 weekly departures, 27 destinations, 4 based aircraft, 1 overnighting aircraft.

 

[CWL94]

Balkan Holidays will have a weekly flight to BOJ

 

[Jerry]

Balkan Holidays will have a weekly flight to BOJ

Always forget about them!

 

[MrFenner]

In other CWL related news, their new Marketing Executive is now in post and has previously held the post of Global Brand Ambassador at British Airways…amongst many other positions.

 

[geoff]

The Marketing Department, certainly seem to be putting more on twitter lately.

Post automatically merged: Oct 19, 2022

Recipients of the CWL newsletter, are being given the chance to win £1000 of WIZZ Air flight vouchers. Entrants are asked to choose their two favourite destinations from the following six, Barcelona, Malaga, Malta, Prague, Keflavik, and Dalaman.( These are destinations CWL and WIZZ must be contemplating starting in future). Barcelona, Malta and Prague have previously been quite successful from CWL, Malaga already has competition, Dalaman does not have a low cost service , and Iceland has only been tried on one off charters. It is however an interesting list of destinations and it would be great for CWL if they were to be started in future. With their new subsidiary in Malta, and a base in Prague some the services could be flown on away based aircraft.

 

[Jerry]

Dalaman does not have a low cost service

Dalaman would be a good pick and i think the most likeliest, Malta as well may be another option for them. Both are more package holiday destination that would give much more extra revenue than city routes like Barcelona or Prague.

In other news the decision is due on the Model Farm development

Decision due on Model Farm application

Ted Peskett, Local Democracy Reporter A major decision is due on controversial plans to concrete over a piece of land which has been farmed on for generations and turn it into a business park. Vale of Glamorgan Council’s planning committee will today make a decision on whether or not they wish...

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