Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[geoff]

Perhaps a spokesperson for CWL, could reply to some of the comments made on the other forum, we might here something from a different prospective then.

 

[Jerry]

There is an interesting post on the dried plum forum re:CWL Is any of this true about CWL? It appears harsh.

What's the post? Not on the other forum these days.

 

[geoff]

Five entries today regarding CWL today on the Airlines, airports, and routes section of dried plum, none of them very complimentary of CWL.

 

[Jerry]

Five entries today regarding CWL today on the Airlines, airports, and routes section of dried plum, none of them very complimentary of CWL.

Never is on that forum. Too many people on there willing CWL to close so they can gloat. One comment I noted was CWL always puts it's eggs in the one basket with Flybe used as an example but the problem for CWL has always been that it's had to find alternatives to Easyjet because they've refused to operate from the airport. I generally think now that if the airport is too have a future it'll be the non passenger side that's key.

 

[geoff]

Plenty of more discussions on the other forum today, with plenty of flack heading in the direction of Spencer Birns, by people who obviously dislike him.

 

[Jerry]

Plenty of more discussions on the other forum today, with plenty of flack heading in the direction of Spencer Birns, by people who obviously dislike him.

I generally don't see how anyone else could do better to be honest. Any management team is going to face the same challenges.

Interesting that Cardiff now has a new Trade and Sales Executive who's also an ex travel agent. From the post on Facebook it sound's like she'll be doing the rounds to connect with the agent's and get them using Cardiff Airport.

 

[geoff]

That is something which is badly needed, closer relationships with South Wales Travel Agents can only be better for CWL.

 

[geoff]

Hays Travel have purchased the The Travel House and its 16 shops across South Wales. Hays Travel ow has about 480 shops in the UK with its HQ in Sunderland. We shall have to wait and see, what effect this will have on .CWL Plenty of work for trade relations for the newly appointed person at CWL to cooperate with Travel Agents in South Wales.

 

[geoff]

I have received the latest newsletter from CWL, advertising holidays from CWL with Love holidays, to Dubai and Cancun, Mexico with KLM via Amsterdam, and Paris with AF/Eastern. Hotels appear to be of a very good standard. It gives CWL passengers a better chance of holidays further afield, with everything arranged for them.

 

[Jerry]

This is what Summer 2024 for Cardiff Airport looks like at the moment
94 weekly departures, 26 destinations, 3 based aircraft, 1 overnighting aircraft.
TUI
Palma de Mallorca 6 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Dalaman 3 weekly
Antalya 3 weekly
Ibiza 2 weekly
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Bourgas 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
Larnaca 2 weekly
Paphos 2 weekly
Kos 2 weekly
Rhodes 2 weekly
Corfu 2 weekly
Menorca 2 weekly
Zante 2 weekly
Enfidha 2 weekly
Dubrovnik 1 weekly
Heraklion 1 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Kefalonia 1 weekly
Reus 1 weekly
KLM
Amsterdam 20 weekly
Loganair
Edinburgh 6 weekly
Aer Lingus
Belfast City 7 weekly
Ryanair
Dublin 6 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly
Faro TBC
Vueling
Alicante 3 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
BH Air
Bourgas 1 weekly

Updated 30/11/23
This is what Summer 2024 for Cardiff Airport looks like at the moment
97 weekly departures, 26 destinations, 3 based aircraft, 1 overnighting aircraft.
TUI
Palma de Mallorca 6 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Dalaman 3 weekly
Antalya 3 weekly
Ibiza 2 weekly
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Bourgas 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
Larnaca 2 weekly
Paphos 2 weekly
Kos 2 weekly
Rhodes 2 weekly
Corfu 2 weekly
Menorca 2 weekly
Zante 2 weekly
Enfidha 2 weekly
Dubrovnik 1 weekly
Heraklion 1 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Kefalonia 1 weekly
Reus 1 weekly
KLM
Amsterdam 20 weekly
Loganair
Edinburgh 6 weekly
Aer Lingus
Belfast City 7 weekly
Ryanair
Dublin 6 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly
Faro TBC
Alicante 2 weekly
Tenerife 1 weekly
Vueling
Alicante 3 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
BH Air
Bourgas 1 weekly
Eastern Airways
Paris Orly TBC

 

[Aviador]

That's a half decent programme in my opinion. I agree there must be more that can be done but eight airlines is not bad at all. If you think of what DSA had the year it close I think they had maybe just two airlines at most with perhaps an infrequent cargo ops.

 

[Jerry]

Hopefully it can be the foundation of a recovery over the next few years and the airport can get airlines like Loganair and Aer Lingus to add frequency on their routes and KLM to add more seats with bigger aircraft and of course Ryanair too keep growing.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

The key to recovery now is ultimately FR. Wizz could have filled that gap but royally messed it up, so unless CWL have some radical ideas and random Airlines in the pipeline, FR is the best bet for growth. And lets be honest, they are the best Airlines to get it. They are a financially secure Airline that people know and offer good prices that can compete with BRS. Granted they may up and leave at the slightest sniff of price increases or routes not working, but you could say that about any Airline these days. No Airlines has any full commitment to any Airport.
FR will bring in the passenger numbers, and the likes of Aer Lingus, Loganair and Eastern will compliment them on the domestic/shorter routes.

 

[Jerry]

With the routes that Wizz operated, i wonder if the airport has the passenger data that they can use to help convince Ryanair to launch routes in the future and maybe even one day open a base.

 

[Aviador]

Out of interest what is the drivetime from Bristol to Cardiff and is there a charge for crossing the Severn?

 

[Cardiffbay]

Out of interest what is the drivetime from Bristol to Cardiff and is there a charge for crossing the Severn?

No the charge to cross the bridge is now gone. Depending on how close the the M4 you live in Cardiff it is possible to get to Bristol airport in 50 to 60 mins but that is dependent on no traffic. Sadly the M4 is often backed up so it’s easy for the journey to take up 2 and a half hours especially around rush hour times.

 

[Aviador]

No the charge to cross the bridge is now gone. Depending on how close the the M4 you live in Cardiff it is possible to get to Bristol airport in 50 to 60 mins but that is dependent on no traffic. Sadly the M4 is often backed up so it’s easy for the journey to take up 2 and a half hours especially around rush hour times.

The M4 sounds very much like the M62 in that respect. My point is as attractive as Bristol is to Cardiff passengers and those from the wider Southwest, the argument could be equally the same for CWL. The journey time is the same whichever direction you travel in so if flights of choice were available from CWL then passengers will not shy away from using them. Take the Tui offering for example. The airline has a decent programme from both airports. They aren't put off from using CWL just because they operate from BRS. The catchment for CWL will obviously be smaller than BRS because it has the Irish Sea on one side but the catchment still encompasses much of the area surrounding BRS too.

 

[Jerry]

Updated 30/11/23
This is what Summer 2024 for Cardiff Airport looks like at the moment
97 weekly departures, 26 destinations, 3 based aircraft, 1 overnighting aircraft.
TUI
Palma de Mallorca 6 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Dalaman 3 weekly
Antalya 3 weekly
Ibiza 2 weekly
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Bourgas 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
Larnaca 2 weekly
Paphos 2 weekly
Kos 2 weekly
Rhodes 2 weekly
Corfu 2 weekly
Menorca 2 weekly
Zante 2 weekly
Enfidha 2 weekly
Dubrovnik 1 weekly
Heraklion 1 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Kefalonia 1 weekly
Reus 1 weekly
KLM
Amsterdam 20 weekly
Loganair
Edinburgh 6 weekly
Aer Lingus
Belfast City 7 weekly
Ryanair
Dublin 6 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly
Faro TBC
Alicante 2 weekly
Tenerife 1 weekly
Vueling
Alicante 3 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
BH Air
Bourgas 1 weekly
Eastern Airways
Paris Orly TBC

Updated 7/12/23
This is what Summer 2024 for Cardiff Airport looks like at the moment
99 weekly departures, 27 destinations, 3 based aircraft, 1 overnighting aircraft.
TUI
46 weekly departures, 22 destinations, 3 based aircraft
Palma de Mallorca 6 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Dalaman 3 weekly
Antalya 3 weekly
Ibiza 2 weekly
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Bourgas 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
Larnaca 2 weekly
Paphos 2 weekly
Kos 2 weekly
Rhodes 2 weekly
Corfu 2 weekly
Menorca 2 weekly
Zante 2 weekly
Enfidha 2 weekly
Dubrovnik 1 weekly
Heraklion 1 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Kefalonia 1 weekly
Reus 1 weekly
KLM
1 overnighting aircraft
Amsterdam 21 weekly
Loganair
Edinburgh 6 weekly
Aer Lingus
Belfast City 7 weekly
Ryanair
13 weekly departures, 5 destinations
Dublin 4 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly
Faro 2 weekly
Alicante 3 weekly (2 in April)
Tenerife 1 weekly
Vueling
5 weekly departures, 2 destinations
Alicante 3 weekly
Malaga 2 weekly
BH Air
Bourgas 1 weekly
Eastern Airways
Paris Orly TBC

 

[Jerry]

This is what the departure boards will look like peak Summer 2024
Monday 15 departures
06.00 Corfu TUI
06.00 Dalaman TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.35 Menorca TUI
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.00 Alicante Vueling
13.45 Tenerife TUI
14.30 Edinburgh Loganair
14.55 Dublin Ryanair
14.55 Enfidha TUI
16.55 Bourgas TUI
16.55 Antalya TUI
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
20.35 Malaga Ryanair
Tuesday 12 departures
06.00 Alicante TUI
06.00 Palma de Mallorca TUI
06.00 Reus TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.05 Kefalonia TUI
13.25 Tenerife TUI
14.30 Edinburgh Loganair
14.30 Zante TUI
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
22.40 Palma de Mallorca TUI
Wednesday 14 departures
06.00 Kos TUI
06.00 Malaga TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.35 Ibiza TUI
09.05 Malaga Ryanair
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.25 Malaga Vueling
14.00 Rhodes TUI
14.15 Paphos TUI
14.30 Edinburgh Loganair
16.35 Dalaman TUI
16.50 Alicante Vueling
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
Thursday 13 departures
06.00 Palma de Mallorca TUI
06.00 Lanzarote TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.35 Dubrovnik TUI
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.10 Bourgas TUI
14.30 Edinburgh Loganair
14.45 Antalya TUI
16.00 Larnaca TUI
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
20.00 Dalaman TUI Other Carrier
21.35 Alicante Ryanair
Friday 15 departures
06.00 Menorca TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.25 Palma de Mallorca TUI
06.45 Enfidha TUI
09.10 Faro Ryanair
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.20 Corfu TUI
13.30 Zante TUI
15.00 Edinburgh Loganair
15.20 Tenerife TUI
17.10 Dublin Ryanair
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
20.30 Antalya TUI Other Carrier
21.35 Alicante Ryanair
Saturday 16 departures
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.05 Ibiza TUI
06.35 Palma de Mallorca TUI
06.45 Alicante TUI
09.00 Bourgas BH Air
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
10.35 Tenerife Ryanair
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
13.15 Kos TUI
13.25 Malaga Vueling
13.50 Alicante Vueling
13.55 Gran Canaria TUI
14.35 Rhodes TUI
14.40 Malaga Ryanair
17.15 Amsterdam KLM
22.45 Dublin Ryanair
Sunday 14 departures
06.00 Lanzarote TUI
06.05 Amsterdam KLM
06.25 Malaga TUI
07.05 Palma de Mallorca TUI
07.55 Alicante Ryanair
09.45 Amsterdam KLM
12.00 Belfast City Aer Lingus
12.15 Edinburgh Loganair
13.50 Larnaca TUI
14.15 Heraklion TUI
15.40 Dublin Ryanair
15.55 Paphos TUI
16.05 Faro Ryanair
17.15 Amsterdam KLM

 

[geoff]

I notice that the regional rugby clubs in Wales are not using flights from CWL for their away games this season. With two Welsh teams playing in France this weekend in the European Champions Cup, and Challenge Cup neither have flown from CWL, and have the Welsh teams been using CWL for their URC games. It must be a new policy to save money, by the relevant authorities.