Cardiff: (CWL) - General Thread

[Jerry]

Natasha Ashgar on Radio Wales this morning. List's the challenges the airport faces yet complains about the government putting the money in to overcome those challenges. Thinks private ownership will wave a magic wand!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815786451205845312

 

[geoff]

I listened to the program, what struck me was that nobody mentioned the 4000 jobs that have been created between CWL and Bro Tathan, some of the callers obviously had no knowledge of what it takes to run an airport, and one woman even admitted to never having flown. I think the BBC should have invited a member of the airport management, to counter the statements being made by the Conservative shadow transport minister, who never speaks in favour of the airport.

 

[Samdorob]

I listened to the program, what struck me was that nobody mentioned the 4000 jobs that have been created between CWL and Bro Tathan, some of the callers obviously had no knowledge of what it takes to run an airport, and one woman even admitted to never having flown. I think the BBC should have invited a member of the airport management, to counter the statements being made by the Conservative shadow transport minister, who never speaks in favour of the airport.

Some people (not on here) seem to think it’s all about flights to Tenerife. Yes passenger numbers and routes are important but the airport also supports a number of other businesses, the most obvious being BAMC.

 

[Jerry]

I listened to the program, what struck me was that nobody mentioned the 4000 jobs that have been created between CWL and Bro Tathan, some of the callers obviously had no knowledge of what it takes to run an airport, and one woman even admitted to never having flown. I think the BBC should have invited a member of the airport management, to counter the statements being made by the Conservative shadow transport minister, who never speaks in favour of the airport.

Some people (not on here) seem to think it’s all about flights to Tenerife. Yes passenger numbers and routes are important but the airport also supports a number of other businesses, the most obvious being BAMC.

It is a problem that many don't understand or refuse to understand what encompasses the whole of the airport business.
Its often called a vanity project but people don't take into account people's jobs connected to it. With the likes of BAMC and Bro Tathan I think people just assume that they wouldn't be affected and carry on as normal if the airport business was shut down. I also think people underestimate how long it could potentially take for the airport to recover from the pandemic. Last time it took it a decade to recover from the banking crash. There's also the political aspect in that many people just have an aversion to government's owning anything including airports. Whether its Tories or socialists people seem to have an almost odd faith in private companies without having any sort of reservation about guarantees over it staying open and not being used as a hostage to guarantee public money.
Also the almost clickbait titles don't help that just guarantees people will scream about the NHS without factoring or even caring about the fact that the Welsh Government has other responsibilities that includes transport and economic development.

 

[Jerry]

Just some of the highlights of the Welsh Governments long term strategy statement.
"The strategy aims to build on the Airport’s unique strengths with two main objectives:

• Attracting and growing aviation and aerospace businesses linked to the Airport
• A targeted programme of air service development, with a focus on passenger connectivity to a small number of global air hubs and economic centres of importance to Wales

The strategy recognises that the needs of air passengers in Wales are served by a range of airports and this will remain the case in future.

To create new jobs, the Airport will focus on:

• Aircraft Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) – helping existing businesses at the Airport to grow and attracting new businesses to both the Airport and the Bro Tathan business park, building on the hundreds of jobs in this sector already.
• General Aviation (GA) – developing facilities to encourage private aircraft owners and other GA-related activities to use the Airport, making the most of its proximity, when visiting South Wales. This would enhance the Airport’s offering to organisers of major sporting and cultural events in the region, as well as becoming more attractive for VIP business travellers and foreign investors.
• Air cargo – attracting more logistics operations to improve supply chain and export options for the region and maximise the use of increasing cargo capacity in line with route development
• Sustainable aviation technologies – in the medium to longer term, making the most of the aerospace cluster and green energy initiatives in the region by providing the infrastructure and services necessary to start and nurture businesses developing next-generation greener aviation technologies, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) supply chains, electric aircraft and hydrogen propulsion.

The additional jobs anticipated, combined with the range of aviation and aerospace courses provided by our further and higher education establishments, would offer an even greater pipeline of career opportunities in the sector for people across the whole region. The strategy aims to yield a range of new jobs, from high-skilled specialist engineering roles to positions with lower entry requirements, offering pathways into the sector for a broad cohort of job seekers.

To improve connectivity, the Airport will seek to develop routes to those parts of the world identified in the Welsh Government’s international strategy as being important for economic growth, such as:

• The Middle East and South Asia
• The European Union - major economic and finance centres and hub airports
• North America

The Airport will always encourage its existing airline partners to grow their activity and to create more local jobs. This greater connectivity will provide an excellent opportunity to grow tourism into Wales and make it significantly easier for potential investors to get to and from the country."

Written Statement: Cardiff Wales Airport – long term strategy (22 July 2024) | GOV.WALES

Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Transport and North Wales

www.gov.wales

 

[Jerry]

Its a clickbait article but the problem is that the same people complaining about the money would also complain if it shut down. I really do wish that sometimes the Welsh government would be a bit more savvy when it announces airport spending. £200 million sounds a lot but its not if spread over a decade. £20 million a year for 10 years might have been a better way to put it.

People are saying the same thing about money for Cardiff Airport

The subsidy support up to 2035 would take the Welsh Government's funding commitment since it acquired the airport back in 2013 to nearly £400m - but people commenting on the plan think the money could be better spent

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[geoff]

I found some comments in the article hard to believe, one allegedly said that it cost £238 to Dublin from CWL compared to £80 from BRS. It either must have been very last minute on a flight nearly full, or that the Dublin route is doing so well numbers wise, and once again nobody mentioned the number of jobs created by the aviation sector. It was obviously an article written to in the hope of generating more sales.

 

[Jerry]

I found some comments in the article hard to believe, one allegedly said that it cost £238 to Dublin from CWL compared to £80 from BRS. It either must have been very last minute on a flight nearly full, or that the Dublin route is doing so well numbers wise, and once again nobody mentioned the number of jobs created by the aviation sector. It was obviously an article written to in the hope of generating more sales.

Dublin only operate 4 weekly so I'd expect the price is from a day it doesn't operate and is via Amsterdam.

 

[Jerry]

One of the challenges Cardiff faces is that a lot of its major routes aren't daily so we end up with comparisons like that.

 

[Em0866]

After reading that article in WoL, I found it as bad journalism as the so called "evidence" is taken from people's comments from social media. No mention of jobs created, as has been mentioned above or the benefits. Very one sided, but I expect nothing less, to be honest.

 

[StanMan]

The following article reviews a new Honeywell system aimed at avoiding aircraft collisions on runways. The link to Cardiff is that the report was drafted during a testing session undertaken recently at CWL (17th and 18th June) by the Honeywell 757 testbed. https://simpleflying.com/testing-future-aircraft-safety-measures-boeing-757/
The dates are courtesy of the SWAG website - thanks Ian!

 

[Jerry]

This is what 2024/25 Winter for Cardiff Airport is looking like for the airport.
6 airlines, up to 13 destinations & up to 47 weekly departures.
Aer Lingus Regional
Belfast City 7 weekly
KLM
Amsterdam 14 weekly
Loganair
Edinburgh 6 weekly (4 weekly in January and February)
Ryanair
Dublin 4 weekly
Tenerife 1 weekly
TUI
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Malaga 1 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Gran Canaria 1 weekly
Tenerife 3 weekly
Paphos 1 weekly (February, March & April)
Palma de Mallorca 1 weekly (April)
Enfidha 1 weekly (March & April)
Vueling
Alicante 3 weekly

 

[geoff]

It is disappointing to see Malaga at 1 flight a week. I thought FR might have stepped in with a couple of flights, when Vueling didn't put any on sale. I'm beginning to think that airlines believe Welsh passengers will willingly travel from other airports without complaint, even though Vueling had no scheduled competition on the route.

 

[Jerry]

Malaga is a massive disappointment. It should be a core route that can sustain all year round LCC flights. I think the challenge with having an airline that's not based is that if the base gets reduced or the airline decides it can make more money flying elsewhere then Cardiff suffers.

 

[Jerry]

Interesting article. Critises the Flybe deal.
First I've heard about the airport paying the airline aircraft leasing fees.
Also criticises BAMC.
And doesn't seem to like Ryanair!

What needs to happen to turn Cardiff Airport around

Former board member of the Welsh Government-owned airport Andrew Sargent says incentivising airlines to come can only be done off the back of a strong balance sheet

www.business-live.co.uk

 

[MJC73]

I get the feeling the idea of Severnside is still being mulled over. Would that even work? Llanwern is the only feasible middle ground isn't it?

 

[Jerry]

I get the feeling the idea of Severnside is still being mulled over. Would that even work? Llanwern is the only feasible middle ground isn't it?

Not ever going to happen. Also big chunks of that area is now housing.

 

[Barry Man]

Also the area will be prone to flooding by 2090 and the shore are definitely under water

 

[geoff]

Like you Jerry, I found the article by Andrew Sergeant interesting and quite revealing in particular regarding Fly BE. His opinion is that CWL should be charging businesses on the airport more, he thinks BA should be charged more, and more money should be made from the ancillary businesses such as car parking, and food and drink outlets. It was interesting to read that CWL should get into some kind of tie up with BRS, which he states is overcrowded and nearing capacity. I am sure the airport is already doing several what he has proposed to make it more profitable, but if CWL doesn't offer incentives to airlines, how are they going to attract them to CWL.

 

[Jerry]

and more money should be made from the ancillary businesses such as car parking, and food and drink outlets.

Which needs footfall and that doesn't happen if you're a niche airport like he seemed to suggest the airport should be. You need airlines like Ryanair to provide that footfall.