Cardiff Airport has posted it's first profits in 8 year's.
Based on Ebitda it posted in March 2018 a profit of £7000 compared to a loss of £800,000 the year before.
On the pre-tax measure though it's still £6.6 million in the red.
Revenue for the year was up £16.6 million to £17.9 million.
Revenue at the airport consists of £9.6 million in traffic income, £7.1 million in commercial income and £1.1 million in tenant income.
Of the £38 million loan £30 million had been drawn down on with a repayment period of 20 year's.
The number of inbound passengers grew from 24% to 30%.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/cardiff-airport-profit-first-time-15228561
 
EBITDA is really a way of assessing a company's operational performance and of comparing organisations within an industry. It ignores debt repayment, other borrowings and depreciation of assets. It's a bit like a family saying their annual income is sufficient to exist so long as their mortgage repayments and other debts are ignored. CWL is definitely moving in the right financial direction though; of that there can be little doubt.

I note the press report also mention APD devolution. Without going into the rights and wrongs of devolution again I did smile wryly when this old chestnut was rolled out.

"Bristol Airport has long-haul flight capacity issues which are not present in Cardiff, meaning that any potential expansion of Cardiff Airport into further long-haul flights could benefit the West country as well as Wales, without being detrimental to Bristol Airport.”

It's ingenuous if they really believe that. It ignores the fact that the BRS long haul charter programme as well as long haul through hubs such as AMS all attract long haul APD and would undoubtedly be adversely affected if a neighbouring airport could operate with this significant tax advantage.
 
"Bristol Airport has long-haul flight capacity issues which are not present in Cardiff, meaning that any potential expansion of Cardiff Airport into further long-haul flights could benefit the West country as well as Wales, without being detrimental to Bristol Airport.”

It's ingenuous if they really believe that. It ignores the fact that the BRS long haul charter programme as well as long haul through hubs such as AMS all attract long haul APD and would undoubtedly be adversely affected if a neighbouring airport could operate with this significant tax advantage.
I skipped that bit to be honest!
Though i believe APD should be devolved I suppose you have to ask what would it achieve.
Yes services like AMS would effectively get a tax break but would KLM shift capacity or add extra capacity in new frequencies or larger aircraft at the expense of BRS? I'm not sure that they would or that they actually can due to the restrictions of slots at AMS.
Direct long haul wise CWL already has Qatar so no doubt it would help that service especially in the quieter months as well.
I would be surprised if TUI shifted from BRS to CWL and with what seems to be more short haul flights going onto 787s would they have the capacity to add long haul at CWL in the summer. Maybe there would be more winter flights?
Thomas Cook don't really seem interested in anything but MAN when it comes to long haul.
Virgin Atlantic could be a possibility but that would be to Orlando no doubt.

I think if they are going to go down the route of benefiting the South West then it would have to be for services that BRS wouldn't be an option for ie a 767 to ATL or the West Coast of the US and possibly even Chicago or an A330 to PHL or JFK. And a direct route to China.

Personally though I'm starting to think Long haul APD is about Wales feeling that Wales is more equal to Scotland and N.Ireland as countries within the Union.
 
If more scheduled long haul flights were put on from CWL through APD being devolved it would lead to a small benefit for the West of England - I'm not sure how far it would ripple out to the wider South West England - but I have no doubt that the majority of passengers would continue to use LHR as they do now and did when when Continental had a Newark service from Bristol.

However, if BRS lost some short-haul services through airlines migrating routes to CWL then BRS and the Bristol region in particular (because it's the closest English area to CWL) would find itself at a net disadvantage.

I find it hard to believe that TUI would not move their summer long haul. Even taking into account that under 16s pay no APD I estimate at least a £15,000 take in APD money on each flight. TUI could switch to CWL, keep the fares as they are at BRS, and pocket an extra £15,000 per departure.

Ryanair flying to say Warsaw would be able to keep the £13 per person APD that they currently pay the government meaning around an extra £2,000 in their pocket on each outbound flight. If they could see that sort of additional money on every outbound flight they would have every reason to look at switching a lot of their capacity to the Welsh side of the estuary. TUI and TCX would be in a similar position. The possibilities might even tempt easyJet to take at least a look.

I'm not saying they would all move across en masse - there would not be room at CWL for one thing - but the financial benefits would generate some movement I am certain.

Even the hubs would find BRS less attractive if they had to shell out £78 per adult outbound passenger (£172 in premium classes) that they could retain if flying from CWL.

I'd be surprised if APD was devolved in this month's budget but once the Brexit outcome becomes clear or at least clearer I expect the Westminster government to take another look, especially as they are currently looking to mould an aviation strategy.

Another point I noted in the press report was the airport's expectation of reaching 3 mppa by 2025, instead of 2030 which they were suggesting only a few weeks ago. I'd have thought that 2025 was more realistic. If APD is devolved it might well arrive before that and then increase into the future.
 
I find it hard to believe that TUI would not move their summer long haul. Even taking into account that under 16s pay no APD I estimate at least a £15,000 take in APD money on each flight. TUI could switch to CWL, keep the fares as they are at BRS, and pocket an extra £15,000 per departure.
Assuming the passengers would follow them and not just look to Heathrow and Gatwick instead. Same with the Ryanair passengers as well.
Post Brexit it will be interesting to see what the UK government does with APD as both Scotland and Northern Ireland have it devolved and i doubt that could be taken back.
Without APD though the airport the airport is growing well and going in the right direction.
 
Apparently in the budget no APD will be devolved to Wales but there will be a consultation on devolving short haul APD to Northern Ireland.
 
In the current climate they should scrap it wholesale!
Earns them too much money.
If Northern Ireland does get short haul APD devolved then the situation will be that out of the 4 governments the Welsh government will be the only one that doesn't have the powers to adjust all forms of APD.
 
That's great news. Some larger airports don't even make money so it's a big achievement for the airport.
 
Earns them too much money.
If Northern Ireland does get short haul APD devolved then the situation will be that out of the 4 governments the Welsh government will be the only one that doesn't have the powers to adjust all forms of APD.

APD responsibility is a mess in the UK, brought about by the quasi federal system we have that excludes England. Some of the constituent countries were given the power partly for political reasons or to try to compete with a foreign country - see later in this post.

Scotland currently does have the power but has chosen not to use it because of the problem with the Highlands and Islands airports. Until the EU agrees to recognise new air departure tax (ADT), as APD has been renamed in Scotland, it cannot go ahead because the Highlands and Islands airports will lose their current dispensation (because of their sparse population) from levying APD, so Scotland continues under Westminster's APD for the time being.

Northern Ireland's APD dispensation relates to long haul only but talks will now proceed regarding short haul APD there.

England has no government of its own so comes under Westminster where MPs representing constituencies all across the UK have a say.

Wales is currently in the same position as England.

Scotland was given APD powers as part of a last-minute minute attempt to sway the electorate there from voting for independence, and long haul APD in Northern Ireland was reduced to try to compete with Dublin; specifically the BFS-EWR route which foundered anyway. Scotland wanted to abolish APD (ADT) but cannot afford to do so and is talking about a 50% reduction.

The Westminster short haul APD rate has been frozen at £13 (£26 for seats above the lowest on offer on an aircraft) since 2014 and continues at that rate, so in real terms it has fallen a bit. Long haul APD will remain at £78 next year (the same as this year) for the lowest class of travel. The higher rate though has been increased by about 10% to £172 next year.

I wonder if the chancellor is getting the message about APD and whether here will be an actual decrease in the next budget.

Good news for Wales is that the WG will get an extra £550 million from the Budget. I've never read any projected figures as to by how much devolution of and subsequent axing of APD in Wales would add to the Welsh economy.
 
On this coming Friday (16th November) Cardiff will have 2 long haul departures in one day.
The first departure will be TOM138 TUI to Bridgetown at 10.45 and the second will be QR322 Qatar Airways to Doha at 14.15.
Anyone know when was the last time CWL had 2 long haul departures in the same day not including business jet movements and not including the NATO event either?
 
Last edited:
On this coming Friday (16th November) Cardiff will have 2 long haul departures in one day.
The first departure will be TOM138 TUI to Bridgetown at 10.45 and the second will be QR322 Qatar Airways to Doha at 14.15.
Anyone know when was the last time CWL had 2 long haul departures in the same day not including business jet movements and not including the NATO event either?
I would think back when zoom were operating and there were also Orlando flights.
 
I would think back when zoom were operating and there were also Orlando flights.
I've been doing some research using the SWAG blog and the CAA stats and it looks like 2008 may have been the last time. CWL had a good long haul route network back then!
 
Im sure Monarch and Britania on ground at same time. Both Orlando flights.Would not like to guess year.
 
I've had a quick look through the CWL programmes for the past 25 years and in summer 1998, for example, BY572B (Britannia Airways) arrived at CWL from Orlando on Saturday mornings at 0520. AIH052 (Airtours) arrived from Orlando at 0610 on Saturdays. Both aircraft would have been Boeing 767s.
 
Summer 2019
As we coming into December i thought i'd make a list of the routes that will be operated from CWL their weekly departures frequency in August and the airlines operating them and whether they are up or down.
Note as Easterns flights for their routes aren't onsale for August i've used June's.
UK and Ireland
Anglesey 10 weekly Eastern Airways
Belfast City 11 weekly Flybe
Cork 2 weekly Flybe
Dublin 13 weekly Flybe
Edinburgh 17 weekly Flybe
Glasgow 5 weekly Flybe
Jersey 3 weekly Flybe
Newcastle 6 weekly Eastern Airways (the evening Monday to Thursday flights are down as full or not enough seats)
Bulgaria
Bourgas 3 weekly TUI and Balkan Holidays
Croatia
Dubrovnik 1 weekly TUI
Cyprus
Larnaca 2 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Paphos 2 weekly TUI
Egypt
Hurghada 1 weekly TUI
France
Paris 10 weekly Flybe
Germany
Munich 2 weekly Flybe
Greece
Corfu 2 weekly TUI
Heraklion 1 weekly TUI
Kefalonia 1 weekly TUI
Kos 2 weekly TUI
Rhodes 3 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Zante 4 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Italy
Milan 2 weekly Flybe
Naples 1 weekly TUI
Rome 2 weekly Flybe
Venice 2 weekly Flybe
Verona 2 weekly Flybe
Malta
Malta 2 weekly Ryanair
Netherlands
Amsterdam 20 weekly KLM
Portugal
Faro 7 weekly Flybe, TUI and Ryanair
Spain and Canary Islands
Alicante 8 weekly Vueling and TUI
Barcelona 2 weekly Ryanair
Gran Canaria 1 weekly TUI
Ibiza 5 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Lanzarote 2 weekly TUI
Malaga 7 weekly TUI and Vueling
Menorca 3 weekly TUI
Palma de Mallorca 13 weekly TUI, Thomas Cook and Vueling
Reus 2 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Tenerife South 5 weekly TUI, Thomas Cook and Ryanair
Tunisia
Enfidha 2 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Turkey
Antalya 2 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Dalaman 5 weekly TUI and Thomas Cook
Qatar
Doha 7 weekly Qatar Airways

That makes a total of 200 departures a week with 9 different airlines so far.
 
I've had a quick look through the CWL programmes for the past 25 years and in summer 1998, for example, BY572B (Britannia Airways) arrived at CWL from Orlando on Saturday mornings at 0520. AIH052 (Airtours) arrived from Orlando at 0610 on Saturdays. Both aircraft would have been Boeing 767s.

I think Airtours were using a leased Air New Zealand B742 for Orlando flights from CWL around that time.
 
I think Airtours were using a leased Air New Zealand B742 for Orlando flights from CWL around that time.
Thank for that NOSIGWX.

I seem to remember that in the early years of this century Air Atlanta Europe operated B747s to Florida (I think to Sanford) from CWL on behalf of the tour operator Travel City Direct.
 
Do you mean this one TLY?

View attachment 11518

This was seen at MAN in February 2006.
Many thanks for that, Seasider. I was never in a position to see any of the flights from CWL but I believe the Air Atlanta Europe aircraft were painted in the Travel City Direct colours, per the picture.
 

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