Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[mathers_wales_uk]

Anybody attending the ACC meeting tomorrow? Unfortunate I cannot make it.

 

[Jerry]

Unfortunately I'm not. I'm still in the US i head back tomorrow. Never been to the ACC meeting before, hoping maybe I can go next year depending on what day it is.

 

[Jerry]

Looks like Cardiff Aviation might be getting some major investment that should secure it's future and create new jobs. The Instrument Landing System at St Athan has also been cleared for use so that should provide them a big boost.As well as aircraft currently being worked on they are bidding on 14 more and have 8 Embraers lined up (be interesting to see which airline they are from).
Seems they might be heading in the right direction.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/iron-maidens-bruce-dickinson-lining-13978628

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Could be a good boost for Cardiff Airport and the area in 2020. The FAW have put in a late bid to UEFA to replace Brussels as a host city for the football European Championship 2020.
The Principality Stadium could end up hosting 1 group game which could involve Wales and a last 16 game.
The other contenders to replace Brussels, whose new stadium looks not likely to be built in time, are Wembley which is already hosting games and is the venue for the final and Stockholm. A decision is expected to be made by UEFA in December.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/wales-could-now-host-euro-13650995

UEFA has awarded the four group matches that Brussels would have staged to Wembley and not to Cardiff or Stockholm, meaning that Wembley will now house four group matches, the semi-finals and final.

 

[Jerry]

UEFA has awarded the four group matches that Brussels would have staged to Wembley and not to Cardiff or Stockholm, meaning that Wembley will now house four group matches, the semi-finals and final.

That is bitterly disappointing for Wales. I think after the success of the Champions League final and UEFA previously saying they were looking at taking the Euros in 2020 to the smaller associations there was hope they'd get the matches this time around.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.cityam.com/277547/four-worlds-eight-happiest-airports-uk-but-none-london

CWL is the world's seventh happiest airport.

 

[Jerry]

Bit of route advertisement in Wales Online for the airport. Sydney, Beirut and Tehran with Qatar Airways are given a plug along with Iberia (not Iberian as in the article) Express to Madrid and also Amsterdam with KLM and other routes by Flybe including Venice. I did notice that Dalaman was plugged for Thomas Cook and not Antalya the new route.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/busine...3109#ICID=Android_WalesOnlineNewsApp_AppShare

 

[Jerry]

News

22 DECEMBER
Cardiff Airport expects busiest Christmas in years
Wales’ national airport will welcome 30,000 customers this Christmas, 10% more than the same two week festive period last year. It’s expected to be Cardiff Airport’s busiest Christmas in seven years.

This exciting news rounds up what has been a very busy year for Wales’ national airport and a number of exciting announcements, including a new daily direct service to Doha, Qatar with Qatar Airways starting on 1st May 2018.

Other airline news in 2017 includes a new Flybe route to Venice starting on March 2018; Super Break charters to North Iceland, Seville, Madeira, Malta and Montenegro plus the return of flights to Hurghada, Egypt with TUI starting next winter.

As people travel home or choose to jet off in search of sunnier climes this Christmas, Cardiff Airport will remain open as usual with 400 flights expected. New routes operating this year include Flybe’s service to Rome and cruise flights with TUI to Montego Bay in Jamaica. Extra flights will operate to Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Belfast City and Jersey, while KLM has added 25% more seats to its daily flights to Amsterdam.

There’s good news for keen snow bunnies too, with flights to Geneva, Chambéry, Munich and Milan Malpensa, offering skiers and snowboarders access to the slopes.

Customers will be flying to and from these top fifteen most popular destinations this Christmas:

Amsterdam with KLM
Dublin with Flybe
Edinburgh with Flybe
Alicante with TUI and Vueling
Belfast with Flybe
Tenerife with TUI and Ryanair
Paris with Flybe
Malaga with TUI and Vueling
Glasgow with Flybe
Lanzarote with TUI
Gran Canaria with TUI
Berlin with Flybe
Munich with Flybe
Cork with Flybe
Milan with Flybe

Deb Barber, CEO of Cardiff Airport, said: “2017 has been a very busy year with lots of exciting announcements and developments in the terminal underway in preparation for an even busier 2018!

“The New Year will get off to a flying start with a Super Break trip to North Iceland in January, a Hurtigruten trip to Norway in March, and an exclusive Omega Holidays night flight in search of the Northern Lights on 16th March.

“Staff are really getting into the festive spirit this year too. We’ve donated many presents to local organisations, worn our Christmas jumpers to raise money for charity and welcomed many excited families on their way to Lapland.

“And even though it’s mild at the moment, in the event that temperatures drop we have plans in place to ensure we’re prepared and are able to keep disruptions to a minimum should cold weather cause problems.” Continued Deb.

“Passengers travelling to the Airport during the Christmas holidays are advised to allow plenty of time for their journey, and particular attention should be given to public transport services as there may be some restrictions to regular timetables over the period.

Those travelling with Christmas crackers should check with their airline before arriving at the Airport and customers are reminded not to travel with wrapped presents in hand luggage as they may need to be opened during the security process.”

Christmas getaway ideas

An Italian city break in Rome, depart Boxing Day and return Saturday 30th with Flybe.

US city breaks to New York, Boston or Chicago to see in the New Year on KLM.

Hit the slopes. Guarantee your white Christmas with a ski trip. Fly with Flybe to Chambery, Geneva, Munich or Milan.

Replenish your vitamin D in the winter sun. Fly with Ryanair to Tenerife twice weekly.

Escape the cold and head to Spain with Vueling, offering twice weekly flights to Malaga and Alicante

BACK TO NEWS
https://www.cardiff-airport.com/news/2017/12/22/cardiff-airport-expects-busiest-christmas-in-years/

 

[Jerry]

As i've been giving the weekend off by work unexpectedly i decided to head down to the airport earlier on today mainly to catch the TUI 787 for Barbados and i've already posted the results of that in the TUI thread.
Before that i went to Caffi Cwtch on the landside of the airport and had a very nice but very expensive all day breakfast. The view from Caffi Cwtch is below with the new small structure barely visible to the left by the road.
View attachment 7137
When i headed upstairs to the cafe and came back down again the passengers for the TUI Bridgetown flight were checking in, they were using the check in desks to the right of the main doors which when i last flew from the airport in November were closed off but are now open again and from my untrained eye nothing looks much different except maybe the desks look a bit newer though the queue of passengers did block the main entrance at times.
There does seem as well to be another small structure being built opposite the entrance to the short stay car park so it'll be interesting to see what that develops into, i'm wondering if it will be for the new car park drop off service.
I also had a look at the 2 new airbridges sat in Long stay 3 and took some photos. There is also another part beyond the far bridge which to me looks like some form of joint for 1 of them.
View attachment 7138
View attachment 7139

 

[Aviador]

Has the airport indicated when the new airbridges are likely to be installed and are they going to replace airbridges that are unused or will they be in addition to those already in use?

 

[Jerry]

Has the airport indicated when the new airbridges are likely to be installed and are they going to replace airbridges that are unused or will they be in addition to those already in use?

No date has been set for the works that I know of but I'd imagine that they would be installed during January or February weather permitting as they are the quietest months and I'd have thought they'd need to close the East pier to install them as well.
It is believed that they'll replace the bridges on stand 7 where the widebodies usually operate from and that bridge can't reach the second door on 787s and A330s and stand 9 which the bridge is broke. The one on 10 is perfectly usable for A320s A321s and 757s so I can't see it being replaced personally but i obviously i don't know for sure.

 

[Tinkerman]

As far as i understand they are to replace some existing whilst also providing a new one.

Their length is concerning though, and are considerably longer than the current ones at the airport so not sure at the moment whether it’s a simple installation or whether it requires more of an apron transformation.

 

[Jerry]

Concerning the length of them that must be for a reason. With the Qatar service will come a new type of passengers who may well expect to board straight from the main departure area like at the more bigger airports rather than having to trek along a pier. So i'm wondering if they could upgrade the gate, i believe it's Gate 1?, already in the departure lounge and then add the airbridge so it extends into the apron area of stands 1, 2 and 3 and convert that into 1 widebody stand, that way the passengers would be able to board straight from the departure area and the executive lounge and the aircraft will be next to cargo area and when it's parked for it's 4 hour turnaround somedays not in the way. Only problem i could see would be if an aircraft was parked on stand 7 if the 787 would be able to get round, stand 7 might have to be closed.

 

[Aviador]

I would imagine what the airport will want to do is to ensure Qatar Airways get's the facilities it wants for it's passengers. I guess the airport is quiet enough to allow the temporary closure of stand 7 if that is what's required to facilitate the use of the airbridge?

 

[Tinkerman]

It all sounds feasible in theory, although i'm not aware of any plans just yet - Although i'm sure they're more than afoot in the Operational Teams at CWL. I am quite concerned about the lack of announcements CWL are putting out there with regards to this, surely a few posts regarding acquiring new airbridges or the like and executive lounge upgrades for QR passengers are paramount to ensuring that firstly QR passengers wishing to book know they are not getting an inferior airport experience, whilst also generating positive PR in the public domain for CWL in general - it should be 'Oh look at us, we've got Qatar Airways coming and we are doing X and X to improve etc'.

 

[Aviador]

It all sounds feasible in theory, although i'm not aware of any plans just yet - Although i'm sure they're more than afoot in the Operational Teams at CWL. I am quite concerned about the lack of announcements CWL are putting out there with regards to this, surely a few posts regarding acquiring new airbridges or the like and executive lounge upgrades for QR passengers are paramount to ensuring that firstly QR passengers wishing to book know they are not getting an inferior airport experience, whilst also generating positive PR in the public domain for CWL in general - it should be 'Oh look at us, we've got Qatar Airways coming and we are doing X and X to improve etc'.

I agree, the airport should be far more vocal about the new facilities it is installing. Many regional airports don't have any airbridges so it's something Cardiff airport should be shouting about from the top of the roof. Walking across a windswept ramp to the terminal building is one of the most complained about subjects a regional airports. If Cardiff Airport can get the majority of the largest flights using airbridges that will be a sizeable number of passengers that will notice a huge difference later this year.

 

[Jerry]

I'd have thought that for the business passengers who will be key to the routes success that the lounge service and offerings would've been advertised by now especially if it will be a special service just for Qatar passengers.
As far as stands go losing 2 wouldn't be really that big of a blow for CWL as there is even in summer only usually about 8 aircraft that overnight and with the exception of big events i'd say mostly 4 on the ground at one time but having people board from the departure area rather than the pier would be a more positive experience in my opinion.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

There is a huge obstacle in operating the Qatar flights from gate 1 and that is the boarding area.

Gate 1 is arguably the worse gate to board from as there is no holding area and having up to 250 passengers queuing across the departures is far from idea.

Also means we would loose a stand as Stand 1 cannot be used in it's current location which would mean taking stand 3 out.

The two current new additions will likely replace airbridge 7 initially then airbridge 9.

I am not shocked that the airbridge announcement has not been forthcoming as it will likely to cause a stir from the anti Labour establishments who will ask where is this money coming from etc.

The executive lounge is getting further expanded I believe and the fallow area above Belts C & D is being opened up too.

The reason the check-in desks have been closed are due to the new security scanners being installed behind the baggage belts and probably the belt system being upgraded however I cannot confirm this.

Unfortunately it is likely that airbridge 7 will be replaced during the Six Nations meaning there will be capacity restraints

 

[Jerry]

There is a huge obstacle in operating the Qatar flights from gate 1 and that is the boarding area.

Gate 1 is arguably the worse gate to board from as there is no holding area and having up to 250 passengers queuing across the departures is far from idea.

The only thing i can think of there would be to build an extension outwards towards the apron to create a boarding area which i'd imagine would need to go on stilts because of the roadway i believe. Whether it would be possible to do before May or possible at all i wouldn't know.
It will be nice to see the new airbridges up and running!

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Currently Stand 1 can only accommodate up to A321/B737-800 aircraft. This cannot be moved to accommodate larger aircraft as it would block Stand 3 from being used.

Also a potential obstruction of extending the departure area over the roadway is height restriction to vehicles that service the aircraft. Also the support pillars required for said extension would either need to be located on the current roadway system or the passenger walkway that stretches from Stand 7 to the Domestic Arrivals past gate 1.

I would also suggest that this would be way outside the current budget.