Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[geoff]

Blue Islands have published their routes and timetable for Summer 2021, nothing for CWL I'm afraid, the run of bad luck continues.

 

[Nigel B]

I know these are terrible times for the airlines and starting up one is not a viable option at the moment ,but would love a Welsh airline to
give it a go sometime in the future.
Core routes like EDI,CDG,DUB,BHD and JER, would surely prosper with the right aircraft and timings.
Just a thought..

 

[Jerry]

Blue Islands have published their routes and timetable for Summer 2021, nothing for CWL I'm afraid, the run of bad luck continues.

I suspect it's a case of for southern Wales see Bristol.

I know these are terrible times for the airlines and starting up one is not a viable option at the moment ,but would love a Welsh airline to
give it a go sometime in the future.
Core routes like EDI,CDG,DUB,BHD and JER, would surely prosper with the right aircraft and timings.
Just a thought..

Personally I suspect eventually that they might have to do another sort of Flybe deal with an airline to bring those routes back. I suspect Eastern is probably their only hope with that.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Cardiff Airport 'needs true low cost airline' to compete

Cardiff Airport needs to attract a budget airline to compete with Bristol Airport, an expert claims.

www.bbc.co.uk

Talk about stating the obvious.

Apart from a longer runway I don't know what is meant by CWL having better infrastructure than BRS. Getting on for £400 million at today's values has been spent on expanding the BRS infrastructure over the past 25 years.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

If Welsh Government were to do another Flybe like deal then now isn’t the time in my personal opinion.

COVID-19 caused reduced demand not just for business travel but for business travel too. Once confidence returns in the industry then that will be the time for a similar style deal to Flybe in my opinion.

As for infrastructure then I agree the only thing is the length of the runway. The ILS is lower grade on one of the directions, terminal is far smaller with insufficient number of check-in desks fo significant growth.

similar can be said for boarding gates & parking stands. There is a huge amount of scope within the airfield boundary. There are opportunities to be had at the airfield.

 

[Jerry]

Cardiff Airport 'needs true low cost airline' to compete

Cardiff Airport needs to attract a budget airline to compete with Bristol Airport, an expert claims.

www.bbc.co.uk

Talk about stating the obvious.

Apart from a longer runway I don't know what is meant by CWL having better infrastructure than BRS. Getting on for £400 million at today's values has been spent on expanding the BRS infrastructure over the past 25 years.

You notice that these commentators never ask why there's no based LCC at Cardiff Airport.

 

[superking]

Rather than getting a airline to base aircraft,in these uncertain times with covid 19 still rampunt it would be better to use aircraft from other destinationsthey would fly to as to set a base up costs a lot of money at even 1 aircraft. Vueling have got it right and if we could see yeild then it must be good enough with out the cost of a base set up.Ryanair doing the same,and with both airlines doing the same i would think where these aircraft are based they can earn a lot more money.In the case of CWL getting a airline to base and because of costs lose the airline as loss making route. So to sum it up. It would be better to use aircraft based else where and keep the route operating than base a aircraft and lose the service.

 

[Jerry]

It would be better to use aircraft based else where and keep the route operating than base a aircraft and lose the service.

Unfortunately when it comes to CWL that will never be good enough, not only does it negate some routes but people see Cardiff as a major airport and believe major airlines should be based there. And won't understand why there's not one based.

 

[superking]

CWL like BRS suffers from LHR being easy to get to which does make life diffacult for both airports.To a smaller degree north wales has MAN very close and in between BHX.For the United Kingdom as a island is not big enough to have all these airports,and with covid 19 makes the situation a lot worse.I would love to see CWL do a lot better than they are but its a cruel world. There is always some one out there to under cut to get airlines to use their airport at any cost,bit like road transport all undercut each other and no winners. This is why we have seen so many airlines shut that has been there for many years.CWL on that one has been very unlucky that they lost airlines through this.This is why i like to see airlines operate a service intoCWL and keep the service than base a aircraft and lose it.At least with non based aircraft there is still funds going CWL way.

 

[Jerry]

CWL like BRS suffers from LHR being easy to get to which does make life diffacult for both airports.

Heathrow only really effects Cardiff long haul wise, the reality is that its Bristol and more specifically Easyjet that effect Cardiff and the WG and airport have no real way of levelling the playing field even slightly against BRS, things might be different if Wales was an independent country as it would have control of taxes like APD and other powers that it could use but it's not and Westminster aren't really bothered about making a success of Cardiff Airport why would they?
All the airport can do is to try and lobby Ryanair to open a base. Personally I think an operation like they have at Bournemouth would suit Cardiff but obviously Ryanair don't think so!

 

[Jerry]

Cardiff Airport 'needs true low cost airline' to compete

Cardiff Airport needs to attract a budget airline to compete with Bristol Airport, an expert claims.

www.bbc.co.uk

Talk about stating the obvious.

Apart from a longer runway I don't know what is meant by CWL having better infrastructure than BRS. Getting on for £400 million at today's values has been spent on expanding the BRS infrastructure over the past 25 years.

Being discussed on BBC radio Wales now. Mostly usual comments about how great Bristol is and apparently a coach can do Bridgend to Bristol in 25 minutes but not Bridgend to Cardiff?? I didn't get to hear what Spencer Birns said.

 

[Nigel B]

Bridgend to Bristol in 25 minutes by coach, be lucky to do it in an hour !

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bridgend to Bristol in 25 minutes by coach, be lucky to do it in an hour !

Very lucky to do it by car in an hour. Perhaps at 4 in the morning if you are flexible with speed limits.

AA Route Planner says it's 64 miles from Bridgend to Bristol Airport with an estimated journey time of one hour 21 minutes.

 

[Jerry]

Takes me just over an hour to do it from Cardiff!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CWL like BRS suffers from LHR being easy to get to which does make life diffacult for both airports.

Greater Bristol is really 'just up the road' when it comes to long-haul from Heathrow although people from the BRS catchment do use LHR for short-haul as well, even on routes offered from BRS where perhaps frequency or timings are lacking.

Greater Cardiff is further than Greater Bristol from LHR so CWL might not be affected by that major airport quite to the same degree as its Severnside neighbour. That was what the Qatar CEO believed when he set out a number of reasons for his airline choosing CWL.

Even though an airport of CWL's size (or BRS's) is never likely to have a significant scheduled long-haul network (BRS recognised its own scheduled long-haul market limitations in its 2006 master plan which is still in place), CWL's greater distance from LHR and its longer runway ought to give it an edge when it comes to scheduled long-haul* although, somewhat perversely given their predilection for LHR long-haul, West Country travellers would need to support CWL scheduled long-haul to assist with its viability.

That thought crossed my mind when the Qatar CEO said that he was concerned that West Country travellers would not use a BRS-DOH service in required numbers because of LHR, yet he thought that a sufficient number of them would use a CWL-DOH service and included much of South West England in his CWL catchment of six million people.

* at the moment the world situation means that many long-haul routes are being cut back or abandoned including some into the UK. Airport owners and managements have to look beyond that to a time when the industry is in full recovery mode, so I'm not suggesting that scheduled long-haul is imminent at CWL but a small number of such routes could be realistic in years to come, especially with the backing of the Welsh Government if state aid rules are relaxed after the Uk leaves the EU

 

[Jerry]

Passengers returning to Wales from Crete, Zakynthos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos and Portugal will have to quarantine for 14 days upon return.

Coronavirus in Wales: Portugal, Greek islands put on quarantine list

People arriving in Wales from Portugal and six Greek islands must self-isolate from Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Jerry]

Passengers returning to Wales from Crete, Zakynthos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos and Portugal will have to quarantine for 14 days upon return. This includes whether you arrive via Wales or England.

Coronavirus in Wales: Portugal, Greek islands put on quarantine list

People arriving in Wales from Portugal and six Greek islands must self-isolate from Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Passengers returning to Wales from Crete, Zakynthos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos and Portugal will have to quarantine for 14 days upon return. This includes whether you arrive via Wales or England.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales...tom7&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=bbc_wales_news

Coronavirus: UK split over Portugal quarantine rules

New travel restrictions sow confusion as Wales and Scotland differ from England and Northern Ireland.

www.bbc.co.uk

Quote from the linked BBC report.

England and Northern Ireland: No further additions - latest lists can be found here

Wales: Quarantine for travellers from mainland Portugal, Gibraltar, French Polynesia and six Greek islands - Crete, Mykonos, Zakynthos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos.

Scotland: Quarantine for people returning from Greece, with Portugal and French Polynesia now added

Further quote from the linked BBC report.

But discrepancies between different UK nations makes it even harder as someone could, theoretically, fly into Newcastle from Greece and drive into Scotland. That person should self-isolate for 14 days, but no-one will be checking.

The same would apply to anyone returning to Wales from Portugal, say via Bristol Airport, which, if the BBC report is correct, means that no-one in Wales will be checking if a Welsh resident decides not to self-isolate.

 

[Jerry]

The same would apply to anyone returning to Wales from Portugal, say via Bristol Airport, which, if the BBC report is correct, means that no-one in Wales will be checking if a Welsh resident decides not to self-isolate.

Unless Public Health Wales are able to trace them? I don't know if they would have that ability ie be able to get hold of incoming passenger details from border force?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Unless Public Health Wales are able to trace them? I don't know if they would have that ability ie be able to get hold of incoming passenger details from border force?

As far as the English Trace System is concerned, from what I read it's a bit of a farce anyway. For those who want to avoid self-isolation it seems pretty easy to do so. The biggest obstacle to such people appears to be neighbours or others 'dobbing them in'.

The tracers aren't the police with powers, training and a mindset to go after wrongdoers.