Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[Jerry]

Looks like a clothing outlet has been added to one of the stalls after security

 

[bluebols]

Probably nothing in this but my company had an invite from Emirates to send a proposal for catering services, we are Cardiff based and have never received anything like this before . It is genuine as the Vendor Procurement offices name is correct and the e mail address stcks up . Fingers crossed . !!!!

 

[Jerry]

Probably nothing in this but my company had an invite from Emirates to send a proposal for catering services, we are Cardiff based and have never received anything like this before . It is genuine as the Vendor Procurement offices name is correct and the e mail address stcks up . Fingers crossed . !!!!

Interesting. Fingers crossed

 

[Jerry]

Bristol Airport have lodged its appeal over the Welsh government's latest investment in Cardiff Airport.

I do wonder if they've seen an opportunity to force the Welsh government to sell or close Cardiff Airport down.
https://www.catribunal.org.uk/cases...sCnr-5S23mEzwlYTXc_aem_5FPznrVrpfmZg_PWVLKsSQ

 

[geoff]

I think they must be getting nervous, over their own massive plans for expansion which are going to face opposition from several parties. They had difficulty in getting permission to increase the passenger numbers to 12 million, leave alone 15 million which they are now seeking. Losing one TUI based plane, and seeing CWL gain one must have hurt their ego. Their plans for expansion are going to take a considerable amount of time to become reality, maybe some years hence, which gives CWL the opportunity to establish new routes, and possibly steal their Welsh passengers currently using BRS back to CWL. They are also in the process of a major change of ownership, from the Ontario Teachers Fund to Macquairie Investment.

 

[Jerry]

I think they must be getting nervous, over their own massive plans for expansion which are going to face opposition from several parties

Whether Cardiff exists or not they're going to still have problems there.

Losing one TUI based plane, and seeing CWL gain one must have hurt their ego.

The problem there is that they may well be a victim of their own success. The arrival of Jet2 won't have helped and would've squeezed TUI and Cardiff has had a decent sized TUI operation for a while now.

Their plans for expansion are going to take a considerable amount of time to become reality, maybe some years hence, which gives CWL the opportunity to establish new routes, and possibly steal their Welsh passengers currently using BRS back to CWL.

Post 2013 Cardiff was able to grow again but that didn't stop Bristol growing either. As an airport it'll continue to grow hopefully alongside Cardiff.

 

[Barry Man]

Bit of back history from a person I presume in a good place to know this .

This is from :-
14th November 2020


In December and January the airport was in talks with jet2 about the Thomas Cook slots. A deal was agreed where jet2 ground agents would occupy their own ground handling as they do at all their bases . They had to strike a deal with Swissport as they are the main handling agents . February they were in formed direct by jet2 that Cardiff had been chosen over Bristol, due to less competition from easyJet and Ryanair . Told the the news would be released in September with flights going on sale in October for April 2021 onwards.


Due to the pandemic were told in June that the deal was unlikely and heard nothing until they announced that they were setting up base at Bristol.


Make up your own minds what might have accrued for this to happen , Money talks !.

 

[Jerry]

Bit of back history from a person I presume in a good place to know this .

This is from :-
14th November 2020


In December and January the airport was in talks with jet2 about the Thomas Cook slots. A deal was agreed where jet2 ground agents would occupy their own ground handling as they do at all their bases . They had to strike a deal with Swissport as they are the main handling agents . February they were in formed direct by jet2 that Cardiff had been chosen over Bristol, due to less competition from easyJet and Ryanair . Told the the news would be released in September with flights going on sale in October for April 2021 onwards.


Due to the pandemic were told in June that the deal was unlikely and heard nothing until they announced that they were setting up base at Bristol.


Make up your own minds what might have accrued for this to happen , Money talks !.

I'd hope that Jet2 were interested in Cardiff but I can't help being sceptical that it was just a ploy to get a better deal from Bristol.

 

[Tinkerman]

Bristol Airport have lodged its appeal over the Welsh government's latest investment in Cardiff Airport.

I do wonder if they've seen an opportunity to force the Welsh government to sell or close Cardiff Airport down.
catribunal.org.uk/cases/17401213…
View attachment 32662
View attachment 32663

This is going to be a long, drawn-out legal battle I fear. CWL can make use of the funds as they’ve already been awarded them from WG from April 2025, so I don’t personally see any initial impacts on the elements the subsidy was required for - The only sticking point will be if it rules in favour of BRS, then it will all need to be repaid.

You can understand it from both sides of the playing field, and depending which hat you put on dictates your immediate response.

 

[Jerry]

This is going to be a long, drawn-out legal battle I fear.

Yep i think so as well. It'll keep the lawyers busy for quite a long time.

then it will all need to be repaid.

Which could be a challenge but I'd expect that there'd be some way around it ie pay in installments etc

My concern is the "ailing and insolvent enterprise" part and whether the court would be able to rule that Cardiff is so and whether that potentially would close Cardiff down and whether getting Cardiff Airport closed down has become an objective of Bristol Airport management.
Because the Welsh Government has put a lot of money into Cardiff airport over the last 12 years and Bristol hasn't taken the government to court so what's changed now for them.

 

[geoff]

Perhaps they feel that CWL is on the way up, and they will soon be facing their own legal battle to spend their own £400 million improvement plans which may have considerable opposition.

 

[Jerry]

Perhaps they feel that CWL is on the way up, and they will soon be facing their own legal battle to spend their own £400 million improvement plans which may have considerable opposition.

There's no doubt CWL is starting to recover from the pandemic but it's not even got back to 2013 levels yet so I don't see what sort of threat CWL is to their business tbh or their future expansion.

 

[Tinkerman]

Personally, I see it as a level playing field thing for BRS. For a privately financed enterprise, seeing public funds pour into a competitor is never something you really want to see, picture it in any other setting. Your local Asda has been highly successful for years, and then a smaller convenience store is acquired by the council/LPA, and funded publicly - It’s never going to be something that isn’t contested.

From CWL’s and WG’s perspective, their aim is to keep the airport open and to grow it to make it more sustainable (i.e, investing in MRO etc, presumably to strengthen the balance sheet), whilst attracting new airlines and growing existing etc.

For once, I really can’t see how this is going to pan out and could go either way. CWL/WG (and their legal team) could probably be able to demonstrate that without state support, the airport would not be operating and therefore lays claim to all of their evidence put forward to the CMA around growing GVA, jobs etc locally. It’s really a difficult one, which is why I think this will be tied up for years.

For this year, the funds were already released to CWL in April 2025, so I would guess they have already made use of some of the funding made available, and could possibly continue to do so (Depending on WG Ministers risk appetite). However, for following years it’s difficult to see how the funds could be issued to CWL with ongoing legal proceedings. It really is quite a mess, and I suspect will get more messy before clarity prevails.

 

[Jerry]

Personally, I see it as a level playing field thing for BRS. For a privately financed enterprise, seeing public funds pour into a competitor is never something you really want to see, picture it in any other setting. Your local Asda has been highly successful for years, and then a smaller convenience store is acquired by the council/LPA, and funded publicly - It’s never going to be something that isn’t contested.

I can see the point made there but Cardiff has been publicly owned for 12 years and has had public money put into it for 12 years yet only now has Bristol put in a complaint and challenged it. Makes me wonder why now?

From CWL’s and WG’s perspective, their aim is to keep the airport open and to grow it to make it more sustainable (i.e, investing in MRO etc, presumably to strengthen the balance sheet), whilst attracting new airlines and growing existing etc.

That's the key part for the Welsh government. The site hosts a lot of jobs. I do wonder if BAMC weren't there whether that would change their decision making?

With airlines there is a stipulation that they can't be directly subsidised, I suspect that may well be there to counter any accusations that any money will be used to pay airlines.

However, for following years it’s difficult to see how the funds could be issued to CWL with ongoing legal proceedings. It really is quite a mess, and I suspect will get more messy before clarity prevails.

Well i suppose it depends on who leads the government after 2026 but I do potentially think any ruling could have a potential effect on other government owned airports in the UK as well of which there are quite a few big and small.

 

[Tinkerman]

I can see the point made there but Cardiff has been publicly owned for 12 years and has had public money put into it for 12 years yet only now has Bristol put in a complaint and challenged it. Makes me wonder why now?

That's the key part for the Welsh government. The site hosts a lot of jobs. I do wonder if BAMC weren't there whether that would change their decision making?

With airlines there is a stipulation that they can't be directly subsidised, I suspect that may well be there to counter any accusations that any money will be used to pay airlines.

Well i suppose it depends on who leads the government after 2026 but I do potentially think any ruling could have a potential effect on other government owned airports in the UK as well of which there are quite a few big and small.

Agreed Jerry. The only reason I can think of as to “why now” is that an airline has actively chosen CWL over BRS in recent weeks/months that we are yet to know about, or they’re desperately alarmed at the level of funding which is around £20m per annum - Which isn’t too dis-similar to what has been provided to date.

 

[Jerry]

Agreed Jerry. The only reason I can think of as to “why now” is that an airline has actively chosen CWL over BRS in recent weeks/months that we are yet to know about, or they’re desperately alarmed at the level of funding which is around £20m per annum - Which isn’t too dis-similar to what has been provided to date.

But both has happened before though. You could argue every flight and airline operating into Cardiff could've potentially been 'pinched' from Bristol especially when it comes to Ryanair and TUI and funding has been continually provided over the years so nothing has much changed accept maybe Cardiff is looking to focus more on the non passenger side of the business.

 

[Barry Man]

The hearing is on 9th February 2026 ,scheduled to last 2 days from the documents filed .

 

[Jerry]

The hearing is on 9th February 2026 ,scheduled to last 2 days from the documents filed .

And the Welsh government have until 26/9/25 to file it's defence and evidence which will be interesting to see if it's publicly available.

 

[Jerry]

How long now has the Holiday Inn been closed as an airport hotel? Did it reopen after Covid?

 

[Samdorob]

How long now has the Holiday Inn been closed as an airport hotel? Did it reopen after Covid?

It was used to house homeless during the pandemic. As with everywhere the housing market went crazy. I know of a few people who were sent there in the years afterwards. Since then it’s not reopened to the public and I’m not sure if there is a plan to do so. I guess it will once the council contracts dry up. I believe they offer airport parking as an alternative to parking in the official CWL car parks.