The alternative to free movement of people then perhaps is to build a wall to keep the English out and the Welsh in?
The ease of crossing the border is a challenge but no one is suggesting a wall. Any Welsh government worth their salt isn't going to turn round and say f*** it, let it close and just say everyone should travel overland via England when trying to attract inbound investment and tourism. Its just not going to happen. They're going to want to invest in being able to have passengers get to and from Wales directly as much as possible rather than overland via England and create jobs at the site in other areas like MRO. Its literally part of their job to promote economic development in Wales and promote tourism into Wales and international tourism is highly prised because its worth more per head than domestic.
Yes I know, but the problems arise when BRS, which has a legitimate claim to South Wales as part of its catchment area, sees the Welsh Government trying to poach passengers by literally paying airlines. This is what could be construed as unfair subsidy and what is market distortion.
Except that the airlines that the Welsh government will want to attract don't serve Bristol. They've stated that route development money is for hubs. Bristol only has 2 hub airlines. KLM and Aer Lingus. It's struggled to attract and keep other hub airlines beyond that.
And the irony is that many of those other airports on the global stage are able to subsidise routes themselves in various ways and I've no doubt Bristol wouldn't complain if a route to it was subsidised.
It definitely will be interesting to see what the ruling will be. Even if they rule against the Welsh government i don't think it'll stop them supporting Cardiff. They'll just find another way.
I think there’s a bit of a leap in equating standard commercial incentives with a £205 million state subsidy. Bristol (and every other airport) definitely uses 'route development funds'—but those are usually short-term, private commercial discounts. This CWL package is unprecedented in UK aviation history (roughly £71 per passenger), which is why the Competition Appeal Tribunal is hearing the case this month.
The £71.50 figure isn't 'made up'—it’s a calculation based on the Welsh Government’s own documents submitted to the Tribunal.
And it would be completely different if the airport made it to 2 million passengers which is also a target and the £100 million is over a decade if it reached 1.4 million by 2029 only potentially 30 million could be available and Cardiff may not actually spend all the money either.
The data shows they aim for 1.4 million new passengers, not total.
I've not seen that figure quoted anywhere. That would be 2.3 million passengers a year which isn't going to be achieved by focusing on hubs. Idk where that figure has come from.
Because ironically the airport has refused to give them an upfront lump sum to return. Which shows that even being willing to subsidise doesn't guarantee airlines will come.
KLMs figures aren't paltry they're comparable with other airports of Cardiff size some like Teesside and Southampton have more weekly flights. Why KLM cut the overnight only they know. Hopefully it will return in the future.
I read somewhere that Qatar wanted 7 figures to restart the route. As I understand there’s still negotiations ongoing.
Indeed this is the problem, if Qatar want consistent ongoing support in the form of subsidy just to get to the table then it’s important to question the longevity of such routes and consequently the ROI of investing such vast sums of money.
The terminal is rated for 3 million passengers a year i believe.42 departures today, according to my estimates from FR.
Five tomorrow
Here's to more days with 42 departures. Looks like the airport can handle it.
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