Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[Jerry]

A rumour doing the rounds that there is to be a major CWL announcement tomorrow. easyJet announces the first part of its summer 2017 schedule tomorrow I believe.

A previous major announcement turned out to be a huge Flybe marketing initiative around Cardiff and its region giving away free flights etc.

Worthy as that was it's to be hoped that if there is an announcement tomorrow something more tangible is involved.

I've heard about this could be a new route or maybe an airline basing? Guess we'll find out tomorrow! Lets hope it's good!

 

[Aviador]

I've heard about this could be a new route or maybe an airline basing? Guess we'll find out tomorrow! Lets hope it's good!

So did anything come of this?

 

[Jerry]

So did anything come of this?

Yes they announced 2 flights a week to Rome FCO for S17 and the S17 schedule until August for Flybe and Cardiff Airport on twitter said this was only phase 1 as GLA is missing and no one knows what's happening with LCY and there are strong rumours of a based Q400 but we probably won't find out until the end of October.

 

[Jerry]

British Airways will be cutting 66 jobs at it's maintenance facility based in Cardiff. 700 people are employed there and the cuts will be voluntary.

www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/british-airways-looking-cut-66-12012778

 

[superking]

British Airways will be cutting 66 jobs at it's maintenance facility based in Cardiff. 700 people are employed there and the cuts will be voluntary.

www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/british-airways-looking-cut-66-12012778

lets hope they transfer some back to heathrow I have a nephew work at lhr on the 747 side doing maintenance,and they keep asking engineers to transfer to cdf but they wont do that.with that not happening lhr been doing a lot more heavy checks.with ppl loosing their jobs is always sad and hope they do find jobs.

 

[superking]

British Airways will be cutting 66 jobs at it's maintenance facility based in Cardiff. 700 people are employed there and the cuts will be voluntary.

www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/british-airways-looking-cut-66-12012778

lets hope they transfer some back to heathrow I have a nephew work at lhr on the 747 side doing maintenance,and they keep asking engineers to transfer to cdf but they wont do that.with that not happening lhr been doing a lot more heavy checks.with ppl loosing their jobs is always sad and hope they do find jobs.

 

[Jerry]

lets hope they transfer some back to heathrow I have a nephew work at lhr on the 747 side doing maintenance,and they keep asking engineers to transfer to cdf but they wont do that.with that not happening lhr been doing a lot more heavy checks.with ppl loosing their jobs is always sad and hope they do find jobs.

Yeah it is but many of them are highly skilled so they could have opportunities elsewhere and the article does say that they are looking for volunteers so hopefully some will be people taking early retirement or people who were thinking of moving on anyway.

 

[CraigW92]

New Route: Iberia Express- MADRID

Thursday and Sunday flight times

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/you-can-now-fly-direct-12075536

https://www.cardiff-airport.com/news/2016/10/25/iberia-express-announces-service-to-spanish-capital/

 

[Aviador]

New Route: Iberia Express- MADRID

Thursday and Sunday flight times

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/you-can-now-fly-direct-12075536

https://www.cardiff-airport.com/news/2016/10/25/iberia-express-announces-service-to-spanish-capital/

Wow! That's a biggie.

The International Airline Group seem to have an excellent working relationship with Cardiff airport.

 

[CraigW92]

Wow! That's a biggie.

The International Airline Group seem to have an excellent working relationship with Cardiff airport.

It seemingly does, the success of VY will have been a key in attracting this, It has been said that VY and the Cardiff management have had a good understanding together whilst building that particular network from scratch, Success encourages success

Perfect fit for the route in my view which will hopefully be able to grow in the coming years, another new airline and step by step the airport is on the right track.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Now there is a dedicated thread for Iberia Express in the CWL forum I've posted there. Can further comments about this airline also be posted there please.

As to CWL in general, the chairman has given an interesting interview to the local press, see below link:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/cardiff-airport-confident-more-doubling-12073582

In summary he makes the case for many new routes including long haul to the USA and ME. He believes that 3 mppa will be achieved in the next decade. That seems modest to me - I would have thought he'd be hoping this would come in the next 5-7 years.

A new multi-million pound terminal would be required to service more than 3 mppa and the chairman believes that might then prompt the WAG to look for a private sector partner although it seems the WAG has decided to retain a controlling interest going beyond that time.

He returns again to the vexed question of APD devolution and asserts that he has had 'face to face meetings with some of the world's leading aviation brands' and that they would come to CWL if APD was abolished. I suppose that would hold true with many airports.

The newspaper business editor, Sion Barry, contributes his own summary - he is normally a huge supporter of CWL - and in general is enthusiastic about the airport's future prospects.

Incidentally, Mr Barry again says that CWL's record year was 2007 when the airport handled 2.3 million passengers. I don't know where he gets this figure from but it's not the first time he's used it. 2007 is the record year but the airport handled 2,093,507 terminal passengers (1,125,824 scheduled and 967,683 charter). Even if transit passengers were included, not normally part of the calculation when airport passenger figures are mentioned, there were only 17,641 of these in 2007 (13,448 scheduled and 4,193 charter).

 

[Jerry]

In summary he makes the case for many new routes including long haul to the USA and ME. He believes that 3 mppa will be achieved in the next decade. That seems modest to me - I would have thought he'd be hoping this would come in the next 5-7 years.

Yes it seems a good interview and I think Roger Lewis is just putting out a conservative time frame just so he and the airport team aren't under pressure to deliver 3 mppa in a shorter period.
Also as regards to long haul Florida was mentioned as a potential target to get a scheduled airline on and in the UK there is only 3 airlines who could be contenders for that. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian.

He returns again to the vexed question of APD devolution and asserts that he has had 'face to face meetings with some of the world's leading aviation brands' and that they would come to CWL if APD was abolished. I suppose that would hold true with many airports.

He does keep mentioning APD! I wonder if there could be the possibility of Long haul APD be devolved as part of some political sweetener to do with Brexit? As no one really knows whats going to happen especially to all the EU funding Wales gets so there is bound to negotiations with the UK government over that and Long haul APD could be part of any potential post Brexit package/deal for Wales as it wouldn't have much effect on the treasury coffers but would be a big boost for CWL and the jobs and economy linked to it.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Devolution of APD to Wales shouldn't have any effect on the Westminster Treasury because a sum equal to the amount that APD would bring in would be deducted from the WAG's grant from Westminster.

There would be opposition from some West Country Conservative MPs, not least Liam Fox who is one of the leading members of the Brexit negotiations team, and the government might not want to further destabilise their party after the fuss today from Mr Goldsmith and opposition to the LHR proposals from the Foreign Secretary no less.

 

[Jerry]

There would be opposition from some West Country Conservative MPs, not least Liam Fox who is one of the leading members of the Brexit negotiations team, and the government might not want to further destabilise their party after the fuss today from Mr Goldsmith and opposition to the LHR proposals from the Foreign Secretary no less

There is that to take into account but Theresa May will have to deal with the devolved nations over Brexit and no doubt the devolved governments will try and get something out of her and for Wales that could be Long haul APD. Guess only time will tell!

 

[marsh.ger]

There is one exception to this rule and that is Aer Lingus which will end this month. Of course there are assumptions that they will codeshare on the Flybe flights from Cardiff however they are still not bookable as yet despite showing in the system.

 

[Jerry]

The Aer Lingus Dublin codeshares are bookable but only through sites like Skyscanner and Expedia. The irony with Aer Lingus dropping the DUB flights is that Flybe were originally going to drop their morning DUB rotation and then reinstated it because of Aer Lingus's decision.
Also that codeshare agreement includes SOU, EXT and DSA.

 

[Jerry]

Been looking through the airport winter schedule and noticed a flight to Pajala Sweden on the 22nd December operator Newmarket Holidays, a flight to Enontekio Finland 17th December operator Transun and Ivalo Finland 8th December operator Hotelplan. I'm guessing these are Lapland charter flights?

 

[CraigW92]

Been looking through the airport winter schedule and noticed a flight to Pajala Sweden on the 22nd December operator Newmarket Holidays, a flight to Enontekio Finland 17th December operator Transun and Ivalo Finland 8th December operator Hotelplan. I'm guessing these are Lapland charter flights?

Indeed

Hotelplan/ Santas Lapland

8th December
A320 S50891 CWL 07:00 - IVL 12:30

10th December
A320 S50892 IVL 12:30 - CWL 14:00

Transun

17th December
07:45 CWL - ENF- ENT3921 737-400

17th December
22:15 ENF - CWL- ENT3922 737-400

Newmarket

22nd December

07:00 CWL - PJA- ENT613 737-400

19:00 PJA - CWL- ENT614 737-400

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CWL airport company chairman's first year in office

I don't think this has been mentioned before on Forums4Airports. A press release was issued by CWL a few weeks ago setting out the progress made by the airport during the first year in office of the airport company's chairman (Roger Lewis), together with a look to the future.

It's an interesting read and paints an extremely positive picture.

https://www.cardiff-airport.com/news/2016/10/25/the-first-year/

The First Year
Roger Lewis marks his 1st anniversary in post as Chairman of Cardiff Airport on November 1st 2016, having been appointed in March 2015 by the Welsh Government. He has taken this opportunity to reflect upon the activity at Cardiff Airport over the past twelve months and to report to the Airport's stakeholders on what has been achieved so far and what is planned for the future.

Lewis reports as follows:

"First and foremost, on behalf of the Board of Cardiff Airport, I would like to thank and congratulate Debra Barber, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, for the outstanding job she is doing in building a strong company so adeptly. Along with her fellow Executive Directors, Spencer Birns and Huw Lewis and alongside all of the Airport team, they have together worked tirelessly to deliver an outstanding and successful year.

Cardiff Airport, in conjunction with our airline partners, is now better positioned to serve our passengers, with more destinations, at better prices and at better times.

Our goal is to be an outstanding Capital City Airport of which Wales can be proud.

Cardiff Airport can play a significant role in the aviation industry, both locally and nationally, and it is without doubt a strategic asset for Wales, already assisting in driving our nation’s economic growth. The Airport can play its part in the London airport debate as over one million passengers a year travel down the M4 to fly long haul. It is our ambition to help ease London airport congestion by achieving long haul flights from Cardiff. The abolition of Air Passenger Duty will help us to deliver on this.

For Cardiff Airport to achieve its full potential, we need a unity of purpose across the various political and business agendas and to align our respective strategies both in Wales and the UK, and I will continue to do all I can to take this forward.

A significant hurdle we have to overcome is Air Passenger Duty. £26 paid from every domestic return flight goes to the UK Treasury and I will continue to call upon the UK Government to abolish this punitive tax which is holding back our growth. Air Passenger Duty has been devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is time for Air Passenger Duty to be devolved to Wales. The considerable economic benefit and increased employment and prosperity such a move will make, will come at a very modest cost.

We have much more to do to create long term sustainability for our enterprise, however, I am confident that we can deliver an Airport in Cardiff which is loved by its passengers, is welcomed by its partners, is profitable and recognised by all as being committed to delivering an exceptional service."

Lewis highlights:

The Current Performance - 2016

"Before looking to the future it is important to recognise and highlight the success achieved over the past 12 months. There have been significant developments both in terms of passenger growth and connectivity but also improvements to our passengers enjoyment of flying from Cardiff.”

• We have achieved 22% year on year passenger growth achieving 1.35million passengers
• We have delivered sixteen consecutive months of growth
• One in four of our passengers are visitors to Wales
• We have launched 3 new routes to Verona, Berlin and London with Flybe
• We now connect Cardiff to 8 capital cities (London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast, Paris, Rome, Berlin and Amsterdam)
• We successfully trialled London City flights resulting in a continued service with Flybe from November 1st
• Vueling has increased its business by 50% over the past 12 months
• We announced a Rome service with Flybe for Summer 2017
• We announced a Faro service with Ryanair for Summer 2017
• The terminal has undergone a major transformation – including a brand new walk through tax and duty free store, and we have launched Caffe Ritazza and The Beer House bar and restaurant.

Lewis continues on priorities for the coming 5 plus years.

2017 and beyond

• Continuing our growth in passenger numbers
• Enhancing the passenger experience
• Supporting our existing partners
• Investing in our people
• Offering more destinations, at competitive prices with greater frequency
• Understanding the needs of our passengers better
• Using digital technology to transform our business
• Exploring all the opportunities which the Airport can offer its partners, including Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), fuel, freight and aviation related training
• Reviewing with Government, Air Passenger Duty and its impact on our growth
• Working with new partners for certain aspects of the enterprise
• Growing all of our revenues whilst maintaining tight control of our costs
• Building value in the Airport
• Adding a new independent non-executive director to the Board with significant commercial aviation and airport experience, complimenting and enhancing the current Board's strengths.

Lewis concludes: "In addition to currently carrying over 1.35 million passengers in and out of Wales over the last 12 months, the wider economic importance of Cardiff Airport to Wales is significant.”

The Importance of Cardiff Airport

• Cardiff Airport now directly employs over 250 people
• The Airport supports over 1,750 aviation related jobs and over 2,625 total direct and indirect jobs
• The overall GVA impact to the local economy is £102million
• 1 in 4 of our passengers are visitors to Wales, of which international visitors using Cardiff Airport contributed an estimated £55million to the Welsh economy
• The Wales major events strategy with future high profile events already planned such as UEFA Champions League Final 2017 makes the role of the Airport critical for the international brand reputation of Wales
• The Airport can facilitate the travel for the 27,000 international students currently attending the eight tertiary educational establishments in Wales
• The Airport is part of the Wales integrated transport strategy, and enhanced access to the Airport by road and inclusion in the Metro scheme is already underway
• Cardiff Airport will play a closer role in support of the Cardiff Capital Region and the Enterprise Zone strategies
• Six of the world’s top ten aerospace and defence companies operate in Wales. Over 20% of the UK’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) is carried out within 20miles of Cardiff Airport
• The Cardiff Airport & St Athan Enterprise Zone presents a number of key development opportunities including the new Aston Martin centre of Excellence.

“As a Board, we continue to discuss how we enhance and develop our strategies for growth and sustainability, to identify our priorities, agree our objectives, and set clear goals and metrics for success. At the heart of our debate is the wellbeing of our passengers, our staff and our partners in terms of security and safety.

We are determined to build a dynamic gateway between Wales and the world for people and business, and to create a welcoming entrance fit for our nation. This is an ambition I believe we all share. Working with our partners across Wales, the UK and the world, we will succeed.

I sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to this outstanding year for Cardiff Airport and in particular thank our passengers for making the past 12 months so memorable."

 

[Jerry]

Hopefully he'll have another successful year in charge!