CAA Provisional Statistics Update

[Jerry]

Being owned by the Welsh Government puts CWL in a stronger position than many smaller regional airports because post-Brexit it’s likely that EU state aid rules will no longer apply in the UK and the WG would then have more scope for subsidising routes. Listening to WG committees in recent months there seems broad cross party support for the idea that Wales must have its own airport. Although the main opposition parties will still niggle saying that either not enough is being done or too much is being done, whichever suits them politically at the time, they all seem to recognise the necessity and value to the country of an important airport based in and serving Wales.

The problem i see for CWL in the future may well be justifying more loans or an extension of the loan facility. It does have it detractors and some feel that it'll never give value for money back to the taxpayer and will never make a profit so should be sold back to the private sector and if a private owner closes it then so be it. I generally don't see that happening as i don't think even a Tory WG would let it happen and a Labour or Plaid wouldn't sell it anyway. I do see CWL recovering in the long term but i do think that the 2 million passenger mark may not be acheived if at all for quite a long time.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Any further investment and loans from the WAG should be to build freight and supporting infrastructure. Passenger services will gradually resume but numbers will remain low and with BRS still attracting most passengers services it’s about time CWL refocused on covering areas of aviation that the South West and Wales don’t cover well.

 

[Jerry]

CWL refocused on covering areas of aviation that the South West and Wales don’t cover well.

Like what? It has ME3 long haul and the Caribbean cruise long haul not sure what else can be covered.
As for the loans they would have to put a business case forward for anything extra.
Cargo wise without operators what can they do? Build a new cargo facility? But if it's not used what's the point of that?

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

The airport has been and needs to continue to diversify itself. Looking at ways it can make money outside of passenger traffic.

they have done a lot so far but more needs to be done.

South Wales Fire & Rescue Service have training facilities near the training rig for confined spaces training.

Highways Agency also uses Golf occasionally for training.

I’m not sure what cargo facilities have improved at Cardiff Airport and if they are currently adequate. Has the current operators got approval for handling dangerous goods? If not then that could be another avenue.

maybe investment in a cargo centre is exactly what’s required however to really entice a cargo operator you need swift access from the cargo area to the ramp where maybe suitable to hold several aircraft at once. Said area May also mean these will be parked throughout the day would there be Sufficient space for passenger traffic. Does more tarmac need to issues.

On a professional Cardiff Airport has brought in Global Trek Aviation which has been a positive for the airport enticing additional new traffic to the airfield. This is a long term project however since May last year the amount of additional traffic generated for Cardiff Airport has been quite significant and maybe a bit slow after we return from COVID-19 but there is certainly much more to come from us as we become more established.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

I can’t help but think these extra services are just subsidising the passenger operation though, which should be able to operate profitably in its own right.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Cargo can help a mainly passenger airport to tick over. Look at Doncaster-Sheffield at the moment.

As far as Severnside is concerned CWL has it pretty well all to itself when it comes to cargo. The BRS management has made it clear that cargo is not on its agenda - albeit a very small amount does travel in passenger aircraft - and in any case the location within the Green Belt would make it extremely difficult to build significant cargo facilities.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Like what? It has ME3 long haul and the Caribbean cruise long haul not sure what else can be covered.
As for the loans they would have to put a business case forward for anything extra.
Cargo wise without operators what can they do? Build a new cargo facility? But if it's not used what's the point of that?

I was referring to freight. The WAG has the ability to finance inward investment, it has attracted major companies to Wales, who is to say it cannot attract an operator? The airport needs to find other ways to survive.

 

[Jerry]

These are the CAA stats for Cardiff from April to June 2020.
April
0 passengers (126,274 in 2019), rolling year is 1,453,000 passengers down 9.5% on 2019. No freight stats.
May
72 passengers (176,704 in 2019), rolling year is 1,276,000 passengers down 21% on 2019. 72 tonnes of freight.
June
194 passengers (193,097 in 2019), rolling year is 1,084,000 passengers down 33% on 2019. No freight stats.

During the same period in 2019 Cardiff saw 496,075 passengers use the airport. In 2020 it saw just 266.

 

[Seasider]

The same situation at every other airport. (Sorry for stating the obvious).

 

[geoff]

I makes very sad reading, but that's reality at the moment, we can only hope for better times.

 

[Jerry]

With the airport reopening in July it'll be curious to see how many used Ryanair.

 

[Jerry]

CAA Stats July 2020
3506 passengers used the airport in July down 98% on 2019. The rolling year was 879,000 down 46.5% on 2019.
Domestic
Humberside 70
Leeds Bradford 67
Liverpool 68
Teesside 66
European
Faro 818 -88%
Alicante 366 -97%
Barcelona 428 -87%
Malaga 1623 -89%

 

[IanFarquharson]

August = 15,443 pax

 

[Jerry]

CAA Stats August 2020
15,339 passengers used the airport down 92.9% on 2019. Rolling year 677,997 down 59.2% on 2019.

Corfu 1116 -61%
Kos 2150 -29%
Rhodes 1804 -62%
Zakinthos 1202 -82%
Amsterdam 1503 -89%
Faro 1176 -85%
Alicante 637 -95%
Barcelona 349 -89%
Malaga 1348 -91%
Palma de Mallorca 344 -98%
Vagar 83
Antalya 1177 -68%
Dalaman 2620 -71%

 

[bluebols]

With the news for the winter getting worse and the number of flights reducing, I would imagine that like my badly affected business, once furlough has ended there will be a number of redundancies or temporary lay offs as the taxpayer cannot be subsidising staff that literally have nothing to do. Extremely worrying times for all.

 

[Jerry]

With the news for the winter getting worse and the number of flights reducing, I would imagine that like my badly affected business, once furlough has ended there will be a number of redundancies or temporary lay offs as the taxpayer cannot be subsidising staff that literally have nothing to do. Extremely worrying times for all.

If those staff will be needed again for summer 2021 I don't see why the airport couldn't look at some sort of job retention scheme. If unemployed those staff are only going to be getting taxpayers money anyway. Might as well try and retain their skills for the summer.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

It’s because most of the staff will not be employed by the airport directly but via handling agents Swissport who are suffering worldwide.

 

[IanFarquharson]

13,725 pax in September = 93% down

 

[Scottie Dog]

Some of you may be aware that I have been producing monthly statistical reports for both Manchester and Liverpool for a number of years. I have now decided to extend this to other airports and I'm therefore delighted to include Cardiff into the collection - and hopefully you will find the data of interest.

All figures are based on the data provided by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Cardiff Statistics – September 2020

Monthly figures - based on CAA statistics
Monthly passengers – 13,725 -93%
Monthly Movements – 1,157 – 61%

Top 25 destinations - by passenger numbers
View attachment 21066

Top 25 destinations with highest percentage increase.
View attachment 21067

Comparison of top 25 destinations from September 2000 with September 2020.
View attachment 21068

Monthly passengers:
September 2000 – 190,112
September 2020 – 13,725*
*As always with the CAA there may be slight difference between the route totals and their summary sheet.

The effect of Covid-19 on Air Transport Movements over the last 12 months.
View attachment 21053

 

[Scottie Dog]

Domestic figures have been omitted in error - the previous post will be updated tomorrow (Tuesday)

File has now been updated. 10th November 2020