It seems that CWL is flying in the right direction and that passenger numbers are taking off.
I expect to hit new heights in next two years

Of true this could be the end of Cardiff Airport

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Dubai-money-men-create-600-jobs-Pembrey-Airport/story-16386721-detail/story.html

If Ryanair etc are all queueing up for Pembrey airport, why is the same not happening at Cardiff?

There's a much bigger population in south east Wales. Is it landing charges? Or is the Pembrey story a lot of spin?

I think Cardiff Airport pissed on its chips a while back with Ryan Air. It doesn't really matter about the catchment area size I suppose. If the flights are there the people will come. It is in the former Dyfed so has a catchment of around 300,000 from just that county. Include Swansea etc. and that increases to around half a million. If Ryan Air flights leave from the West I'm sure that Cardiffians would use the airport too to avoid the bridge tolls. Only Gwent and the North are really out of the catchment area. It is ideally placed as an airport around 1 hour from most major attractions of South and West Wales

The ffos las racecourse which is about 5 mins drive from the airport is quite popular with the Irish. This may be another plus point for ryanair.

Press release story.... printed verbatim by the hacks.

Pembrey International Airport.

Good story except for the typo.
Flights are to Dunbia not Dubai!

http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/firstminister/2012/6396189/?lang=en

"The Cardiff Airport Task Force will examine the competitive position of the airport and brings together the site’s owners, the Welsh Government and business leaders.

Among the group’s aims is to look at ways to improve the airport, grow the number of flights, expand connectivity with other countries, to develop the experience of passengers and boost economic investment.

The First Minister personally chaired the meeting which included representatives from Cardiff Airport, St Athan Enterprise Zone British Airways Maintenance, CBI Wales, the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, Trade Unions, the Vale of Glamorgan County Council and the Welsh Local Government Association.

Speaking after the meeting, the First Minister said:

"Wales, as a confident European nation, needs a national airport we can all be proud of. I have established this new Task Force for one clear reason – to make sure Cardiff Airport grows and thrives.

"I want Cardiff Airport to realise its true potential as a modern, well connected success at the heart of our national infrastructure. The airport is the gateway to our country and I want it to provide a fitting welcome to Wales and play a key part in our economic growth.

"For Cardiff Airport to be all it can be, the Welsh Government, the owners and all those with an interest need to work together. Today’s meeting is the first step in this process.

"We held constructive talks, explored our mutual interests and agreed on some joint actions before the next meeting. While, ultimately the day-to-day operation of Cardiff Airport is the responsibility of Abertis, I want this Task Group to bring about real, positive change for the airport that benefits everyone."

some of you may have noticed that I don't particuarly hold WG in that high regard. I appreciate that this may be a shock to some but it is true. My opinion on this is that it is way too little way too late. BRS has really stolen an unassailable lead of CWL and it would take more than a few jollys at the tax payers expense sitting around the table with some key and not so key stakeholders to get things moving.

of course we'll hear all the usual apologists banging on about WG not having much in their arsenal (in which case why bother), but that never really stopped the South West of England grasping the mettle and working with BRS to drive it forward.

In my view, the best thing that can be done is just let the market decide what is best for CWL - which ultimately will be further decline.

In the 13 years since 1999 we have not had one inch of new road built from the M4 to the airport, we have had the Rhoose line opened up but its about as much use as a second belly button when you think you still have to walk or catch a bus. Then when you consider the bus services are much worse than they were 20 years ago and you realise that actually, WG and the buffoons that lead it really do not have their finger on the pulise and are not fit to pass water never mind legislation.

the international gateway to Wales is bettered by airports in such glamorous destinations as Kazahkstan - we really do aspire to very little and all we have to blame are our politicans and their desire to turn us into a socialist backwater akin to 1950s Georgia. All hail comrade Carwyn and his free prescriptions - Welsh Labour know what the people of Wales really need.

Jantra, the market doesn't always know best and in this case the decline of Cardiff Airport would be a nightmare. Cardiff airport has been in decline for many reasons but the WG is not to blame. It is owned by a private company.

Wales needs an airport and that is that. It hay be shutting the stable doors after the horse horse has bolted but we need it. Cardiff is a far better city than Bristol and Wales has more to offer than West England. The airport could help to bring in tourists rather than only take them out. That is why the New York link should be of utmost importance.

Unfortunately, Wales, Cardiff and our airport have been badly managed by tourist boards and we need a fresh look and we need to exploit our USPs rather than bleating on about how few Starbucks we have.

@SP

I agree with everything you say. The point that I was making was that you know it, I know, everyone on this forum knows it, everyone in Wales knows it save for the 60 lackwit bumpkins in the Senedd.

The fact is it is too little too late. BRS stole a march when the consumer had oodles of cash to spend on overseas travel...now the market is a little less freewheeling with its cash the traveller has to be a bit more discerning. BRS beats CWL hands down and no amount of politburo intervention led by the great leader and his acolytes will redress the balance.

it would be useful if perhaps we questioned what our politicians were doing whilst rome burnt however the Welsh electorate could not possibly comprehend a life without Labour and the state handouts that they bring. Until the Welsh electorate wants real change then we'll be stuck with the third rate politicians that we have and Wales will fall further behind on almost every measure (except for free prescriptions and a tax on plastic shopping bags - the real big ticket items)

I'm sorry Jantra, but I just don't agree that Wales would be better without the Senedd. It is not a tax on plastic bags and you know it! The money goes to charity. I personally prefer those in the Senedd to those in Westminster at this point in time.

Visit Wales needs to pull its fingers out and actually help the airport. They need to tailor make advertising campaigns for the countries in which Cardiff Airport flies to. When I lived in Barcelona the metro was packed with advertisements for Visit Sicily. It doesn't take to much imagination to figure out how it should be done.

Didn't realise they had plastic bags in sub Saharan Africa.

Incidentally Italy also charges for plastic bags. Mind you, they are closer to Africa than we are.

Jantra, the entire British state is in one hell of a mess. Welsh debt is, will be and would be minuscule in comparison to that of Britain and England. If I recall we are in around £1 trillion worth of debt and back into recession.

Is Cardiff airport really that important to the Welsh economy? A rail spur from Reading station to Heathrow would be very beneficial in terms of bring investment into Wales from overseas.

Cardiff airport is definitely NOT important to the Welsh economy as it stands - that is exactly the issue!

Wales is the only country in Europe with such shit air links to the rest of Europe. It is hardly a USP when tying to attract any private investment, is it?

It's not the 'be all and end all' to have a decent airport, but if you don't have one, it's hardly likely to encourage overseas investment if your peer cities do have good air links is it?

I conquer. We need a better airport. A better, more connected airport will not only bring in more tourists but give Wales an image boost. The 'look where we can fly to' factor plays a part. Imagine a Visit Wales campaign that can say something along the lines of 'Fly direct from N.Y to Cardiff and explore our ancient country' it would give a little image boost and make the country easier for tourists to get to.

One reason for the problems there might just be the underlying problems in the South Wales economy-the lack of a flourishing private sector nobody wants to come to South Wales in its current state to make money. Also things that can't be controlled like population that week in week out episode on the airport said Bristol serves a region of 8 million how many people does Cardiff serve potentially 2 million?Im just saying the Heathrow rail link would probably bring more for us, we should least expect from Cardiff is to be able to get daily flight to major European airports so we can connect to other places in the world like from Frankfurt,Schipol and De Gaulle. Having a direct flight to New York is too ambitious not essential and wouldn't be sustainable especially as there is no direct flight from Bristol to New York anyway!

Planes do also pick up people from the other side. If Belfast is able to sustain a New York air route, although the airport is failing and thye needed a reduction in APD to help it, why can't Cardiff? Americans, when they come, really do love Wales. It would be a missed opportunity.

I personally think that Cardiff Airport needs to concentrate on the more densely populated European cities such as Madrid, Rome, Milan, Naples, Munich, Berlin, Moscow and St. Petersburg to name a few. My German friends wanted to come visit me and laughed when I told them Cardiff has no links with Germany.

One reason why Belfast can sustain a flight to New York(Newark) is the huge number of Irish-Americans in America especially in the North East USA who would want to visit it may sound a little silly but according to wikipedia only 0.6% of Americans have Welsh heritage.

There are too Irelands remember. Most Americans go to Dublin and the Republic which is very well linked up to America. There may well have been only a small amount of Welsh immigrants in America but why would that mean Americans wouldn't travel here? I think that the figure may be off by a bit. Being Welsh isn't quite as cool as being Irish in America, but the Welsh have had a far bigger impact, politically speaking, than the Irish. Even Obama is a direct decendent of a Welsh family from Anglesey making him a tiny bit more Irish than Welsh, but played the Irish card to get votes.

Yes most would go to the Republic but many Americans are also descended from Irish protestants from the North also and yes I actually do think that Americans are less likely to come here because there are less Welsh-Americans and therefor less have heard of Wales anyone whose been to America from Wales will know you have to explain where the hell Wales is its not about whether we are thought of as "cool".Im of Irish descent my self my Mother is Irish so i've been there many times you can see buses in the big towns all the time full of 60 something year old Americans. Anyway gone slightly of topic my point is there are probably 10 times more Irish in America than Welsh and thats why Belfast can sustain a daily flight to Newark airport, most Welsh Americans probably dont even know they are Welsh anyway.

And theres only one Ireland with a small amount of confused people in the North East who think that they are British! And thats really off topic.

Agreed on the number of Irish v Welsh Americans but they do know where Wales is, well at least those in New York. Both times I have been the people with whom I spoke new where Wales is. I also agree that most of them probably don't know about their Welsh ancestry. This could come in handy.

We need to go all Scottish and Irish style on them and exploit our Arthurian past. Americans are crazy for the Middle Ages, mainly because they didn't have one, and we can exploit that. Built it and they will come. New York also has the largest Welsh Society outside Europe with the Chicago Taffia coming in a close second.

From the UK Draft Aviation Policy Framework published today:-

http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/dft-2012-35

"An Enterprise Zone has also been established around Newquay airport, and the Enterprise Zone in Cardiff has recently been expanded to incorporate the airport. To recognise the importance of the airport to the wider Welsh economy, the First Minister of Wales formed the Cardiff Airport Task Force. The Task Force is a collaboration between the airport’s owners, the Welsh Government and the wider public sector and business community. It will identify and recommend improvements and investments needed for Wales to boost air connectivity, improve the passenger experience and maximise its economic impact, commercially and for Wales. This is only one of many examples of good practice in this regard."



Also, this has been mentioned before in this thread, but it sounds confirmed now.
"For example, we are providing funding for a new rail line from the Great Western Main Line near Slough to Heathrow which could provide significantly improved connections from the Thames Valley, the West of England and Wales to the airport and journey time savings of up to 30 minutes"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18817874

Will this mean a journey of something like 1 hour 40 minutes?
Good news I suppose but maybe not for Cardiff airport.

Maybe it's my age, but I do get increasingly confused by all these announcements. Is it not the current favoured position that another runway is not going to be allowed at Heathrow, hence the desire (in the long term) to build a brand new London airport elsewhere in the city?



I can't see any of this really affecting Cardiff Airport because it's already effectively flat-lined.

I think the government is reviewing their original posistion of no more airport expansion in the south east, Boris wants a new airport in the Thamas estuary that would be incredibely expensive and some tories are pushing to bring back the third runway for Heathrow which the coalition agreement forbids and the lib dems are vehemently against as are a few tory mps in west London.
The best solution for us I think in the south east of Wales is that Heathrow expands and remains the main airport of the UK and not a vastly expensive new airport on the other side of London that would take longer to get to and take ages to build. Also if Heathrow doesn't remain number one then this rail link really would be a waste of time!

Cardiff Airport is a part of the St. Athan enterprise zone. The Cardiff Enterprise zone, as we all know, is going to be a financial district. Both of which, including the motor one up in the valleys, will be a part of the new Cardiff City Region.

@SP

according to Barden, adding the airport to the enterprize zone happened after it was created. This would indicate that it wasn't part of the original scope. that was my point - if Barden is correct then why wasn't it included initially?

So, we've got a separate devolved geographical zone with its own economic division (WG) which has set up a special economic zone (Enterprise zone), a subset of which requires a unique task force (Cardiff Airport task group).

It make yer worry at times.

@ Barden

I don't think there is any confusion. Cardiff Enterprise zone has absolutely nothing to do with this whatsover. I understand that.

My concern is that when the aviation enterprise zone was set up initially, it did not include the airport and just included St Athan.

I want to know who sanctioned this and why as it is blwdi madness.

BBC Article

it would appear as if Veuling are looking to add moire flights to CWL. What is interesting in this article is that one third of bookings are made in Spain...

WG/WTB/whoever need to understand this market and very much try and promote it in whatever way they can.

this is good news

This story realistically just means that Barcelona is struggling to fill seats* whilst Benidorm etc are doing ok.

The new route that might get added on will probably me Malaga. It's effectively a return to the old BMI holiday routes.

*Am I being an arithmetical dipshit - I can't get those numbers to add up properly - 6,200 passengers in July on a 180 max capacity plane which flies 3 times a week?

Cardiff Airport seem to be claiming that Helvetic are still at Cardiff. They are in fact ceasing operations at Cardiff and concentrating on their Bristol route

full plane = 360 pax over two legs. 3 times a week is 1080. 4 week month = 4320

perhaps they have passengers on the wings