Cardiff Airport - General Thread

[Em0866]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Hi there.....yes it did cross my mind about Emirates, especially as they have added a second flight from there to start later this year. Still, this is a step in the right direction for CWL with these two new destinations with Vueling. Will be interesting to see if it will bring in tourists from Spain too given that it is a Spanish airline

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]Potential of ports and airports to be examined by Welsh assembly inquiry

Ways to improve the contribution of Welsh ports and airports to the economy are being examined as part of an inquiry by Assembly Members.

The enterprise and business committee will also look at how the Welsh government can help develop their potential.

Cardiff airport saw 10% fewer passengers in 2010.

Ports and airports policy falls under the UK government, but Wales has powers for transport links and financial help.

The inquiry will look at the importance of major Welsh ports and airports to the economy of their own regions and to Wales as a whole.

Committee chair Nick Ramsay said Wales had been trying to raise its profile on the world stage by establishing its identity as a devolved nation to boost international trade and tourism links.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16780662

There's been a lot of hot air expended in the Welsh political arena regarding CWL's poor performance over the past four years but precious little action.

Let's hope this enquiry will be more than the typical politician's response to troublesome problems that won't go away: the usual course of action is to form a committee to look at the problem.

Committee reports invariably spark short term debate before being left to gather dust in a filing system or the digital equivalent.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Similar could be said about other airports in the UK. There has been talk that Durham Tees Valley airport (formally Teesside) might have to call in the administrators because business has slumped so low. Cardiff airport is fairing much better than DTV but it goes to show the problem goes way beyond Cardiff and is in fact a UK wide problem.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Similar could be said about other airports in the UK.

I agree entirely but CWL has a potential advantage over English airports in that the Wales Assembly Government is desperate to establish Wales firmly as an independent nation in the eyes of the world and having a successful airport is part of that identity.

I think they will struggle with this aim because people in many countries, notably the USA, routinely interchange Britain with England and probably assume, if they even think about it at all, that Wales is part of England aka Britain.

Overseas business customers ought to be more savvy though and make sure they are fully aware of Wales's status vis-a-vis England and the UK as a whole.

The Assembly Government also has money that can be spent on transport infrastructure in Wales, including giving help to its airports (of which CWL is really the only game in town) but of course it's governed strictly by EU regulations when it comes to direct assistance for specific route development.

 

[bluebird94]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Looking really busy tonight at Cardiff Airport in regards to diverted flights due to snow - So far they have had ..

Thomas Cook B752 diverted flight from Fuerteventura to Birmingham
Flybe E190 diverted flight from Salzburg to Birmingham
Thomson B752 diverted flight from Innsbruck to Birmingham
Bmibaby B733 diverted flight from Chamberry to East Midlands

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Looking really busy tonight at Cardiff Airport in regards to diverted flights due to snow - So far they have had ..

Thomas Cook B752 diverted flight from Fuerteventura to Birmingham
Flybe E190 diverted flight from Salzburg to Birmingham
Thomson B752 diverted flight from Innsbruck to Birmingham
Bmibaby B733 diverted flight from Chamberry to East Midlands

That's welcome news for the airport, if not for the diverted passengers.

CWL seems well used by BA long haul inbounds when diversions are necessary.

I wonder if BA gets a favourable rate for these out-of-course arrivals because of their presence at the BAMC at the airport which, incidentally, is something some people forget when they try to assess the viability of CWL at the present time.

MRO is something that CWL could benefit from more in the future now it is in one of the new enterprise zones along with nearby St Athan. There is a major opportunity for MRO in the zone, especially as Filton's runway is due to close at the end of the year.

I note that a bmibaby fight was one of the visitors - somewhat ironic, though they currently visit Bristol twice a week with ski charters so haven't left the Severn estuary area entirely.

 

[Em0866]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

With the revised timetable as reported from the airport's website below. It seems that this new timetable the flights to Dublin are slightly later than they are currently. How does that warrant what they say as "improved timings" for onward connections? These flights to Dublin with Aer Lingus from Bristol the timings are much better and allow to get even better connections to the US. It seems potty to me!
http://www.tbicardiffairport.com/en/new ... ights.html

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Hello E m

I agree with you. It's just spin which is so beloved of airlines and airports.

The US connections at Dublin from CWL are Boston and New York with a four hour 15 minute stopover at DUB outbound to New York (Boston's no problem at one hour 20 minutes) and stopovers of nearly five hours at DUB on the return flights from both New York and Boston.

The timings from CWL are also poor for day trips (out late morning and back mid evening) in Dublin and not much better for day trips in Cardiff coming the other way.

The Bristol timings are better as the morning flight is into and out of BRS around 0800 and the second one back mid evening having left at teatime (this aircraft flies Cork-Bristol-Dublin-Bristol-Cork).

Bristol also has connections at DUB to Orlando and Chicago as well as Boston and New York though it's down to two daily rotations to DUB this coming summer from three in summer 2011, and of course has Ryanair going 3 x daily every day of the week alongside it.

I used Aer Lingus Regional to Dublin from Bristol last year even though it was slightly more expensive than Ryanair like for like and can recommend it.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]ACC Liverpool expands events team

ACC Liverpool has expanded its events team ahead of the opening of its new exhibition centre in 2014

Kerry Quinn has been appointed as the new operations director at the convention centre. She was formerly airport director at Cardiff Airport.[/textarea]

http://www.citmagazine.com/channel/news ... ents-team/ for full report.

Kerry Quinn was airport director at Durham Tees Valley pior to joining CWL in 2010 as operations director (not as director as quoted in the linked report).

I understand she was well thought of at CWL who must have been disappointed to see her leave.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]First Minister Carwyn Jones under fire for attack on Cardiff Airport

First Minister Carwyn Jones has been accused of “talking our capital city’s airport down” after he said he would not want to bring people into Wales through it.

Mr Jones told the National Assembly the condition of Cardiff Airport would not give the right impression of Wales and said its owners should “either run the airport properly or sell it”.

The airport itself has refused to get drawn into a war of words with the First Minister, saying it still wanted to work closely with the Welsh Government.

But Liberal Democrat transport spokeswomen Eluned Parrott described Mr Jones’ comments as “bizarre” and said they would not encourage business and tourism to Wales.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... z1p1dfuXBK

Inevitably, this has descended into party politics.

I can't help feeling that many Welsh people will believe that there is more than a grain of truth in the the First Minister's comments.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]Cardiff-New York air route worth £200m a year to Wales, report reveals


A direct flight service between Cardiff and New York could increase North American investment in Wales by more than £200m a year, a previously undisclosed Welsh Government report has revealed.

The document also shows a four-times-a-week transatlantic link has the potential to increase Welsh exports to North America by some £42.7m a year.

The figures are based on the assumption that the introduction of a service between Cardiff and New York would bring an extra 10,000 business visitors to Wales annually.

The 2009 report – produced for the Welsh Government by the University of Glamorgan’s Wales Transport Research Centre – was obtained by the Echo using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

According to the paper, Wales receives more than 100,000 business visitors from North America per year who spend between £37m and £73m. But, its says, more important than this direct spending is the “business and investment opportunities that these visitors bring”.

Researchers said the data was “imperfect and dated”, but provided a basis for a cost benefit analysis of the support needed to secure this “important infrastructure improvement”.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... z1pMghFglF

The FOI Act is fast becoming a source for newspapers to fill their columns.

This is another report 'unearthed' that suggests a Cardiff to New York would be feasible, coming as it does on the 'discovery' of the York report to the Wales Government in 2007 that suggested much the same thing.

At least the latest report is admitted to be 'imperfect and dated'.

Within the linked newspaper report are details of yet another 2007 report that asserts that a substantial investment of several million pounds would bring ten new routes to CWL including one long haul.

The common thread running through all three reports/studies is a substantial contribution of public funding.

Why is so much time and money wasted on these studies when CWL lacks so many bread and butter routes?

 

[Aviador]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

Seems like a lot of what if's. The same can be said for many regional airports, some serving far larger conurbations than the Cardiff airport. The Welsh politicians need to remember that CWL is nothing more than a regional player and it will continue to face the same problems as other regional airports in the UK with respects to gaining scheduled air links to the US and New York in particular.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

I agree with your sentiments, Aviador.

CWL is underperforming and opinions as to the reasons have been debated endlessly.

It should be busier than it is and I am sure will be again when the recession begins to lift.

There seems to be a perception amongst some influential people in the Wales aviation industry that CWL's position as the airport serving the nation's capital should imbue it with an advantage not enjoyed by non-capital city airports in the UK.

That's one of its problems in my view. The rest of the world regards it as a regional airport and it must fight its cause on that basis.

There is no doubt that Cardiff is growing into one of the UK's top tourist cities. It's re-invented itself over the past 20 years and 'Wales plc' of which the airport is part ought to be using that as a major leg of the marketing strategy.

Wales will always have the problem that it is a small country in population terms, heavily dependent on the public sector and with a catchment of limited size. Clearly the inbound ' catchment' is potentially limitless in terms of the world population but in reality it is limited and also has to be worked for.

Another problem is that South Wales drives the country and though CWL is well-placed to cater for that, it is not ideally situated for large parts of the rest of the country.

I'm still confident that CWL will recover in due course and go on to make an important contribution to Wales.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

The Wales First Minister, Carwyn Jones (he who has criticised CWL in recent days), has announced the formation of a group to look into the future of the airport.

He wants its owner, Abertis, to either invest in the facility or sell it.

The first minister believes that CWL could become a world-class airport and overtake Bristol Airport which he regards as the nearest rival.

Full story at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -30629425/

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]Bristol 'opportunity not threat' to Cardiff Airport

The chief executive of Bristol Airport has called on the Welsh government to view his expanding business as an "opportunity not a threat".

Robert Sinclair said he was keen to work closely with Wales' tourism bodies to improve the services "we [Bristol] provide for Welsh passengers".

He said about 700,000 of Bristol's 5.7m passengers come from Wales. Cardiff saw just over 1.2m passengers last year.[/textarea]

Full report at this link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17571727

This BBC report relates to a programme brodcast on Radio Wales today that explored the current problems facing CWL.

The BRS CEO went on to say that South Wales is "very much part of our core catchment area".

He told the programme that his airport doesn't 'focus on national borders' and pointed out how close it was to parts of South Wales.

He also said he had written to Wales's First Minister suggesting that his government co-operates with BRS to promote Wales tourism and to provide connections and air services through BRS for the people of Wales.

If you don't ask you don't get. Full marks for initiative though I doubt that it will find much favour in the corridors of the Senedd.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-i ... -31000428/

The above link is to a lengthy essay on the current state of Cardiff Airport written by the business editor of Wales's main newspaper.

The common thread running through it is that CWL is unlikely to succeed without substantial financial and other help from the Wales Government and it explores the ways this might be achieved, together with the relationship between the government and the airport owners.

This extract sums up the thrust of the article.

Firstly, they would need a viable passenger market – which in Cardiff’s case needs to go beyond its core South Wales catchment area to take in passengers from the south-west of England, the Midlands and to some degree even further afield.

Airlines like Emirates, with services into a hub airport in the Middle East, Delta with a service to North America and Michael O’Leary’s low-cost Ryanair, will come to Cardiff – providing Abertis offers competitive landing fees and the Welsh Government effectively underwrites any losses in the first few years of establishing financially-sustainable new routes.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

I guess any airline will go to any airport if the airport will underwrite any losses. It's just not going to happen is it. Between 500 thousand and 1 million passengers per year will provide limited interest from new airlines. If the airport can build passenger numbers up to around 1.5 million with a reasonable scheduled offering new airlines maybe attracted. Airlines don't seem to usually entertain medium or long haul routes such as Dubai until passenger numbers exceed around 4-5 million. Capital city of a principality or not, if people don't want to use the airport or if its catchment area cannot sustain such routes they wont happen.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

I tend to read a lot of thoughts about CWL: on aviation message boards; in Wales Government pronouncements; the Welsh press and news media generally; the thoughts of business and 'ordinary' people as expressed through the news media.

Most are clearly and understandably frustrated at the predicament their country's main airport finds itself in. There is a myriad of views why this is so, often a combination of reasons, including (not an exhaustive list by any means): an airport owner not interested in it; senior airport management not up to the job; poor surface links; lack of interest and support from the Wales Government; routes not properly advertised.

Some rightly recognise that CWL does not have the biggest catchment in the world and Wales is one of the least economically vibrant areas of the UK - these two things impact on the success or otherwise of CWL far more than most of the peripheral issues I listed.

Making silk purses out of sows' ears is incredibly difficult and that's the situation that Wales is in regarding its major airport.

Some in the Principality believe that the cachet of being the capital's airport should in some way automatically bring a built-in dividend over other airports. Reality firmly tells us this is not so.

I've read some romantic notions that a transatlantic scheduled service would work from CWL where it wouldn't work from some larger English regional airports because there is a large group of ex-pats and others of Welsh heritage living in North America just waiting for such a service to start which they would use enthusiastically and in great numbers.

CWL has been struggling in recent years but no more so than, say Prestwick or Durham Tees Valley, and will find it very hard to make significant progress until the economy shows a sustained improvement.

There are two caveats to my last sentence though neither would in themselves see a huge turn-around at CWL but they would get some momentum going.

The first caveat is a decision by the Wales Government to underwrite a transatlantic route. It would be hugely controversial politically in Wales because of the likely amount involved and would almost certainly mean writing what would effectively be an open cheque. There would also be the small problem of negotiating EU regulations and competition issues to find a legal mechanism that would allow them to do it.

The second caveat is the devolution of air passenger duty to Wales. If the WG had this power it could reduce it considerably, even to a nil rate, over that applied to English airports. It would make CWL a very attractive proposition for long haul charter journeys where families might save themselves several hundred pounds on one journey. There would be a downside though. The grant the WG receives from the Westminster government would be reduced to take account of its new apd tax gathering powers, so if it chose to reduce apd the WG would have to look at where it could save money in other areas.

It doesn't help when Wales's First Minister on the one hand criticises CWL and says he would be ashamed to bring visitors to Wales through it, yet on the other he talks about his determination to turn CWL into a world-class airport.

The criticism is ludicrously exaggerated and how many world-class airports does the UK as a whole have? Heathrow? - good and bad in parts like that egg the vicar's helper was hoping to scoff. I can't think of any other world-class airport in these islands and the idea that CWL will be one is nonsensical.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

[textarea]Cardiff Airport to be targeted by task force, says Carwyn Jones


A special task force will investigate the potential for improving Cardiff Airport, First Minister Carwyn Jones has announced.

The airport will be at the centre of an investigation led by Mr Jones – with the aim of “maximising its economic impact, commercially and for Wales”.

The First Minister has been a fierce critic of Cardiff Airport and its Spanish parent company Abertis and earlier this month it emerged the airport’s managing director Patrick Duffy had left.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -31067227/

The Wales First Minister said recently he intended to set up this task force and further details have now been given in a written statement.

The FM said he is, 'committed to making Cardiff Airport realise its true potential as a modern, competitive, thriving and commercially successful airport, which is a key economic driver and source of pride for the people of Wales'.

The task force will consider how to deliver joint strategic initiatives for Cardiff Airport targeting the growth of leisure, business and freight traffic; improving the experience of airport users; maximising its economic impact; minimising negative environmental effects.

The FM will chair the task force and he announced the bodies and groups from which its members will be drawn.

What the Welsh aviation scene really wants is for its government to invest substantial amounts of cash into the capital city's airport but this is problematical not only from a regulatory position but also from a political one.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Cardiff Airport - Main Thread

'18th Routes Conference' 29 September-2 October 2012 at Abu Dhabi'

The below links list those organisations attending together with CWL's entry details.

Each airport seems to have a small introductory piece setting out its wares.

I know I have a thing about 'spin' in aviation and have given many examples on Forums4Airports in the past. Well, a sentence in the CWL introduction made me chuckle.

It runs, 2011: bmibaby decided to leave Cardiff due to internal issues within their organisation.

And there's me thinking baby pulled out because it believed it could do better elsewhere.

Why oh why do airports come out with such blatant tosh?

http://www.routesonline.com/events/150/ ... delegates/

http://www.routesonline.com/airports/23 ... f-airport/