Cardiff: General Airport Discussion & Updates

[Foxlimayankee]

Some people will pick that apart. My workings might not be correct so welcome thoughts from anyone good with finance knowledge...
The previous year was £5.3m grant with a £4m loss, and this year is a £10m grant with a £210,000 loss.
Take the grants out and last year was a £9m loss and this year was a £10m loss.

All companies would expect money to be put into the company, but in this case people will view grants as tax payer money.

 

[Jerry]

Some people will pick that apart.

I've no doubt they will. Tbh I'm surprised people haven't already. I only came upon these figures by accident i wasn't looking for them. I was looking at something else and went off on a tangent. It's pretty clear though that without government support the airport would fold.
It'll be interesting to see if any of the opposition parties pick up on it. Looking at the amount of questions the Tories have tabled in the Senedd it's pretty clear they see it as a way to bash Labour.
The report was part of a reply to a Tory question about Cardiff Airport.

 

[MJC73]

Regarding additional use of CWL. Rugby'S European Cup is at its semi final stage. Leinster v Northampton and Bordeaux v Toulouse are the games.

From an airport perspective a Leinster win may mean a bit more traffic from Dublin whilst I would imagine both French clubs will bring good numbers.

Whilst it will not be 6Ns levels it could be a lovely boost.

 

[Jerry]

From an airport perspective a Leinster win may mean a bit more traffic from Dublin whilst I would imagine both French clubs will bring good numbers.

Ideally it'll be a Leinster v Toulouse final. Between them I'd expect them to have the biggest fan base.

For the Challenge Cup I'd hope we'd see an Edinburgh v Lyon final (Semi finals are Edinburgh v Bath and Racing 92 v Lyon) both Edinburgh and Lyon have more potential for their fans to arrive by air and boost CWL numbers.

 

[Aviador]

Looks like Reform are jumping on the beat the Welsh government Cardiff Airport band wagon.
Suggestion they'd close the airport or let it close maybe? The irony is that it's only the Welsh government that seems to have some sort of plan for the airport. Tories vaguely say sell it, Plaid Cymru have been very quiet about the new money and Reform don't seem to have a formed policy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1909511237509042371

Reform are a populist party, just say what people want to hear, but can't or won't deliver anything.

They seem very much like what Farage, Boris and chums all promised during Brexit but then what happened? Absolutely NOTHING!

Take Reform with a pinch of salt, especially in this case as they suggest the absolute polar opposite to what their party is suggesting about the reopening of Doncaster airport.

 

[Jerry]

Take Reform with a pinch of salt, especially in this case as they suggest the absolute polar opposite to what their party is suggesting about the reopening of Doncaster airport.

That's interesting i didn't know that they were in favour of DSA reopening under public ownership.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Typical of Reform, they work within the realms of smoke and mirrors. Sadly, the Welsh populace will fall for their snake oil.

 

[Jerry]

I used Heathrow on Friday and Helsinki airport this morning and both airports had the new security scanners in place which means that you keep all your electronics and liquids in your bag.
Does Cardiff have these new scanners in place in the new security area?

 

[MJC73]

When we went to Oslo via Schipol in February we kept liquids in the bag so I think yes.

 

[Cardiffbay]

I used Heathrow on Friday and Helsinki airport this morning and both airports had the new security scanners in place which means that you keep all your electronics and liquids in your bag.
Does Cardiff have these new scanners in place in the new security area?

Cardiff Airport - Cardiff Airport launches Next Generation Security

<p>Next Generation Security is now fully operational at the National Airport of Wales. The new technology allows passengers to leave […]</p>

cardiff-airport.com

 

[Jerry]

When we went to Oslo via Schipol in February we kept liquids in the bag so I think yes.

Cardiff Airport - Cardiff Airport launches Next Generation Security

<p>Next Generation Security is now fully operational at the National Airport of Wales. The new technology allows passengers to leave […]</p>

cardiff-airport.com

Good it's a lot quicker! And easier.

 

[geoff]

Large article today in Business Live, with the boss of Bristol Airport strongly criticising the £205 million over 10 years as unfair competition, and he written to the Welsh Government, to ask for more transparency over the application it submitted to the authorities over the amount of money involved. He also complained that the announcements made by the Welsh Government, were always being made just before the Government goes into recess. As I have said before, it is ironic that he is the boss of BRS, who doesn't mind one bit for taking 20% of Welsh passengers, about 2million passengers, who could have been travelling from CWL, and spending 400million on the expansion of his own airport to the detrement of CWL, over the next couple of years.

 

[Jerry]

to ask for more transparency over the application it submitted to the authorities over the amount of money involved.

Tbf to the Welsh Government they have stated what the money will be used for over the years. Other airports can't expect Cardiffs owners not to invest in the site because it's publicly owned. And instead of being worried about losing passengers to Cardiff maybe Bristol needs to focus on the passengers they lose and potentially will lose to Heathrow.
But if Bristols owner's want more transparency they could offer to become an investor in Cardiff Airport alongside the Welsh government.

Found the article
"Chief executive of Bristol Airport Dave Lees said the planned subsidy would hand Cardiff an unfair competitive advantage"
Bristol passenger numbers 2024 10.6 million
Cardiff passenger numbers 2024 875,000
Bristol has 9x more passengers than Cardiff

Bristol Airport criticise £205m Welsh Government subsidy plans for rival Cardiff

Chief executive of Bristol Airport Dave Lees said the planned subsidy would hand Cardiff an unfair competitive advantage

www.business-live.co.uk

Bristol Airport criticise £205m Welsh Government subsidy plans for rival Cardiff

Chief executive of Bristol Airport Dave Lees said the planned subsidy would hand Cardiff an unfair competitive advantage

www.business-live.co.uk

I'll add a bit as well considering the massive difference in passenger numbers what advantage is £20 million a year? If you look at where Cardiff is going as an airport its going to be a challenge to get back to pre pandemic levels of 1.6 million let alone 2 million and realistically 3-5 just isn't realistic and its likely Bristol could be a 12-15 million passenger airport by then. At the moment CWL is seeing growth from Ryanair and TUI and a bit from Vueling sadly other airlines like KLM and Loganair aren't really growing. Lets be honest though an extra based Easyjet or an extra based Jet2 would far exceed that.

 

[Samdorob]

Large article today in Business Live, with the boss of Bristol Airport strongly criticising the £205 million over 10 years as unfair competition, and he written to the Welsh Government, to ask for more transparency over the application it submitted to the authorities over the amount of money involved. He also complained that the announcements made by the Welsh Government, were always being made just before the Government goes into recess. As I have said before, it is ironic that he is the boss of BRS, who doesn't mind one bit for taking 20% of Welsh passengers, about 2million passengers, who could have been travelling from CWL, and spending 400million on the expansion of his own airport to the detrement of CWL, over the next couple of years.

It does feel a bit like Tesco protesting against a corner shop getting investment.

 

[Jerry]

It does feel a bit like Tesco protesting against a corner shop getting investment.

Yep it does. But the WG have been open about what the money will be used for.

 

[MJC73]

Bristol Airport seems very entitled. Screw 'em.

 

[Jerry]

Bristol Airport seems very entitled. Screw 'em.

I suppose they would say that they're protecting their business but i would probably say that Heathrow expansion would be something more for them to worry about than £20 million a year to Cardiff Airport.

 

[Red Flyer]

Bristol Airport seems very entitled. Screw 'em.

Rather juvenile statement.

 

[MJC73]

They display the characteristics of a bully. Course indifference to their style is not childish at all.

 

[Jerry]

With the extras that Ryanair have added for Winter 2025-26 and previously TUI then for winter between November and the 3rd week of December there'll be 4 extra weekly departures which will then be 9 extra weekly departures until April. Giving an extra 3400 seats and could be more if Ryanair use the MAX8200 on their flights. Which would roughly give an extra 51,000 seats between the end of December and end of March. That doesn't include the extra seats from Ryanair November and December which would add another potential 10,000 seats in that period. Leading to a potential 60,000 extra seats for the winter period.