Cardiff: Airport Masterplan

[geoff]

Political forecasters are all forecasting a coalition Welsh Government after the election next year. This may well bring the left and right wing politicians, having to work together, which in some ways could be of benefit to the airport. The possibility of private investment would certainly become more of a reality. It would then appease other airports, who would find it difficult to complain of unfair competition.

 

[Samdorob]

Reform are 2nd and they’ve stated they'll pull the funding but then they'd have the challenge that effectively they'd shut the place down.

I did see a short quick fire video with Farage last week. When asked about Cardiff airport his answer was along the lines of “infrastructure is important”. He didn’t specifically say close it. Maybe they’d be aligned with the Torries and try to sell it. With respect to the airport it’s still coming out of life support mode. Unless it was bought by a committed company with clauses in place I don’t think it’s ready to be privatised. The worst case scenario would be closure and it would be a disaster to the region.

 

[Jerry]

Political forecasters are all forecasting a coalition

I'm pretty sure any coalitions will be either a left one or a right one if there is one. A minority government could be possible.

I did see a short quick fire video with Farage last week. When asked about Cardiff airport his answer was along the lines of “infrastructure is important”. He didn’t specifically say close it.

Sounds like a slight change in tone then because on social media it was stated they'd stop the funding and of course the problem is Farage isn't the one who'll be actually making the decisions on a day to day basis. I'd expect it's likely that they'd go down the Tories route of sell it but they don't want to be pinned down on anything specific.

Unless it was bought by a committed company with clauses in place I don’t think it’s ready to be privatised.

That's the challenge anyone faces as any private owner will want guarantees.

If the Masterplan is to be realised in one way or the other it's going to need significant investment to get it to the point where a private company might take it over with confidence they can get a return on it and the WG can be confident the airport has a secure future.

 

[Jerry]

This is an answer to a written question about the Masterplan from Peter Fox.
"The Airport’s Masterplan was put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic and has been replaced by the new strategy for Cardiff Airport, which was outlined by Ministers in July 2024 via the following Written Statement:"

Written Question - WQ96135 - Welsh Parliament

The Welsh Parliament is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people.

record.senedd.wales