Can Cardiff Airport Survive?
I ask this rather bleak question out of concern. I am sure that I am not the only person who finds airports such as Bristol and Birmingham a more pleasurable and cheaper alternative. During 2009 I did make good use of Cardiff but I made better use of Bristol.
There’s more places you can fly to from Bristol (more than 100 compared to Cardiff’s 50) and even where they have destinations in common, Cardiff is usually more expensive. This week I looked at booking flights to Spain for the summer and for the two of us it was £150 cheaper in total to fly from Bristol. The longer that prices remain this different between Cardiff and other airports within a reasonable travelling time then an increasing number of people will choose to ignore Cardiff.
The quality of service at Cardiff compared to Bristol is significantly different. In addition to more destinations, more airlines, more shops, a bigger bar and restaurant, Bristol feels like an international airport. In fact it is similar to other successful regional airports such as Birmingham and Newcastle. On any comparison Cardiff does not sit in the same league.
The decision by BMI Baby to reduce their number of aircraft with a significant loss of staff was bad news for Cardiff Airport. Friends of mine working in the industry tell me that this airline is in trouble and has been for some time. Apart from BMI Baby, Fly Be, and some charter flights Cardiff has little else going for it, which is why I asked the Deputy First Minister in December whether the viability of Cardiff Airport would be called into question if BMI Baby collapsed. Naturally I didn’t get an answer.
These might be short term issues although I do not see what is being done to prevent them becoming long term problems which threaten the very existence of the airport.
December 30th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
A fair concern.
The problems are really as follows:
1. Cardiff’s big player is – currently – bmibaby, who for their own reasons caused by their history are going nowhere fast;
2. Cardiff’s management needs to realise that they are not in the public sector any more and the world doesn’t owe them a living;
3. The WAG needs to accept that aviation is not some sort of plaything for the rich, but an integral part of the Welsh economy, that, if treated properly, would generate a lot of jobs and inward investment. The WAG’s shameful statements on transport spend pages on the bus service in Valleys, and about one line on aviation in all of the country – apart from the ridiculous interWales link – IeuanAir!
The other nightmare, not of Wales’ making, is the parlous state of the economy right now. Launching new routes is very expensive for any carrier, and at the moment, taking risks like this is OUT. What we’ll see for a while, until the industry starts to grow again, is carriers consolidating on existing routes and in existing bases. New bases (like Ryanair in Malaga) will happen since this is a better and more efficient way of running the operation – if Malaga has ten routes, it is often better to base the crew and aircraft in Malaga, rather than in the ten destination airports.
It’s going to be a cold spring for the industry. We’re at the bottom of the cycle in the aviation industry, and things will get better. When they do, we need a MUCH better attitude from WAG and the airport to capitalise on the coming growth.
Oh, and if the Conservatives would drop that daft “cancel the third runway at Heathrow” policy, that would be a plus as well!!
December 30th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
we cannot be without an airport
surely we can get it sorted,upgrade it better retail , better destinations – we cannot fly directly to Denmark from Cardiff for example.
Better access and market it
There is no choice ,sort it and find the money, its ridiculous that it hasnt been dealt with up to now
December 30th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
The problem is – it ISN’T an easy, money, problem.
The airport does not choose routes – it has to attract airlines to operate the routes. And it is not easy to throw money at airlines, since various chunks of European law get in the way.
The key is getting the airlines interested in Cardiff, and then getting the public to realise that they have a load of routes from their local airport – both of these are problems for the airport and the WAG, but don’t necessarily need shedloads of money…
December 31st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Isn’t one of the main factors limiting the number of routes out of Cardiff the cost of the ground fees (the fee that the Airport charges airlines for being on the ground)? I understand that this is far higher than in Bristol or Birmingham, and that this is the reason why Ryanair pulled out of Cardiff.
Maybe we do need to look at a more radical solution, wasn’t there a plan a few years ago to close down both Cardiff and Bristol Airports and build a new one on the levels outside Newport.
This new airport would be more easily accesible by rail and from the M4 than either of the existing airports.
Because of its location Bristol Airport is prone to fog and ice which disrupts is services, meaning that the new airport would be more reliable.
The larger size of the new airport would also give it a critical mass and enable it to support a greater number of routes and provide better facilities for travellers.
I realise there will be political issues, post devolution, in merging an English and Welsh institution, but surely it’s worth considering.
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:37 am
Cardiff’s charges seem to have become the subject of an urban myth. The published charges at Cardiff, like at all airports, seems high – but rather like the rack rate at a hotel, no-one pays them. Each airline will negotiate down to a price that works for them and for the airport, which is typically much lower than the published rates. Cardiff is broadly comparable with other UK airports in reality.
Ryanair’s problem at Cardiff was the inability to accept the fact that the airport needs to make some money as well – rates that would kill the airport off hardly make for a sustainable way to operate….
A new Severnside airport would be great – but I really can’t imagine any government considering it. Remember it took 26 years to get Terminal Five at Heathrow from the design stage to reality, so I would wager that building a new airport around Newport would be a slower process than building Chartres Cathedral….