We all know the Airport has struggled for years to secure a
decent range of airline companies to fly out of Cardiff on a permanent basis which
has result in a limited range of destinations on offer, high prices and big
falls in passenger numbers as they seek better deals and destination from other
Airports, notably Bristol so why didn’t anyone in the Welsh Government or civil
service know about the First bus company service extension to Bristol airport
that is being launched in March or if they did why didn’t anyone flag up the
consequences to their purchase of Cardiff Airport?
The bus company currently runs a coach form Swansea and Cardiff
to Bristol, but will now pick up in Newport and stop ‘just metres’ from the
check in desk at Bristol Airport according to their chief executive. There’s more on the story on The Wales Report
tonight apparently and the link is HERE
The other thing is a Freedom of Information request from the
Lib Dems asking about the WG’s Business case for purchasing the Airport and
running it afterwards, fully expecting the WG to say no to giving out copies for
commercial sensitivity, but and it could be the wording of the FOI request the Welsh
Government said it had ‘ no documents that fit that description’ a truly staggering admission and one you would hope that now been exposed would result in questions
to Carwyn, Edwina and any other Minister who appears in front of the press from
now on.
Wales needs an airport that’s fit for purpose and delivers
for the economy of South Wales, but we don’t need the First Minister and his
colleagues making a bad situation worse. We have seen what’s happened to the
Wales Tourist Board, WDA and ELW@ after they were taken into the civil service
because of an act of political vanity and misguided ideological objections to
the private sector by Rhodri Morgan, let’s hope Carwyn Jones isn't making the
same mistakes with Cardiff Airport.
4 comments:
I've been fed up of the attitude of Bristol Airport lately. Anyone travelling to & from south Wales would Cardiff to Bristol.
Even if the Cardiff airport is re-nationalised and air-passenger tax get devolved, it will not change the fact that Bristol will still have a bigger catchment area.
I would like to see a direct shuttle service between the airport & central station operating 24 hours a day, and the Anglesey link could be put to better use if it was an interline service that offered through connections with other airlines and not just a point to point service.
I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a business case. CWL was going nowhere fast under Albertis and that's why most people seem to be in favour of a purchase. Questions of the Ministers would be good though. I accept them buying the airport as being in the national interest, I'm more interested in what they actually want to do with it. My gut feeling is they want long haul flights, when ideally we need at least one LoCo to anchor the airport and provide critical mass.
anon 1, you can't solely blame Bristol for Cardiff's decline, it was on the ropes due to poor management before Bristol started offering a better cheap service and destinations, but lets see what happens as a result of Carwyn's intervention and if any of your good ideas are taken up.
anon 2 Fair point on the national asset, but the more we learn the stranger Carwyn’s decision looks, even major airports like Heathrow are subject to quarterly losses and Cardiff has significantly more problems than most UK Airports to turn around, for all our sakes as tax payers this needs to work, so there should be a business case and a bit more openness about Ministerial motivations.
I think the Welsh Government have taken a rare (perhaps welcome) gamble on this, but it might be 5 or 6 years too late to stop the rot.
I imagine this is going to need a considerable amount of ongoing support from the WG in terms of infrastructure to attract new airlines, which as others have pointed out is a major issue.
Maybe they can spin the airport out and run it via a conglomerate with local authorities, like Manchester Airport.
Long-haul might not be a bad option as Cardiff's trump "operational" card is its longer runway which can accomodate 747s. Plus it might take some long-haul pressure of Heathrow and Gatwick, and might even claw some passengers for Cardiff from across the border (if it's done well with suitable destinations).
An expanding low cost carrier basing itself in Cardiff (probably Vueling) wouldn't be bad either. But Cardiff missed the boat on that.
As for express bus services, I wish First would concentrate on better local services.
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