Originally Posted by
GLOworm
Thanks for sharing.... I understand where you're coming from better now.
Personally, I don't think the scales are tipped in the larger airports' favour.... It's just that the market - for the reasons you've identified - has chosen the larger airports. I'm sure others will disagree with me too(!), but the only scale-tipping has been the intervention of the Welsh Government in the market.... be it APD, the Qatar marketing deal, grants for e-gates or the purchase of the airport itself for more than it's value. All of this because the airport is unable to compete (or offer the services the WG think it should) without State aid. So I kinda understand why Bristol might be grumbling.
Given the flyBE withdrawal, I'd argue that even WITH State aid it's sadly struggling. I'm also not sure the Welsh tax-payer is getting value for money. Particularly when the levels of support are so opaque!
Back in 1990 Cardiff was the 15th busiest airport in the UK and Bristol was.......14th. A difference of about 180K passengers per annum. How did Bristol go about transforming its fortunes relative to Cardiff? What were the opportunities it took and the challenges it addressed? How did it lure passengers over the Severn? How can Cardiff grab back market share? I don't think State Aid and an unequal regulatory/tax environment were a factor in Bristol's success and they aren't the answer for Cardiff now.
BTW I used to be one of the (few!) frequent flyers on the Air Wales LCY and more recently on flyBE. I'd love the airport to be doing better and for there to more services (esp LCY - I live in SE18)!
With the WG people say that they shouldn't have bought and that they are intervening and that they shouldn't but governments do that all over the world, Ireland is an example with its low APD, other countries have done deals with Ryanair to expand Ukraine i believe has done such a deal as has Jordan and Israel offers airlines money for inbound passengers, US airports often offer money for international routes through state subsidies.
The Welsh government is only doing it's job by trying to give Wales an effective national airport that acts as the countries entry point for the world (a mini version of EDI in essence imo) and to give it's citizens and non citizens the opportunity to connect to as much as the world as possible from their country and for tourists and business to find travelling to Wales as easy as possible and that brings me onto Flybe. The airport needs an airline that will provide the connections on a daily basis, a partner as such and that is what Bristol has with Easyjet, an airline dedicated and happy to expand at Bristol and that has been the basis of the airports success.
Unfortunately for CWL their best option was and may still be Flybe and we all know what has happended there.Flybe at the moment don't see CWL in their plans to continue to base it seems and they've had the opportunity to change to Q400s to make that base more profitable (which makes me question why they didn't), Easyjet though do see BRS as important in their plans and no doubt will continue to expand at BRS. If the airlines don't want to operate to Cardiff it can't force them unless like SEN it's owner owns an airline! Maybe the WG should do that next!
As for value for money that i think has to be judged over a longer period in what the airport will be like in 10, 15 to 20 years and will always vary person to person, for me it's value is providing me the ability to connect to the world to another person it's value is whether there is a cheap flight to Mallorca on Saturdays!