There was another thread about the CWL-BRU route a couple of weeks or so ago when someone suggested that fares were being kept deliberately high on this route to keep out the 'riff raff' (his/her words, not mine).
Not being an aviation professional I am not always aware of the arcane practices that are sometimes involved in airline finances. However, this assertion made no sense to me and I said so, but the person concerned did not respond.
The CAA provisional figures for February show a total of 256 pax travelling on this route which, having regard to the number of rotations in February (the route is flown four times a week in each direction), gave an average load of around eight - in a ATR 42!
When one reads the provisional figures for nearby BRS to BRU the number of pax in February was over 5200 - granted they fly three times a day but it still gave an average load in the high thirties on the ARJs operated by SN Brussels. Not brilliant even here perhaps but much better than eight.
My point is that there must surely be a market from Cardiff to Brussels, perhaps even more so than from Bristol given that Cardiff is the Welsh capital with political links.
Perhaps the Air Wales fares were too high. Perhaps the frequency was insufficient. Perhaps the marketing was poor.