CARDIFF

[PeterP]

As usual, MV, a well-considered argument. Wish you were over this side of the bridge - your intellect would be sooo useful.

Yes, Bristol got lucky with Go and hence Easyjet. In comparison, CWL got bmibaby - initially a huge win and very exciting but ultimately embroiled, I believe, in corporate pecking-orders and lack of vision. At the same time, baby was confronted with the market conditions you so rightly define. The CWL opportunity was long-haul and I'm proud to have been a part of sustaining that. Stupid decisions were made in three companies that led to nonsensical competition on Orlando and the Caribbean. I firmly believe that the ensueing bloodbath would never happen again and that long-haul CWL remains its USP, even when the 787 enters service.

My difficulty these days is not with market dynamics - which can be defined and managed - but with the inflexibility and drab thinking imposed on CWL from above and reflected by people I regard as yes-men in local charge (they, in return, would regard my disagreement as some kind of betrayal but I never signed up to this current approach!)

Yes, we can reach 2.1 m pax again. Yes, the current master plan needs to be discarded and re-imagined. No, we cannot catch up with Bristol in the short or medium term and even the long term takes a lot of faith to picture,

However, there is a particular strength Wales could have over the South West. Co-ordination; cross-industry agreement; engagement and involvement. I submit that, as far as such an advantage is concerned, Wales Air Network is the only game in town.