ANGLESEY
Flew out of Angelesey / Valley to Cardiff on a 19-seater. The route is served 2x daily in each direction, Monday - Friday - so 10 arriving and 10 departing flights each week. As far as I'm aware, no other commercial passenger flights.
9 passengers in total on my flight including me. At security, seemed like more people doing the screening than passengers scrutinising everything extra carefully, with virtually every passenger being selected for an extra random check - far more thorough than I see normally at places like Gatwick which is presumably higher risk.
Is this reason for the high level of screening just because the people who work there are bored during the day and in want of something to do, or is there some other reason ? As far as I can tell passengers arriving from Anglesey who wish to fly onto somewhere else have to go through security again at Cardiff, so the chances of inserting something malicious into the aviation system seems pretty low.
Also somewhat puzzled as to why the Welsh Assembly continues to pay such a large subsidy for a route to a very rural area whose only main town owes its commercial existence to ferries to the Dublin area. Further, Dublin has flights direct to Cardiff anyway. I thought the subsidy at Dundee airport for wealthy golfers flying to/from St Andrews was bonkers, but based on CAA stats, the subsidy at Anglesey works out at something like £150 (yes, pounds) or a lot more in quiet months, to fly one passenger in one direction, while the maximum fare charged (excluding baggage) by Manx2 to the passenger is £60 - and nobody on the flight seemed to be collecting large bags on arrival in Cardiff.
Even from Bangor right next to Anglesey, to get to RAF Valley by public transport seems to mean a train that runs hourly, taking 45 min to Holyhead followed by a 35 min bus, or a 35 min train ride that runs every 2 hours followed by a 45 minute walk. Oh, and Manx2 insist that all passengers must be at the airport 30 mins in advance even if they have already checked in online and printed off a boarding pass or they face being bumped. Travel from somewhere like Llandudno, Conwy or Caernarfon which get a sizeable number of tourists and it takes longer to reach Angelsey airport.
Having said all that, the actual operation of the flight by the 2 German pilots in the German registered aircraft was excellent and I cannot criticise it at all.
Seems nothing more than a vote winning scheme to bring Govt pork to a small bit of Wales and make work for people who have nothing better to do with their time.
Comments anyone ?
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 10th Oct 2012 at 00:32.