Actually the Welsh Government purchasing the airport only a couple of months ago would have had very little impact in attracting both airlines and any new routes for Summer 2013 or Winter 2013 as the schedule for these had been finalised for a long time.
Some do not understand how much hard work and effort goes into attracting new airlines as it took four years between Cardiff Airport first meeting with Vueling airlines and them starting operating last year.
If some are disappointed then I think some need to wake up and take a reality check at what has been a lot of positives for the airport.
- Vueling increase capacity by over 80% for Summer 2013
- Vueling add additional route to Malaga for Summer 2013
- Thomson Airways 3 additional weekly flights during peak Summer 2013
- Air Europa to operate weekly Palma flights on behalf of Thomson Airways Summer 2013
- Thomas Cook increased capacity at Cardiff by over 10,000 seats for Summer 2013
- Air Malta adds a weekly flight to Malta Summer 2013
- Aer Lingus increased to up to 3 x daily for Summer 2013
- Thomson Airways capacity increased by 17% for Winter 2013
- Vueling to offer year round services to Malaga & Alicante for Winter 2013
- Aer Lingus increased to up to 3 x daily for Winter 2013
There has also been some increases with Atlantic Holidays and Newmarket holidays charters for Summer 2013 and Winter 2013.
For all the previous negativity published in the media up over recent years there is a heck of a lot of positives to look at especially as passenger numbers were up for May 2013 and likely to be again in June 2013.
It is not too late to see some positive news for Summer 2014 and no doubt the management team at Cardiff Airport are doing their hardest as they have been doing to date. The new Cardiff Airport boss Jon Horne has said several times that it's not going to be a quick recovery however Cardiff Airport will get busier and he is up for the challenge.
It maybe time now that the politicians start taking a back seat and leave it to professionals do the talking otherwise they may continue to promise the public the airlines and routes that will be longer and harder to attract than they can imagine.