New air carrier from Wales
 

The Welsh National political party says that they are aiming to have a Welsh national airline

Plaid Cymru 'would hold Wales independence referendum' - BBC News


Has their April 1 press release got out a week early ?

LoL, they have already had a few which went down the toilet. Just another way to waste taxpayers money. The Mona-Cardiff service was really looked just like a private service for Welsh Assembly members. CWL is as rubbish as it ever was, with even fewer staff these days. The one chance they had for success was to develop the old British Steel site at Newport into a satellite for Heathrow, with a high speed rail link to London. But that would have taken some b@als, which as we all know, UK politicians lack!

I am just wondering where a Welsh national airline would fly to?

The original was Cambrian Airlines which was taken over by BA and folded 40 years ago.

Tony Clemmo and Brian Proctor tried running a Welsh airline called Airways Cymru and that went bankrupt in the 1980's.

More recently there were attempts to operate an airline out of Swansea that also folded.

As for suggestions that an airport could have been built at Llanwern that is poppycock.

The most sensible place for an airport serving Wales and the West was Filton but the Welsh politicians would never have allowed that.

If they base it in the west of Anglesey, they could call it FlyLlanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoc h.

There's apparently a longstanding community of Welsh-speaking onetime expats in Patagonia, so a daily widebody from Cardiff to Buenos Aires must be on the list (some schoolteachers there are funded by the Welsh Government).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonian_Welsh

You obviously haven't been there lately!

Maybe because it's in England!
It'll never happen it's just some belief by some nationalists that nationhood requires a state carrier like in Ireland. Flybe are doing a good job at Cardiff airport providing connections Wales has never had and are essentially filling any role a national carrier would.

If Carlisle is worthy of scheduled flights then presumably the same applies to Swansea as well...

I'll get my coat...

Well valley could do with another route poss London inside of just the 2 daily Cardiff flights

Aberporth
 

Could be an interesting prospect, I mean Aberporth could generate good traffic to Cardiff and elsewhere because of its proximity to Aberystwyth & the University, plus the West of Wales :)

Having recently taken the train to Aberystwyth, can't see the demand for any airline service!

Bring back Airways Cymru!

Airways International Cymru
yes but with some decent aircraft that did not go AOG if you looked at them :rolleyes:

good old IEA (Mr Asprou, Aspro Holidays) was a grand outfit - but got gobbled up by Airtours - they were doing well so no surprise MR A and his sons took the dosh

back in the old days Court Line & Clarkson's had Cardiff and Bristol sewn up for IT's

also with Cambrian (flyin for Bob at Hourmont Travel)

Slightly off topic but can I remind everyone that the most recent incarnation of Air Wales DIDN'T FOLD. It ceased operating at the owners choice.

As to a new airline I would say establish the need first?

Not only did Airways International Cymru, aka 'Air Crummy", fold but Tony Clemo got banged up for tax evation, from the ashes of Air Crummy rose Amber Air which PDQ got taken over by Paramount which soon thereafter itself folded after one or more directors absconded with more than a few bucket loads of dosh ... We're doing quite well so far :)

Air Crummy has an in-house tour operator Red Dragon Travel, thereafter there was Inter European that had Aspro Holidays, I'm out of touch but are there any modern day Welsh tour operators of a size to finance an in-house airline.

Of course Wales is an ideal place to register/base an airline, or indeed any other business, because it'll get government subsidies, that'll be why Bruce started Cardiff Aviation, back in the 80's Desmond Norman was building crop sprayers on the flying club side of CWL, why do you think BA have such a maintenance facility there even if the then airport boss did lose his job over it, but as for dedicated aircraft for more than once or twice a week transatlantics ... Well dream on!

As has previously been said had Air Wales stuck with Do228's they might still be going, they'd certainly be operating the Valley route, and UK is missing a that size of aircraft operator, airports such as BLK, IOM, LDY, indeed CAX to name but a few could do with such a size of aircraft to operate niche routes and where better to get financial subsidies basing it than in Wales.

Plaid can say whatever it wants. Not like it’s going to get into government anytime soon (although I used to vote for them in my younger days). You could put a donkey with a red rosette for election and it would be voted in.

Where would the airline operate? Can’t see them going head to head with any established carriers? The business destinations Brussels, Zurich etc have tried and failed. Can only think of potential sun routes which would work but do we need a national airline to operate these? Don’t think so. Would love to be proved wrong.

Which state carrier would that be in Ireland then ?

Aer Lingus is the national carrier of Ireland. Though it isn't state owned anymore.

Nope Aer Lingus isn't the National Carrier and hasn't been since it was privatised.

Considering Aer Lingus only flies from the island of Ireland and has a very Irish name it's the national carrier of Ireland or the flag carrier of Ireland. If you go and read literature about Welsh independence the Republic of Ireland is held up as an example a lot. Reality is Wales is different and a flag carrier won't work but it won't stop some people dreaming.