Totally hypothetical and would never happen but do you think a new airport i between Cardiff and Newport or on the old Llanwern Steel works (which has been discussed in the past as Severnside) would be more successful than where the airport currently is?

As much as the WAG will not let the airport fail I just don’t see much of a way back for CWL unfortunately.

No. For one thing, I can't see a brand new airport anywhere until the climate nonsense is discredited.
Also, that location is even nearer Bristol, which would mean Lulsgate closing. Who would pay the compensation?

Isn't the way to fix CWL a good road link to the M4?

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/ne...stol-airports/

That was the plan. But it, ahem, never got off the ground.
It would mean the closure of Bristol and Cardiff.
Logically it makes sense as BRS itself is outgrowing it's own land and Cardiff is struggling. One Airport serving the whole South West and Wales, right alongside the M4 and the South Wales mainline would best serve everyone. But it needed to be done 20 years ago.

I feel Bristol made a big mistake not developing Filton which has excellent links to the motorways and South Wales plus better weather !

And if you look through the local newspaper archives, Burtonwood could have replaced Speke and Ringway, Usworth could have replaced Woolsington and Middleton St George, a central lowlands airport could have replaced Turnhouse and Abbotsinch, etc, etc

No doubt us taxpayers will come to the rescue again and when the cash injection brings Cardiff to profitability again some years down the line it will be quickly sold to private companies at a loss, thats how it works..socialism for big business..poor supporting the rich
Im sick of it

And to add to that list Honiley could have replaced Elmdon; and here's a good one, Gaydon could have replaced Heathrow, Elmdon and Baginton - though I'm not sure that the latter ever appeared in a local paper! Seriously however the problem with the UK has always, well at least certainly since the first half of the 20th century, been a failure to make forward thinking decisions and spend the necessary amounts of money to build it for tomorrow rather than for yesterday. I don't believe that since the Victorians built the railways we have had a serious infrastructure planning in UK.

everyone is against everything in the UK

Very true. Sometimes with good reason (see HS2), but Llanwern was a nailed-on airport site for anyone with an ounce of foresight. That horse has bolted now though, sadly :(

Climate nonsense?!

The problems with building new airports in the UK started years before the "climate nonsense"

Once a) you gave everyone a vote & b) made owning a house the be all and end all of accumulating wealth ANY change to an area has met visceral opposition - no matter what it is. Just go back over "London's Third Airport" in the '60's. No-one, but no-one wants a new airport (or anything else) built near their house.

And politicians listen as they need the votes

Looks like a cold wind blowing....

BBC - All major road building projects in Wales are scrapped

Volotea
 

Volotea are doing some flights from CWL to LYS & NTE in September & October this year…..all for the Rugby World Cup held in France.

Looking at flight radar 24 makes sad reading. Only 2 Amsterdam flights per day plus one, two or three other scheduled flights. it must be desperately quiet in the terminal at times when the 0600 flight goes and the next scheduled departure is 1710. Should the CAA do another airspace review and remove or reclassify much of the airspace ? Class "A" ( reserved for busy or complex areas) is probably over the top for the current traffic levels given that on some days there is absolutely no traffic from the north or west at all and only Thursday this week sees one from north and one from the west ( ish).

Try looking at Teesside…nothing at all..flight wise..and certainly nothing maintenance wise..but the local mayor is subsiding everything!
Do you guys Not have a mayor who could waste taxpayers /government money on your airport..a Capital city?

I really wonder?

"Do you guys Not have a mayor who could waste taxpayers /government money "

Unfortunately they have a partly devolved Govt - you'd think that would lead to more money for Cardiff but it actually means that Welsh politicians can all play their favourite game of damming Sin City by the Bay and squabbling amongst themselves over the pork barrel - hence the lunatic support for a service to Anglesey etc etc

Sad to see the lack of demand from CWL. I have friends living in Cardiff and they wouldn't even consider CWL airport for their travel needs. They go to Bristol. They said it is easier to get to BRS. Hard to see who will invest in the place if Wizz cannot make a small base work.

Agree with you on the sad decline of Cardiff Airport, but I really don't know how it's easier to get from anywhere in Cardiff to Bristol Airport than it is for them to get to CWL?

Not everything but lots certainly and with very good reason, the country is being run by a bunch of grifters. Self serving Politicians and corporate leaders are fXXking the rest of us over and the streets of Britain are descending into a dog eat dog clusterfXXk.
I don't think recent high end resignations including at the world Bank have much to do with the published reasons, those people know whats coming

Im the same, but my choice is not made because its easier to get to Bristol (it most definitely isnt) but simply because Bristol has decent coverage of the routes I use.

Bit baffled as to why Loganair have not gone double daily between CWL & EDI considering the promising loads pre-Covid. At one time there were x3 B737-300 flights a day with BMI baby and now there is just x1 EM4 / AT4 a day.

All other regional airports seem to be recovering slowly except for CWL. Loganair are due to start double daily flights between EDI & EXT so surely they can be targeted for CWL too ??

Loganair said following their fall out with NQY that they would focus on SOU, EXT & CWL and we seem the only one not to have increased frequencies….

A freedom of information request sent to the Welsh Government especially Mr L Waters may provide answers here.

Covid recovery isn't the main issue affecting decisions in the UK domestic market, though business travel demand has fallen sharply since then. The collapse of the original FLYBE, which coincided closely with the emergence of covid, took around 70 regional aircraft out of the market in one swoop. Not long after that, Stobart Air went as well - though much of their operation has now been backfilled by Emerald. Loganair doesn't have anything like the fleet strength that original FlyBe had, and the aircraft they do have are largely committed to established services. In the absence of FlyBe, a number of far more lucrative regional routes than CWL-EDI came up for grabs. The surviving regional carriers were always going to prioritise their very limited surplus fleet resources to a land-grab on the best of those routes.

Whilst you may plead the case that CWL-EDI is profitable (I don't know whether it is or not), that is not enough. In order to be selected for expansion, it has to be MORE lucrative than ANY alternative use of the available scarce ATR or Embraer. My guess is that it isn't even close to top pick. Take a look at the number of commuter aircraft operated by British Isles carriers in mid-2019 and contrast that with the equivalent fleet strength today. That's the real problem. The UK doesn't have a really big regional airline any longer. The remaining commuter types are spread thinly.

Reported elsewhere that Qatar Airways are due to make an announcement on 07/03/2023 with new routes……

Could we see a resumption of services for CWL after all the service was only “suspended” as a result of Covid and not “terminated”….CWL really needs to get them back !!

possibly S Burns did say that it looks like a 2024 resumption for the route so who knows. He kind of hinted that the route would resume when smaller aircraft were available but who knows. The loads were decent to an amateur like me and prices were on par with London so hopefully yield was ok. Wonder if a stop over flight like EK do to MLA via LCA would work on the DOH to CWL route?

Sadly not listed in Qatar's press release for S23.

It was never going to be S23.

Maybe S24 if at all…

Qatar

Just curious as to why Qatar chose Cardiff over Bristol in the first place? Not wanting to ignite a Cardiff vs Bristol storyline, just with BRS handing considerably more passengers, having a bigger catchment area, and being able to handle 787s, it always seemed an odd choice.

Bristol must be in TK’s or EK’s sights?

Kind regards

BristolexFlyer

Any runway issues or taxiway/parking constraints that would affect the useful load or performance of a widebody (e.g. B77W) flying to/from the Middle East?

Aside of runway issues which possibly wouldn't have been a deal breaker for the 787, perhaps the deciding factor would have been which airport offered the biggest 'bung' - sorry, incentive!

I think it is also QR’s aim to operate to as many capital cities as possible - not sure that this is still their policy or not.

I imagine once EK get their 787-9's then BRS could be a contender for them? Right now they don't have suitable aircraft.

Would be nice to see CWL get Qatar back but we shall see.

The CWL-DOH flights were subsidised by the Welsh Government IIRC.

Absolutely, I have thought for a long time EK would start BRS when the 787s arrive.

I will stand corrected, but I understood it was a commercial arrangement rather rather than direct government support, though I appreciate that since the airport is in Welsh government control this could be moot point.

QR back to CWL..
https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...rn-to-cardiff/

brilliant news! Nothing is confirmed until confirmed but as CWL had very similar prices and loads to BHX there’s no reason why it shouldn’t do well again.

Sounds promising indeed with a special reference to CWL which was good - let’s hope it happens.

Just need a Paris route next !! Far prefer CDG over AMS….

I’m sure it will come back eventually. It’s just finding the right operator with the right size aircraft to operate it. The A321 was way too big for that route. AF with Hop! maybe? I know that would water down the AMS route but still keeping pax in the AF/KLM group.