I don’t see HUY or MME as being so relevant as they have never really been of a size (pax wise) comparable to CWL. I made some points about SOU and SEN in earlier posts.

So, if I follow your train of thought through - the large airlines have chosen BRS and won’t operate at CWL and I don’t see new entrants into the UK market, then the aviation related business of CWL looks pretty bleak. I don’t see how non aviation businesses can make the airport a viable going concern.

i am going to bow out of the discussion as it would seem a lot of people feel management and leadership are entirely passive to the aviation part of this business. I take a different view as a customer of the airport and a taxpayer would like to see change and more transparent communication about a recovery business plan - whether that be aviation or non aviation growth. At the moment I see nothing and would like to see more than the maintenance of the status quo.

I think in your 2nd paragraph you have hit the nail firmly on the head. The clustering of airlines around particular larger airport is a fact. Airports such as Cardiff are going to struggle to attract large new based fleets. Managements can offer incentives galore but if airlines can't see a path to increasing market share and more importantly profit they aren't going to bite.

I absolutely get that Wales wants its capital to have a thriving airport but it isn't always possible. Take Bratislava as an example, overshadowed by Vienna, or Ljubljana neither of which enjoy enormously successful airports.

Best hope is for Cardiff to develop a niche for itself over and above passenger traffic. There is already the BA maintenance facility. Perhaps cargo could also be attracted, the freight sector isn't served by BRS to any degree.

The reason I used them as an example is that they all have over 1 million people within a 60 minute drive of the airport, had a lot more flights than they do now and ultimately lost market share to competitors when airlines consolidated at larger departure points. It is therefore directly relevant. The BRS CWL is not a level playing field, the airlines prefer to risk new routes from BRS because it can pull from a larger catchment area which includes South Wales. Therefore ATNotts conclusion is correct.

That is why I can’t see how you conclude that the management are passive. You can’t attract business that doesn’t exist! I agree though, you have every right to question them as a tax payer, but they may find that other aviation revenue is needed and they can double down on the routes that are currently successful like the KLM.

Surely the economy and supply & demand play a bigger part in CWLs fortunes rather than the management or WG? Do we honestly think the management and WG want to run it into the ground to do themselves out of jobs and lose millions in investment on purpose?

As much as I want to see CWL thrive, we have the be realistic. Airlines are businesses and will invest where they can make money. At the moment there is obviously no confidence in the South Wales economy so they won’t take the risk.

if you owned a thriving shop in one location, would you open another where you may or may not make money just for the convenience of a small minority who will travel to your thriving shop anyway? I wouldn’t until I had the confidence and research that both would thrive.

I don't think it's all down to the airports social media.

All airlines use social media really well, maybe CWL just isn't offering the same deals as other airports.

Well put
I would love to see CWL as a major airport with a regular connection to NQY I could then fly to YVR as I do often without the trek to London. The area just can't sustain that.

TUI's flights are mostly going out full. Obviously that is never a sign that the yields are working, but when you combine that with everyones perception that CWL is always more expensive (side note - its not). Then it seems TUI must be making good money but aren't confident they can expand enough without diluting yields even more.
As for Vueling, Ryanair etc. Who knows? Posts on various forums about load factors are showing positive signs though.

Is TUI maintaining 3 aircraft in CWL in 2025? I am wondering where they are getting the 2nd EXT aircraft from?

No signs that they are cutting any CWL schedules. The aircraft could be coming from anywhere, new Max deliveries, cuts elsewhere or another lease in for the summer season.

More Ryanair expansion at Bristol...

The fault is the Welsh Government. I doubt they even want a successful airport. Doing so would hurt the environment....

Is it? Why?

Ryanair have expanded at CWL. On a much smaller scale but it's still growth.
This constant comparison of CWL and BRS is tiring. You don't read similar articles comparing BRS and LHR or LGW.

What you fail to take into account is the market at CWL. As one low cost airline CEO said to me, I can fill 6 aircraft in the Summer but nothing in the Winter. Serving CWL from other bases is the sensible way to match capacity with demand.

Airlines are not even doing that on any significant scale

No but what there is has been more sustainable than the based aircraft that have come and gone.

Just posted by the ever brilliant @SeanM1997 on X so credit as always to him for the information

PLAY

Reykjavík Keflavík to Cardiff. Flights start 10 October 2024

OG380 KEF 0645-0940 CWL (Mon & Fri)

OG831 CWL 1040-1340 KEF (Mon & Fri)

Should hopefully please a few of the Cardiff faithful after a thread of negativity.

Fly Play
 

New route announced:
Fly Play - Cardiff - Iceland with connections to the US.

Random dates available in October and November only, but hopefully will be made permanent in the future.

Nice to see and read some good news for once about CWL, be it a small programme it is still a positive !!

Be great if CWL has the same success securing SunExpress as that would be even better and most probably a longer programme of flights too.

I can see Play has been added to Wikipedia already - though Freebird are also operating for TUI this year to AYT (under their own flight numbers not TUI)…..can someone not add this onto Wikipedia too as they seem to be missed off the list.

News reports say to coincide with half-termhttps://www.ttgmedia.com/news/play-l...-cardiff-45901

Which I do find a bit strange given that there's regular end of term and half term holidays in the UK, but you rarely here a new Airline launch a route to cater for school holidays. A one off for the football is something else, but not 6 weeks of flights.

Excellent to see Play at CWL, but I find the dates and duration very odd, and if anything they restrict many potential PAX. A summer season with a proper schedule is needed if they are to gauge demand imo.

I hope I'm wrong, but I fear we'll have them for these few weeks then never see them again.

Is that not a rather daft comment to make? Firstly, you could always add it yourself so long as you reference it with adequate sources. Though it would probably get deleted anyway as they operate solely for TUI in conjunction with TUI's own route network. I don't necessarily disagree it should be there, but they're not listed on any other airports wiki page either on the routes they fly for TUI.

Good to see Play trying out Cardiff, however limited.

See Loganair are pulling the SOU-GLA route as a result of direct competition from EZY on the same route. Also pulling the ABZ-NCL & MME flights too.

Be great if Loganair started CWL-GLA or a second daily CWL-EDI instead !!

I admire your optimism. Short answer, not a chance. Long answer, read the press release and the reasons for cutting services.

The only possible way CWL will benefit from this is if it frees up at ATR76 to boost overall seat capacity.
Are CWL-EDI flights still booked to be the ERJ?

They're doing it because Loganair have been an operational shambles for the last 12 months. The cancellations will be firebreaks in the schedule or to free up an operational spare

There's a nice sense of irony here. On one hand people defend Cardiff Airport by blaming it having an economically poor catchment area, whilst on the other hand celebrate a new service to one of Europe's most expensive tourist destinations.

Either these same people need to accept this new service will be a short-term disaster due to Iceland (and even the US if you're talking about connections) being too expensive for the poor people in the South Wales valleys, or accept the catchment area reason is simply an excuse and people will happily travel to an airport out of their way if the price is right and it's easy to use.

This is the most sensible reason.
Based on BRS masterplan that said 20% of its passengers come from South Wales, which if still accurate in 2024 is about 2m passengers.

What is unique about Play is although EZY compete to Iceland, there's no competition from BRS on flights to the US, so they may attract people from the Southwest.
This route could go either way, will be interesting to see what happens with it.

I would suggest that, given the short season that Play are offering, the market they believe they have identified is the short break / Northern Lights one, not the North America hub over KEF.

Its a bit of a stretch at this stage to start getting exited about USA connections which would only become a serious opportunity should the service be extended to year round.

It's a bit of a bizarre schedule of random days over a 6 week period. Who know what they're aiming for? The schedule covers two big football games between Wales and Iceland but if they were just targeting them then why not just put special football flights on?
Agreed the short break market will be the primary demand for the route but it does open up new opportunities. Although when WOW operated from BRS the connections weren't all that popular.

With all these new routes to/from Turkey I’m surprised CWL has missed out. SunExpress, Pegasus, Corendon etc,

Turkey is a popular destination from CWL and has been for many years. I wonder if CWL have actively tried to secure a new airline like one of these?

Glad to see that the year on year passenger numbers (terminal/transit) were up 30% for March. From a low base granted but one of the highest figures UK wide. A few more destinations/increased frequency and I think the habit of travelling from Cardiff will return to many.