Cardiff-3

[PDXCWL45]

Summary of what so far is available for Summer 2021 from Cardiff. Sample from a week in August
UK
Anglesey 10 weekly Eastern Airways
Belfast City 6 weekly Eastern Airways
Spain, Portugal and Canary Islands
Palma de Mallorca 9 weekly flights TUI and Vueling
Malaga 9 weekly flights Vueling, Ryanair and TUI
Alicante 8 weekly flights Vueling and TUI
Faro 3 weekly flights Ryanair and TUI
Ibiza 3 weekly flights TUI
Menorca 2 weekly flights TUI
Tenerife 2 weekly flights TUI
Lanzarote 2 weekly flights TUI
Gran Canaria 1 weekly flight TUI
Reus 1 weekly flight TUI
Greece, Cyprus and other European destinations
Amsterdam 20 weekly flights KLM
Rhodes 2 weekly flights TUI
Kos 2 weekly flights TUI
Corfu 2 weekly flights TUI
Paphos 2 weekly flights TUI
Zante 2 weekly flights TUI
Bourgas 1 weekly flight TUI
Larnaca 1 weekly flight TUI
Heraklion 1 weekly flight TUI
Keffalonia 1 weekly flight TUI
Dubrovnik 1 weekly flight TUI
Turkey, Tunisia and Qatar
Dalaman 3 weekly flights TUI
Antalya 2 weekly flights TUI
Enfidha 1 weekly flight TUI
Doha 7 weekly flights Qatar Airways

In total so far there will be up to 102 weekly departures for Summer 2021 of course this is all subject to change.
Cardiff is still in a decent shape for 2021 on the sun route side yes it lacks routes like Dublin and Edinburgh but there's not a lot it can do if airlines aren't interested. No doubt there'll be conversations in the background that we aren't aware of that could still add more for summer 2021.

[runway30]

Bit of a worry if you're booked on the TOM to Lanzarote on Thursday as there is no indication yet as to whether the Welsh travel ban will be lifted.

[PDXCWL45]

2nd December when Englands ends is when it ends i believe.

[runway30]

“The English lockdown will end on Wednesday this week. In that context we are looking at travel restrictions in and out of Wales and will make a further announcement later this week.”

Direct quote from the First Minister today so you may be correct but as of today it is still uncertain.

[PDXCWL45]

Doesn't mean they'll ban foreign travel, the biggest concern is more inbound travel from England. TUI have positioned in G-TAWN a few days ago from NCL so they must be confident that they'll be able to fly but I guess we'll have to wait until Thursday to see if the flight actually departs.

[runway30]

If the English border is closed, could you really have International travel from CWL? Anyone from England booked on a flight would be unable to travel. I would be able to fly from CWL but wouldn’t be able to fly from MAN next week. You could have the farcical situation of being able to travel to MAN via ACE but not being able to cross the border?

As you say, we’ll soon find out.

[PDXCWL45]

I'd expect international travel would be a valid reason to cross the border.

[yeo valley]

Worth asking someone in the know about airport travel getting to airport and getting home from airport.

[runway30]

I don't need to ask anyone, at the moment you can travel from anywhere in Wales to CWL but you can only get on a flight for essential travel.

You can only travel from Wales to an airport in England for essential travel.

Leisure travel is not an essential reason.

[fanrailuk]

And this “advice” alone will not stop Welsh passengers crossing over the bridge to travel from BRS.

If there are flights operating, people will be on them - regardless of where they reside.

The WG may as well relax those rules as people just simply won’t adhere to it, and haven’t throughout the pandemic during the various lockdowns/firebreaks.

[runway30]

Let me enlighten you about devolution. We have a Parliament that makes laws. You commit an offence when you cross the border. It is not “advice”.

Is it possible to avoid being caught, yes. Is it socially acceptable to do so, no.

[bycrewlgw]

whilst Drakeford considered making cross border travel illegal, I don’t think it ever came into law so as far as I’m aware it’s a measure not a law. Of course, I may be wrong but have been keeping a very close eye on what’s happening in wales as family are still there.

[PDXCWL45]

There have been lots of reports of people being fined and sent back to England but not arrested as far as I know.
I personally think that if airports are open for leisure travel in England then Cardiff will be and crossing the border to catch a flight will be allowed.

[runway30]

bycrewlgw

'The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No 4) (Wales) Regulations 2020.

The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 45B, 45C (1) and (3), 45 F (2) and 45P of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 (1).

Part 3

Restriction on travel

9. Restriction on travel to and from Wales

(1) No person living outside Wales may enter or remain in Wales without a reasonable excuse
(2) No person living in Wales may leave Wales without a reasonable excuse'

[runway30]

New base at CWL with 9 routes

[PDXCWL45]

"It is to launch nine new routes to resorts such as Alicante, Faro and Tenerife as well as seasonal routes during the summer to Corfu and Palma de Mallorca as well as Lanzarote and Sharm El Sheikh during the winter."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-wales-55166975?__twitter_impression=true

[TOM100]

Good news - twice a week to SSH ex CWL on a 321 in Winter is ambitious. Hope the people of Wales (and West of England) support this venture. This will be critical to the future of the airport - if it cant support a single aircraft true low cost base then.....

[PDXCWL45]

Yes SSH is a surprise but they must have some sort of backing for that from package holiday companies and if needs could downgrade to an A320.

[EI-BUD]

How could they be lured onto a Dublin route??
Though 321 is too big, it could have gotten interesting, but I think they know better, that Ryanair would step in... Given the route and base decisions they've made, it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

[bycrewlgw]

Brilliant news for Cardiff and sensible choice of destinations. They’re filling the gap somewhat that was left by TCX. Hoping they do well at CWL!

[PDXCWL45]

EI-BUD

Pretty confident they'll stick to the sun routes. I expect that CWL will try and attract Aer Lingus regional or Eastern or at a long shot ryanair onto Dublin.

[macdo]

Nice to see some positive news about CWL for a change. And I'm sure if its cheap enough they will thrive.
Just a shame it has to be Wizzair. They are taking the p##s in he way they treat their crew, even making allowances for the current situation. Just follow the thread in Terms and Endearment to see how.
I think I'll choose to pay a bit more and travel with someone who is a better employer rather than encourage the race to the bottom.
I accept that not many will do likewise.

[Letsflycwl]

Excellent news about the Wizz base and well done to CWL for securing this airline.

This is what people have been crying out for so come on Wales back your local airport and this new airline to some great destinations.

I wonder if this new base would see the BRS-KTW flight with Wizz being transferred over to CWL especially as it is the only 1 Wizz destination from BRS.

[RedDragonFlyer]

Finally some good news for Cardiff after a pretty horrendous 12 months with Covid and the losses of BE and TCX.

Interesting that Wizz's first two non-London bases are small airports where they will be able to rule the roost as it were. Quite sensible that they are sticking to bucket and spade routes which have proven records from small British airports (even CWL). The only notable exception is Malaga, but it seems possible they might have wanted to avoid a route with three airlines already. I imagine we might have had a bit of Eastern Europe (OTP/KRK/WAW/GDK/BUD) like DSA if it wasn't for the uncertainty of Brexit and likely fall in migrant workflows. Perhaps that's something to look for in the future.

I can't imagine WIzz ever launching routes domestically or to Ireland either. As others have said, Aer Lingus Regional, Eastern, new Flybe and Loganair are the more likely operators when the Covid mist rises.

[PDXCWL45]

I would be very surprised if they launched Eastern Europe to Cardiff. I expect if there is expansion it would be more sun routes Barcelona Girona Malta Gran Canaria Rhodes and Dalaman could be all future possibilities but I'm definitely getting ahead myself!

[yeo valley]

It will be a classic case of use it or lose it. Good news for CWL thou.

[fanrailuk]

I wonder if this new base would see the BRS-KTW flight with Wizz being transferred over to CWL especially as it is the only 1 Wizz destination from BRS.

This route is operated by KTW based crew, plus BRS has a huge Eastern European market that I am sure Wizz still want to be involved with. So I don’t see them rushing to move routes over the bridge at this stage, but you never know...

From the S2021 initial timetable however it does seem that 2 aircraft are required so am sure there is still more to come from Wizz @ CWL

[gilesdavies]

Great news for Cardiff, have been using them from Luton for years and not really got any major complaints, just make sure you stick by rules for hand baggage and checking in online and you will be fine!

It is very unusual for Wizz Air to open up a base from an airport they have never previously operated from, as usually they fly there from other bases first. It is also interesting how the airline has suddenly in the last 1-2 years started expanding operations from the UK to summer sun destinations in Greece and Spain, as previously they avoided these routes like the plague and would only fly to Spain and Greece from their central European bases, where there was less competition.

Below is what the summer schedule looks likes for Mid-Summer in June/July/August (showing the departure time and arrival time back at CWL), and looks like that will be one busy Airbus A321 shuttling between all these destinations and Cardiff! Lanzarote and Sharm El Sheikh are not showing as they are only bookable for late 2021 going into the winter.

Sharm El Sheikh is also an interesting destination, as Wizz Air do not operate there from any other airports on their network, and I think it might actually be the longest route on their network and block time of six hours!

Mon
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
16.35 <--> 01.55

Tues
Corfu
06.10 <--> 13.40
Larnaca
14.30<-->01.10

Weds
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
16.35 <--> 01.55

Thurs
Palma
​​​​​​​06.10 <--> 11.25
Alicante
12.15 <--> 17.45
Faro
18.30 <--> 00.30

Fri
Heraklion
06.10 <--> 15.25
Tenerife
​​​​​​​16.35 <--> 01.55

Sat
Corfu
​​​​​​​06.10 <--> 13.40
Larnaca
14.30<-->01.10

Sun
Palma
06.10 <--> 11.25
Alicante
12.15 <--> 17.45
Faro
18.30 <--> 00.30

[Letsflycwl]

I wonder if there is phase 2 for next winter with additional destinations to cover the summer only routes ? Early days I know but good news day at last for CWL

[RedDragonFlyer]

fanrailuk

Didn't they start the KTW route when Ryanair opened a KRK base and opened a BRS-KRK flight/ closed BRS-KTW? (Ryanair once sold Katowice as 'Krakow (Katowice)').
They have been operating it for a few years now so must be happy with the route. Bristol does have a strong group of routes to Eastern Europe and the VFR market in South Wales is well accustomed to traveling to Bristol to fly there.

Thanks for the schedule @gilesdavies. Wizz have a lot of planes coming and bold expansion plans. If they see an opportunity, I think they'll take it. Wizzair UK's MD Owain Jones basically said as much in the media release interview. Their two non-London bases are both airports where they have almost a free-run in terms of competition. My worry about the success of the route would be with name-recognition of Wizz compared to easyjet and RYR who are better known in the local market. Wizz will certainly be competitive on price though if their prices are similar to LTN.

[caaardiff]

Letsflycwl

The aircraft utilisation is already full for both summer and winter schedule with the current frequencies on sale.
For winter the frequencies are
ACE x3
TFS x3
FAO x2
ALC x2
SSH x2
LCA x2

[TOM100]

Agree about the name recognition but then Vueling seem to have done OK ex CWL (albeit on a much smaller program) and they weren’t particularly well known in South Wales (or indeed the UK) when they initially commenced operations.

Hopefully the CWL team will market aggressively especially amongst agents, given the route structure - and they could be seeing a resurgence when post Covid bookings pick up - given some of the poor experiences some travellers have experienced during this wretched pandemic getting through to and obtaining refunds from some tour operators.

[TOM100]

I really think a 1 x weekly LPA or FUE would be stronger than 2 x weekly SSH. However as others have said maybe Wizz know something about this market or have a tie up or maybe hoping to attract people across the bridge as U2/FR don’t offer ex BRS.

[fanrailuk]

RedDragonFlyer

This was once said of Vueling back in 2012...

[caaardiff]

TOM100

Wizz are at a slight advantage in that some people (not many) do know about them and have used them, probably from Luton or even BRS. Reading Cardiff Airports Facebook page generally feedback seems quite positive with many saying they have flown with then. Vueling were different as they had very little presence in the UK when they started CWL.
Vueling did however have a huge marketing campaign, if I remember correctcorrectly funding supported by CWL. Hopefully Wizz will get the same. There already appears to be a huge fanfair already in the news with BBC, Walesonline and even The Independent now covering the story, with a number of smaller news streams also covering the story.
Personally I think the one aircraft base with current routes is sufficient for now. Its a starting point for Wizz to get the name out there on decent demand routes while also allowing the rest of the industry to get back on its feet. Hopefully FR and VY will remain as they are and enough demand post covid is there for S21.

[fanrailuk]

TOM100

I think they’re going with the hope of being the only lo-co in the entire South West / South Wales / Midlands region offering the service.

The only offering to SSH otherwise is TUI.

I too would not be surprised to see LPA and/or FUE added in somewhere. Hopefully!

[PDXCWL45]

I expect that SSH is there as a result of feedback from travel agents over the bridge it'll be curious to see if EZY respond to that.
Looking at route frequency and why certain routes arent there id suggest that Wizz wants to give people options of short breaks 10 day breaks as well as 7 and 14 day holidays hence why no gran canaria or summer lanzarote or Rhodes. It's likely those will be added if or when a 2nd aircraft gets based.

[VickersVicount]

It's likely those will be added if or when a 2nd aircraft gets based.
I would try and get through the next year with what they are offering first to see how that goes before considering expansion. Its odd that the other LoCos haven't done that much at CWL and EZY have stayed clear. What do they know that Wizz doesn’t?
Im cautiously cynical with Wizz and their random sudden expansions. What happened at Liverpool? Doncasters’ another one...
Time will tell but Id be surprised if all this Wizz expansion is in the same format in a year or two’s time (esp if slots appear at LGW)

[toledoashley]

PDXCWL45

Chance would be a fine thing - Wizz are as hostile to agents as Ryanair. Not even close on their radar.

[caaardiff]

VickersVicount

EZY had the South Wales Market happily using BRS. FR have a decent presence at BRS too so likely wouldn't want to dilute that. With Jet2 going to BRS and question marks over BRS expansion there likely wasn't room for Wizz and everyone to grow.
Wizz can use CWL as foothold into South Wales and even the Southwest market and start to compete with EZY and FR.

As for SSH its a risk as its always generally been a package holiday market but they have seen an opportunity as its only served by TUI in the area.

[pabely]

Not so sure SSH is a risk. Of the 16 times I have flown on the route with TUI, I sat about 10 times next to seat only pax

[PDXCWL45]

toledoashley

It still doesn't mean travel agents can't purchase flights as I've often seen Malta and Faro packages offered with Ryanair as the airline.

[PDXCWL45]

VickersVicount

I did say if or when and as for FR and EZY they both have bases at BRS and rely on the leakage of passengers from Wales to make BRS more profitable and EZY have repeatedly told cwl that they don't see a need to serve Cardiff. Wizz on the other hand don't have a BRS base to protect. As for Wizz expansion I'm sure I read that they want to base 50 aircraft in the UK and currently have 18.

[runway30]

An airline CEO once told me that he could sell out 6 aircraft (probably slightly exaggerating) at CWL during the Summer but nothing in the Winter. So if you are going to base aircraft at CWL, the number of aircraft is going to depend on what you can sell during the Winter.

I’m a bit surprised that nobody wants to do EDI, that has previously worked all year round.

[PDXCWL45]

By that logic TUI should only have 1 aircraft at CWL all year yet base 3 in the summer. But the winter will be the big challenge for Wizz.
As for EDI the only real option is loganair and they made it quite clear that they aren't interested in the route.

[Letsflycwl]

Eastern “could” also be an option for EDI too. I think it’s a good move for Wizz Air with just 1 aircraft initially and time will tell.....no reason why it will not work and down to the public to make it a success

[RedDragonFlyer]

Wizz will stay at Cardiff if flights are profitable enough for them to. There are certainly a large enough number of passengers in the catchment area. Not far off 2 million travel over the bridge to BRS each year to fly. The real question is if Wizz can capture enough of them/ generate enough new passengers at the right price. Nobody knows if that will be the case yet.
They do have a history of starting and cutting routes frequently - but that is always going to be the case when you have an airline expanding as rapidly as Wizz are. They do sell seats through travel agents on package holidays as well to the person who said they didn't.

fanrailuk Yes, the same was said about Vueling. The thing your flippant comment forgets is that they have spent *a lot* of money on marketing. That's got them passengers all right, but they've cut flights they used to operate and still carry fewer Welsh passengers to AGP/ PMI/ ALC than easyjet and Ryanair do from Bristol. When people in S. Wales think of a LCC, they think easyjet and Ryanair, not Vueling and that's just a fact. That's not to put Vueling down of course. They have done an excellent job cutting out a niche at Cardiff.

As for domestic routes, lets see what happens when the Covid mist thins (hopefully) over the summer. Wizz isn't going to be operating any domestic routes, but there are other possible carriers that I listed a few posts ago.

[Fly757X]

PDXCWL45

I don’t think it’s a matter that they “aren’t interested.”

From various articles it was one of the few that remained in the “viable but unserved” category along with the likes of EDI-MAN (albeit specifics about the lack of demand for onward connections making MAN very difficult to work in the future.) As for EDI-CWL I’d say it’ll certainly be a matter of waiting for markets to recover and analysing the rate and extent that happens over the course of the spring with a return to be made in hopefully in the future.

[PDXCWL45]

This is a reply from their social media team that i got back in September when they released summer 2021
"Right now we cannot see how we would be able to operate to Cardiff from anywhere in our network in a way that provides a schedule suitable for customers and financially viable for us as an airline,"
This reply seems to back up what the CEO himself said in an interview with Anna.aero and on a LinkedIn in post who also mentioned Easyjet adding extra flights at Bristol and in the interview said some airports were more helpful than others.

Maybe they will return in the future but I'd suggest they'd need more aircraft to do so and I can't see it being in 2021. Will be odd not seeing Edinburgh as a route from Cardiff.

[Buster the Bear]

Wizz will stay at Cardiff if the subsidies from the Welsh Government mean they can develop a hub. They'll be out in a flash if they cannot make money.

[caaardiff]

According to one article, I forget which one, there is no WG involvement. Its all on commercial terms with the airport.

[ATNotts]

To offer subsidies to enable the better heeled section of the population to enjoy two weeks in the sunshine would be a very poor use of public money. Leisure flying should never be subsidised by the taxpayer. On the other hand, we there to be the opportunity for the government to support a carrier willing to open up routes to business destinations, where the benefits may involve new jobs and investment in Wales there may be more merit to a subsidy. From my perspective however, air travel isn't "public transport" and should never get subsidies from public bodies using tax payer's money.

[SWBKCB]

Probably a discussion to have when there is evidence of the use of tax payers money but there might be a couple of reasons, to create/maintain airport based employment, and to help improve the viability of the airport so that the those "global connectivity" flights can be operated.

[Jamesair1]

A good valid reason for a subsidy or call it 'encouragement to use an underused facility'. Air transport is a form of public transport i.e. a form of transport to which the paying public have access.

[ATNotts]

In the broadest sense of the term yes, but then on that basis so could the cruise industry!

When people discuss public transport they tend to mean rail, trams and buses mainly but not exclusively used for day to day life and work. Aviation for leisure hardly falls into that category.

However as was said above currently we have no idea whether or not Wizz has been lured with Welsh tax payers money.

[Wales2theworld]

It has already been confirmed that no government funds have been used to attract the airline.

[davidjohnson6]

It's impossible to claim that Welsh Govt cash wasn't used, when the Welsh Govt owns 100% of Cardiff airport, would almost certainly bail out the airport if it was in serious debt, and will also receive 100% of any potential dividends should they be paid

Cardiff airport is the overwhelmingly dominant commercial airport in Wales, is the only airport with non-PSO flights and is a 100% state owned company. You can create all sorts of legal niceties on paper to tick boxes, but in practice it is an arm of the Transport section of the Welsh Govt

[caaardiff]

There's a big difference between subsidies and loans. Most of what has been publicly broadcast is CWL taking commercial loans from the WG, therefore being paid back.
The WG own the Airport. If they don't provide money in some way, CWL will not be able to recover.

[PDXCWL45]

With an election coming up it's hardly likely that the WG is going to splash the cash on attracting holiday routes to the airport due to political fallout and I also doubt that the airport company itself has any spare cash to splash as well I suspect that any deal has a lot of waived fees in it. The WG will no doubt make sure that the airport stays afloat but I don't see this government especially subsiding an airline like Wizz or any other airline with the exception of maybe Qatar Airways, KLM or a US route.

[PDXCWL45]

Yesterday British Airways G-BYGC BOAC livery was the BA 747 departure from Cardiff and most likely the last ever 747 departure from the airport. It flew to St Athan where it'll be preserved by eCube solutions.
https://twitter.com/JeremyBrookman2/status/1337459930908020736?s=19

[Buster the Bear]

Free landing, navigation, parking..........

That is an unwritten subsidy based upon the published tariff of charges. The airport may have it's own fund to financially support new routes or airlines. Wizz will be paying Cardiff airport nothing (or very little) for a pre-determined period. This in the hope that Wizz can develop a money making operation for their shareholders. Plus, sustaining jobs after the JRS.

[PDXCWL45]

I'd say pretty standard stuff for most airports especially small ones. The airport will earn its money off ancillary revenue from the footfall they bring through the airport.

[PDXCWL45]

Eastern Airways have taken Anglesey & Belfast City offsale for Jan & Feb.

Anglesey resumes 1st March 2021
Belfast City begins 12th March 2021

[PDXCWL45]

Looks like KLM won't be resuming flights until 28th March

[yeo valley]

I dont think they will start on that date. Its nice to see they put a date.When they do start i recon it will start off at 1 per day.

[PDXCWL45]

Well we'll have to wait and see. That is the start of summer and I believe it's down as 2 daily.

[fanrailuk]

Rumours circulating on the socials and other sites that QR are to pull the plug on CWL (and BHX)...

Rumour only! As per the name of this forum. Don’t shoot the messenger :rolleyes:

[PDXCWL45]

Apparently they made some staff at Cardiff redundant and they were told the route won't be resuming but the flights are still onsale at the moment.

[Matt4]

I’ve just been looking on Qatar’s website for their destinations in Europe but I couldn’t see Cardiff as a destination on their list. If someone can find it I apologise but I couldn’t see it

[Letsflycwl]

CWL is showing on the map on Qatar Airways website......just looked out of curiosity

[Midland Alpha9]

fanrailuk

My Field Agents tell me the earliest QR will return is 2022 if at all . If this is correct very sad news indeed.

[PDXCWL45]

Expected tbh. Going to take a while for everything to recover and unlike Dubai Doha isn't a point to point route but more for onward connections especially for Australia and New Zealand.

[RedDragonFlyer]

While sad news, I think it is clear that very little long-haul travel is going to happen in 2021. The chances of Australia, NZ, Thailand, Malaysia (some of the main markets from CWL) opening their borders this year to Brits to travel relatively freely before the end of the year is small to none. Hardly surprising when you think in those circumstances.

Will be interesting to see whether Qatar cancel or just suspend the route.

[LGS6753]

Now that several neighbouring countries have lifted their sanctions against Qatar, it may be that Qatar Airways have more profitable places to use their fleet.

[caaardiff]

CWL was always going to be a marginal route for QR, but there could've been more economic desires between Wales and Qatar along with the route.
RedDragon makes a good point. The majority of people using the route were connecting to Australia & New Zealand, and there's no sign of that demand returning just yet.

I've done a comparison of passenger numbers vs BHX and EDI. Although EDI started at 5 weekly, with CWL at 7 weekly, CWL actually carried more passengers in it's first year. With the right frequency and continued growth I would've expected CWL to break the 100-110k passenger figure in 2020. Obviously Covid has decimated any potential to grow in the short term, or even make the route viable over the coming months.
If true, and it certainly appears that way, it makes sense for CWL to at least be suspended. A return, if at all, in 2022 makes sense.
Also lets not forget that QR operated to quite a few smaller demand and marginal Airports across the world. What we don't know is where CWL falls in comparison to other worldwide Airports. If anything the UK market is one that will likely recover quicker, with people craving to go on holiday and also travel the world to see family and friends that they've missed out on seeing in 2020 and even 2021, especially in Australia/NZ.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/646x83/screenshot_2021_01_08_151627_5b6bcce59122baaf85a594b40a404b8 fc10629da.jpg

[PDXCWL45]

They launched Pattaya, Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Gothenburg around the same time as Cardiff and none are onsale as direct routes anymore.

[CabinCrewe]

But without the competition of EK going gangbusters barely 40 miles along the M8...

[fanrailuk]

A direct quote from Akbar Al Baker at a CAPA Live event today;

”Qatar Airways will serve all the routes we had launched after the blockade and what we had launched before the COVID restrictions happened...”

Make of that what you will.

[GayFriendly]

He is the definition of motor mouth....he proudly 'announced' that QR would be serving BHX in 2006....another decade later they finally did!

Fingers crossed he is talking factually this time, although I note he hasn't actually said WHEN any of these suspended routes might restart....personally I'd be surprised if either BHX or CWL start again in 2021.

[CabinCrewe]

I doubt you’ll see either again on the Medium term. Something like an A321LR would be better if they wanted these types of routes to work. Even EDI seat use was often pretty low on A35/78. If A380s and some 777s are being withdrawn then the domino effect means 787s needed on other routes.
But we’re often told that cargo on widebodies is what keeps these afloat (although that can easily be transferred elsewhere by road)

[PDXCWL45]

They do continue to receive A350 1000s deliveries and have 787 9s outstanding not to mention narrow body aircraft parked up. They also have 777 8s and 9s on order as well as A321neo and LR.
I do think they'll be fine aircraft wise and I wouldn't be surprised if they may well try and expand their way out of this situation.

[PDXCWL45]

Wizz Air have started recruiting for their new Cardiff base!
https://wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/career/cabin-crew-flight-attendant/

[Letsflycwl]

It’s reported that Eastern have pulled out of MME after less than a year after all the fan fare and publicity. Loganair are taking over all the routes including LHR.

Would Eastern be a good candidate for CWL ?? After all they do the VLY and soon to be BHD route and will now have spare aircraft that were intended for MME. They also do quite a bit of sport charters through CWL and will have some CWL based crew and also a based J41.

EDI, JER, DUB and possibly CDG may be a good fit for them (all pending on COVID situation). There can’t be many regional carriers left for these routes and we know Loganair have no interest in CWL.

I think MME were having a ATR72, J41 and the E70 based there.....

Most probably dreaming as COVID has messed up lots of things in this industry but just curious what Eastern are going to do next with Loganair muscling on their routes from other U.K. airports.

[caaardiff]

Eastern are realistically one of the only options left for CWLs domestic routes. Wizz was one of the few, if not the only last option for CWL and they pulled it off, so I really wouldn't be surprised if they do expand at CWL. It will be interesting to see Eastern next move as they are slowly being pushed out at most of the Airports they recently expanded at.

[Letsflycwl]

My thoughts exactly and especially as Loganair have muscles in on most of their routes and said CWL is not part of their long term plan. Eastern have those ATR 72’s plus more on order plus the E70’s which is quite a tidy sized aircraft to operate the likes of EDI, JER, DUB & CDG plus already having a based aircraft and crew here. It could be a good fit for them (pending on fares, publicity, deals and of course COVID). They are also still advertising for CWL based crew too......

[SWBKCB]

Eastern still have Aberdeen and Newquay on sale from MME. Cardiff no longer listed in the destinations from MME.

[Letsflycwl]

True but BHD, DUB, LHR, JER, ALC all pulled since Loganair muscled in.

[globetrotter79]

Wouldn’t Cardiff-Newcastle be an obvious one for Eastern to go back on, now their TeesSide base seems to have been pulled?

[davidjohnson6]

Perhaps CWL-EDI or CWL-GLA would be a safer bet instead of CWL-NCL ?

[Letsflycwl]

In a real world yes but who knows in this COVID world. As previously mentioned Eastern just seem like a good fit for most of the ex Flybe routes ex CWL especially as they already have the based J41 and serve both VLY & BHD.

It would be great to see them base an ATR or the E70 here especially as no competition but it is all going to be on recovery from this pandemic in the long term and what deal/incentive CWL would offer any airline to pick up these key routes (DUB, EDI, JER, CDG).

[CWL757]

Anyone know how the wizzair loads are looking?

[Saabandthecity]

Its highly likely eastern will soon disappear from scheduled operations due to their lack of focus and direction, with a tiny operation remaining in ABZ and the MME base failing for a few reasons and the strong competition at SOU to which eastern is a weak player due it's own fault of poor reliability, poor customer service (flight/cabin crews not included) and general sloppy operations.

[caaardiff]

They've just taken on a few new aircraft so at this point I would think they have no choice to try and find work to utilise them as they are still early on in any lease deal. I cant see them finding enough ad-hoc work to keep them utilised so they may be forced to continue scheduled operations until they can A) pick up enough charter work and B) Bin off some aircraft.

[SWBKCB]

The EMB-170 was parked up for a couple of years, so won't be costing much - similarly the J.41's and EMB-145's. Are the Atr-72's leased? Wasn't this part of the Bristows deal?

[ATNotts]

caaardiff

That was one of the mistakes FlyBe probably made. Have aircraft, must fly them; however if flying them costs more than grounding them then flying them is definitely a bad idea.

[Saabandthecity]

Its difficult to see what else Eastern can do that they haven't already and given up on, which other aircraft have they taken on? I know they finally got a few 41s through the heavy checks after they got left at Cranfield. And the ex Air Moldova 190 is back up for sale without operating once.

[Saabandthecity]

SWBKCB

The 41s will eventually run out of parts if the engineers/technicians don't move on before then. 1 of the 145s won't be operated due to the cabin not being to eastern spec. The ATRs are currently leased, Lake had submitted a bit to purchase the aircraft from NAC who declined the offer this was back in 2019.

[Fly757X]

SWBKCB

Correct, the ATRs and the E170 are leased (NAC and GECAS I believe).

All of the JS41s are owned so seen to be used on a rolling basis and the ER4s are currently for sale. There has been no listings anywhere for the ER3s which are making their way back to the U.K. but they are also owned as well at present.

[fanrailuk]

This is a CWL discussion, not a T3 forum.

Please use the correct thread.

[fanrailuk]

Qatar Airways CWL - DOH service no longer on sale via their website for any future dates. Same applies for BHX.

As speculated. Let's hope it returns for 2022...

[PDXCWL45]

Cardiff is still onsale on their app and I'm told their website.

[fanrailuk]

It is not on sale on either channels, sadly.

[RedDragonFlyer]

Not in any way unexpected. Long-haul travel to the east in any sort of meaningful numbers will not be returning in 2021. Closest realistic restart date is summer 2022. There are many factors involved in that though. I think we are all hoping for QR to return in better days.

[PDXCWL45]

It appears that the app was a glitch. No idea about the website. Hopefully they'll be back in the future!

[fanrailuk]

AGP

According to the App and website, it looks like Ryanair are adding flights to Malaga this summer and extending it to the end of the summer season in October with it starting it in June as planned.

5 x weekly in June (M,Tu,W,F,Sa)
6 x weekly in July & August (no flight on Sun)
3 x weekly in September & October (Tu,Th,F)

FAO

Faro remains 2 x weekly Mondays & Fridays for the entire summer season.

As a side note, Vueling have started to load their W21/22 November & December flights to ALC - currently at 3 x weekly (Tu,Th,Sa) up to 18th December.

[PDXCWL45]

Barcelona looks like it might be returning. Its appeared on the app as 2 weekly Tuesday and Saturday from May until the end of October but at the moment no flights loaded. Fingers crossed they'll be loaded soon and maybe even Malta might return as well!

[PDXCWL45]

Well unfortunately it looks like the increases were too good to be true!
Malaga will remain 3 weekly but on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays except June when it's 2 weekly with no Thursday flight. The route will operate in September and October so some good news there.

Unfortunately Barcelona has disappeared from the drop down on the app.

[Letsflycwl]

It was reported elsewhere (I think Twitter) that Ryanair uploaded lots of new flights which were visible on the app/website for a few hours and included other airports such as STN, ABZ, BRS etc along with CWL that were then hidden.......who knows really but we may see BCN appear at some point again

[fanrailuk]

CWL - BCN starts 1 May to 30 October

2 x weekly - Tuesday & Saturday

On sale now.

[Letsflycwl]

Thats good news - I wonder if MLA would return at some point too ?

[ATNotts]

No, the good news will be IF it starts operating on 1st May. Presently I really cannot see how leisure travel is going to get up and running much before July, I mean the plan at the moment is only to have vaccinated over 50s by May.

[ericlday]

CANARIAN AIRWAYS IS BORN, THE NEW CANARY AIRLINE https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t3d/1.5/16/2708.png
Today Wednesday, the Cabildo of Tenerife hosted the presentation of Canarian Airways, a new air carrier led by hoteliers Tinerfeños and One Airways, which will begin operating from June from Tenerife South Airport with a single 144-seater plane.
The new airline will launch from next March the sale and booking of tickets, flying to destinations such as Madrid, Barcelona, Vigo and Bilbao, Glasgow, Cardiff and Berlin.

[SWBKCB]

At first glance I thought somebody had re-launched Cambrian.... :(

[Letsflycwl]

Interesting why CWL has been picked, not that I’m knocking it. One A319 has already been bought by the airline (ex Atlantic Airways) but cannot find a website for the airline at present but guess it be nice to have a new carrier for sure as and when it launches.

[SKOJB]

Saw mentioned 144 seats so assume A319, will be interesting to see if this ever gets off the ground!

[Letsflycwl]

Could there be a “potential” return of Aer Lingus and a CWL-DUB route ? CWL has appeared on drop down menu but all flights are showing “sold out” along with other flights to BHX & EDI from ORK & SNN.

Baffled as to why EI pulled that route so only time will tell

[Alteagod]

Could be BHD CWL route maybe

[CWL757]

Letsflycwl

they pulled the route because CWL management got too comfy in bed with BEE, as they did with WW causing FR to pull out of the DUB route in 2006 (?). Fingers crossed CWL-DUB will return!

[PDXCWL45]

The other story is that they weren't getting enough onward traffic to the USA and wanted to use the aircraft to expand at other airports.
CWL has been on the drop down for Dublin for quite a while.

[Letsflycwl]

Wasn’t DUB one of BE’s most used route passenger wise though ? I remember in the FR days with both the 732 & 738 that the loads were always high. Yes £££ has to do with it but DUB was certainly not an under used route. If EI can serve EXT & NQY then logically CWL would also work but again all down to £££, COVID recovery and demand.

[PDXCWL45]

About 100,000 passengers a year. Pretty sure that EI doesn't serve Exeter to Dublin. I suspect that they'll probably want CWLs former passengers to go to them at Bristol same with Ryanair.
But I'm not 100% sure but I don't think that it came up as sold out before but was just blank.

[Letsflycwl]

EI are due to start BHD-EXT-BHD this summer and agree about the EI booking engine used to be just blank but it’s now saying “sold out” so god knows the plans if any there !!

I also would have thought Eastern would have shown more interest with CWL, I know they’ve added BHD but that’s just to utilise the based J41 that does the VLY sectors.

[Fly757X]

Small thing is that BHD-EXT-BHD has actually be operating for a good while now. I was however surprised to see it over CWL with EIR/STK when it was first launched.

[PDXCWL45]

Easterns focus seems to be on Southampton.

[Letsflycwl]

I know it’s Wikipedia but someone has updated quite a few new Wizz destinations from CWL as of December onwards this year......anyone any ideas ?

[PDXCWL45]

Someone seems to have gone to a lot of effort!

[Letsflycwl]

Yeah I agree there and all seem to be current Wizz destinations already......is something in the pipeline or is this wishful thinking ?

AUH, BUD, KIV, EIN, LIS, MXP, SOF, TKU & WAW......all currently big bases for Wizz.

Plus all seem to be quite date specific too for December onwards.

[fanrailuk]

I wouldn't hold your breath given that absolutely anyone can edit Wikipedia...

And some of those routes are just absolutely never gonna work at CWL.

End.

Notably the person who has gone to "all the effort" hasn't reciprocated it on the destination airport Wikipedia pages.

[PDXCWL45]

Letsflycwl

I checked the app and nothing had changed. I suppose only time will tell if it's someone messing about. The destinations are interesting.
Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Chisinau, Eindhoven, Lisbon, Milan, Sofia, Turku and Warsaw.

[Letsflycwl]

All current Wizz destinations and some being main Wizz bases. Someone has spent quite a bit of time being date specific so as you say time will tell or someone has been extremely bored today !!

Out of curiosity though have Wizz released Winter 2021-2022 schedule yet or any phase of it ?

ALL OF THESE HAVE NOW BEEN REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA AS QUICK AS THEY APPEARED

[PDXCWL45]

Winter is onsale but Wizz do seem to add extra as they go and some of these destinations are plausible especially if you look at Cardiff potentially being an inbound destination and to attract from over the bridge. But Turku a port city in SW Finland? Chisinau? Sofia? Lisbon? Those are head scratchers for me.

[Letsflycwl]

BUD, MXP, WAW would work I guess, SOF is winter may work too giving Bulgaria and “cheaper than Alps”. LIS would work possibly in summer - didn’t BMI baby announce LIS too then pulled the lid on it. Plus all of these supposedly added destinations are all current Wizz bases too. Bit would have thought more bucket & spade destinations be better gamble for Wizz.

AUH - who knows if this would be successful given current COVID, EIN - too close to AMS really and as you say KIV & TKU quite a bizarre choice.

[PDXCWL45]

If they were going to add anything I'd have thought Malta would be in there considering the entire SW UK has no Malta flights! It's no doubt someone messing about!

[fanrailuk]

It seems that all the new Wizz flights from CWL up to 17th May are showing as “sold out”

With the full schedule then on offer from 18th May onwards.

They’re assuming the WG roadmap will follow Boris’ version of events...

[RedDragonFlyer]

I'm feeling more optimistic on summer holidays than I have in quite a while. Recent government announcements have been less on quarantines and more on opening up.
On Welsh government restrictions, it would be very strange if they didn't follow England given the number of Welsh people who use Bristol/ Birmingham/ Manchester/ Liverpool/ Heathrow. Wales isn't Scotland in that regard. Still, I can't see the services starting in May and later in the summer seems more likely.

I don't know why people earlier in the week were talking about some edits on Wikipedia either. Anyone can edit it and put what they like. I could edit it right now to say that American were starting JFK or Qantas a direct route to Perth. It doesn't take a lot of effort and can be done in less than a minute. There are clearly some more feasible routes in that list (Possibly Lisbon during summer and Budapest/ Warsaw before we left the EU) and some less feasible (Turku and Chisnau strike me as the complete opposite of feasible). However, until something comes from a real source, I don't see the point of posting it.

[southside bobby]

Launch of the Wizz base now put back to mid May.

[PDXCWL45]

The Welsh government will give Cardiff Airport a grant of £42.6 million and has written off the same amount from the airports debt to secure the long term future of the airport.

https://gov.wales/written-statement-future-support-cardiff-airport

[southside bobby]

Blimey...jaw dropping amounts of long suffering taxpayers £££ lost there then...

So how much will each Wizz customer flying to the sun be subsidised by?

[PDXCWL45]

The airport company isn't just about passengers to the sun. If it collapses what happens to BAMC? Global Trek? Caerdav? E cube? All the businesses that rely on it like hotels, pubs, car parks etc.
Also the airport sector in England has had £100 million of support, Scotland £34 million from the Scottish government and EU if I've read it correctly and N. Irish airports £10 million from the Northern Ireland government. The Welsh government obviously value the airport business to secure its future in such a big way.

[southside bobby]

To quote the £100m for English Airports is slightly disingenuous which perhaps is why the statement includes it.

The statement also calls for the airport to be "restructured" so not really a vote on the viability for the future as things stand.

BAMC requirements would be just the runway & not a terminal building requiring massive tax payer subsidy set to enrich boardrooms in other lands perhaps.

[fanrailuk]

PDXCWL45

Begs the question how much of this [taxpayers] money has gone to airports owned by private sector companies that have multi-million $s on their books...

[PDXCWL45]

Well that is the fund available from the UK government for airports in England. Wales wasn't included.
As for boardrooms abroad it's not the Welsh government's fault that the airline's who want to operate from Cardiff are European companies.
The reality is that no Welsh government is going to let Wales national airport close so it will invest as it sees the need and I expect a lot of that money will go towards things like runway resurfacing etc.

[SWBKCB]

Doubt whether many people will argue about govt support for airports, what is raising an eyebrow or two is the scale of the amount for Cardiff. The £100m in England is for all airports up to a maximum of £8m - Cardiff is getting over 10 times that maximum amount. :eek:

[PDXCWL45]

Well that's down to the different governments. Many of the English airports are privately owned so no doubt will get investment from their owners as well as UK government. I expect that Cardiff will have to state what the money will be used for to a senedd committee. I suspect as well that the Welsh government places more value on aviation/travel as a sector than the UK government does because apart from some VAT reduction there wasn't much in the uk budget for the sector I believe.

[yeo valley]

BAMC would go back to LHR. The rest to St Athan.

[BACsuperVC10]

I guess resident in North Wales will be less keen on the £42.6 million grant, when their natural departure point is LPL and MAN

[PDXCWL45]

It's still Wales national airport. It promotes and provides access to the whole of the country not just the south. Should we as a country not invest in our infrastructure because one part of it will benefit more than another? My taxes will go towards the norths metro and proposed expansion of the A55 but I won't benefit from it personally yet I'm not angry about the money spent in the north that doesn't benefit me.

[BACsuperVC10]

Its still a rather massive amount for one regional airport.

[PDXCWL45]

Well that's the Welsh governmgovernment's choice and considering they mentioned a 5 year plan I'd expect it to be over that period.
It'd be interesting to know how much money airports like Liverpool and Bristol are getting from there private owners as a comparison.

[BACsuperVC10]

Your assuming they are.

[southside bobby]

So there is the difference...Private ownership= private funding...CWL= hard earned taxpayers £££ with no say in the matter.

So the taxpayer subsidy for each WZZ customer will be?

[Dorking]

Rather a lot looking at the amount of public money going into it....

[PDXCWL45]

Yes we do, if we don't like what a government is doing we vote them out. In the end it's Welsh taxpayers money being used to rescue Wales only international airport.
As for Wizz why are you focusing on them? TUI is much bigger at CWL why aren't you accusing them of being subsidised? Or KLM or Vueling or Ryanair?

[PDXCWL45]

BACsuperVC10

You don't think that airports that are virtually closed aren't asking their owners for investment to keep the business going?

[supermarine]

The difference is those airports have made profits in previous years and are likely to do so once the pandemic is over. CWL has been making losses regularly.

The time must be coming when the Welsh Government admit enough has been wasted and some hard decisions need to be made re taking on private investment or

slashing costs which will probably end up closing the facility down.

[PDXCWL45]

And the airport was on it's way to recover pre pandemic and considering the circumstances we are in i think the government should be trying to support all businesses.

[southside bobby]

The problem is it does not have money to support ALL businesses & as importantly ALL services...let alone nigh on a £100 mill for each & everyone of them.

When the Government perhaps is voted out the £££ will be long gone of course.

WZZ focus as The Welsh Government statement focused on them too.

[BACsuperVC10]

PDXCWL45

We dont know do we, but if they are, their owners will obviously think in the long term its worthwhile and it would be decided by board of those business. It wont affect tax payers.

[PDXCWL45]

Assuming that the owners don't go to local authorities or the UK government for help.

[PDXCWL45]

southside bobby

Well then the Welsh government obviously feels that Cardiff Airport is important enough to support.

So do people think that the Welsh government should potentially let Cardiff Airport go bankrupt?

[southside bobby]

Let others answer but from the operators quoted CWL traffic would all appear "outbound"...Apart from the massive drain on the exchequer with holidaymakers spending abroad is there any actually enrichment to Wales itself or is it just very expensive prestige?.

[VickersVicount]

The Prestwick of Wales?

[PDXCWL45]

southside bobby

The airport still creates jobs at the airport and around it and 20% of it's traffic in 2019 was inbound from abroad.
So do you think that the Welsh government should let Cardiff Airport go bankrupt?

[BHX5DME]

https://www.key.aero/article/wizz-air-uk-reveals-four-aircraft-flypast-plans-wales?utm_content=156609690&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-112902517034110&fbclid=IwAR3HtOHgwCrzWP3ieyXb08wwErzkDoFYn0Dd0BPb-vI8S0E2uglNsOggBR8

[WelshDan1927]

"Bishops Stortford"
"Cheshire"

For people who have no vote and pay no taxes here, it's very kind of you to take the overwhelming levels of concern in the governance of our country gents.

As always, so very grateful to the people of England for telling us how to run our own affairs.

Can we get back to aviation please?

For example, key aero have an incredibly imaginative article on a "4-aircraft flypast over Newport, Cardiff and Swansea" tomorrow...

Unfortunately I can't yet post a link but it's the first thing on their page. Makes for an interesting bit of creative writing.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were some heading to Saints for scrap as they take on more Neos, and the blogger responsible for the article has gotten somewhat excited. Or we may actually be getting the Wizzair display team...

[fanrailuk]

BHX5DME

Could be quite the impressive show - the weather is looking promising for such a spectacle!

[PDXCWL45]

The article also mentions a maintenance operation starting.
Gutted I'll miss the fly past!

[Letsflycwl]

Considering Wizz is new to CWL, you’d have thought this would be the Airport Website advertising this.....seems like no one is bothered with updating this as it was last done on 3rd December !! (Checked at 17:30 05/03/2021).

This is quite an impressive thing Wizz are doing but it’s not being shared by CWL Management. Wakey Wakey & do some advertising to ensure people are aware of Wizz and their network.

[SWBKCB]

Or Wizz Air's own website - or anywhere else!

[CWL757]

Letsflycwl

Promoting a flypast would be a stupid thing to do really. There will no doubt be a load of rule breaker, nevermind if the airport advertised it themselves!

[Alteagod]

I know its been mentioned before but what date is the BHD flights supposed to start?

[STN Ramp Rat]

As far as flypasts go the Wizz one seems to have been a shambles, the flightpath of G-WUKL as seen on FR24 seems to have summed it up, I assume its weather issues

[southside bobby]

Indeed far from a maintenance operation the a/c are all for interim storage.

[fanrailuk]

STN Ramp Rat

Seems like it was a success; all 4 in tandem over Swansea, Newport and then Cardiff.

Plenty of clear pictures on social media of them.

Maybe you spoke too soon...

[STN Ramp Rat]

I am a bit "DDSM" (don't do social media) so haven't seen anything. They never really got very low, but I am glad it worked out for them

[caaardiff]

They split at the start going between Swansea, Valleys and Barry with a few circles around CWL. Then all came back in to formation and flew around the Valleys and Newport, over Cardiff and back to Barry. There were a few other splits covering Swansea, Port Talbot, Valleys and Bridgend.
The height seemed to vary between 3000 and 7000ft depending on where they were. There seems to have been a huge uptake in photos posted on social media, not just by enthusiastic. Several media platforms covered it after CWL announced it.

Had it not been for lockdown restrictions, with the weather as it is, this could've been much bigger but overall still managed to capture people's attention.

Overall a pretty good PR stunt, because let's face it thats all it is. There's no new hangar or large scale maintenance being done. If anything it sounds like storage and the new maintenance contractor will be looking after them during storage. Its hardly a BAMC operation but good news all the same and some much needed parking revenue for CWL.

[TOM100]

Thats assuming they are paying for parking - with the airports recent windfall from the people of Wales, they might give this to them as a welcome bonus haha - might be the reason Wizz now using CWL for storage and to the best of my knowledge haven’t at any other time during the pandemic.

[caaardiff]

That is very true and will build on the relationship. Will be interesting to see how long the aircraft stay.

[PDXCWL45]

STN Ramp Rat

The aircraft flew over most of southern Wales hence the flight paths.
It's had a good response on twitter.

[TBSC]

caaardiff

So, the "Wales here we come" maneuver was half of their UK fleet being ferried for storage which they somehow failed to mention. I guess the airport will not have any significant revenue from this. Last year their fleet was stored in DSA for free. Don't think they would use another place now unless the conditions are the same.

[Buster the Bear]

How to gain maximum press exposure for minimal cost. Job done.

[TBSC]

Or the sad reality hidden behind a PR spin, it depends on the angle you look at it. At least they could have done a proper low level fly-by somewhere (like in BUD) to have good pictures/video.

[caaardiff]

I would disagree. They saw a PR opportunity and took it. The whole point of it was to get people involved with their own photos. Get people talking and get the relatively unknown name in South Wales out there, all facilitated by a few aircraft on ferry flights.
The CWL Facebook post before the event saw over 500 likes, 200 comments and 98 shares. The post after the event saw 1000 likes, 645 comments and 113 shares.
Over 200 shares on social media to friends, family, colleagues just on Facebook. Throw in Twitter and Instagram, as well as Wizz own social media platforms, other media and reporting outlets and you've turned what was going to be another quiet lockdown sunny day into a huge advert making people aware of the Wizz brand, all from ferry flights that were going to happen anyway.

Imagine how much more interest it would've had if we weren't in lockdown and it was advertised with a big hype well in advance.

[VickersVicount]

They probably wouldn't have done it in busier air space out of lockdown

[taffyhammer]

I agree with caaardiff, my neighbours enquired about the 4 ship that overflow our village. None of them had heard of WizzAir, so for the cost of an enhanced ferry flight they have now got 2 households with 5 adult children plus partners aware of the new operation at Cardiff.

[Midland Alpha9]

Welsh Dan I find your comments of People of England etc inappropriate and totally unnecessary. No doubt if the Welsh Government could extract even more funds from the UK government they would gladly accept it and rightly so. Therefore UK citizens have a right to comment on the subject matter. Before you add London to your list of England People interfering I live in South Wales and pay my taxes to Mr Drakeford and his cohorts.

The point CWL 123 makes about the Welsh Government, is a very good one, not allowing the airport to fail is absolutely correct. It is one of the boldest decisions, Drakeford's predecessor made. The infrastructure is vital to the economy of Wales and it's growth post Pandemic and Brexit. In the rest of the UK there are always alternatives but Cardiff is the only international airport in Wales and if it is going to compete on the global stage it needs one fact !

People can keep talking about subsidies, unlevel playing field etc but I have been around aviation long enough to remember all the British and European countries, even today supporting their own flag companies when it suits them.
Cardiff airport is strategically important to the country of Wales

[PDXCWL45]

This must be incredibly frustrating for the WG and Cardiff Airport after lobbying so hard for devolution of APD and for certain UK routes to become PSOs the government is finally willing to do something about domestic APD after Cardiffs domestic network was wiped out by the loss of Flybe and the pandemic.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/10/uk-set-to-cut-air-passenger-duty-on-domestic-flights

[southside bobby]

Surely a lower level tax rate applied to the UK as a whole is by far the fairer system & the hopeful news to take out of this.

[caaardiff]

PDXCWL45

But the WG wanted it devolved so they can reduce it or remove it completely for CWL only.
That would be beneficial to CWL only, not all domestic carriers in the UK.
The UK government proposal is for a reduction throughout, so no airport is favoured and its a fair split.

[PDXCWL45]

""If we didn't take action the airport would have gone bust, it would have closed. We know there are roughly 2,400 aviation related jobs that would have been directly impacted by that and in total over 5,000 indirect jobs, supported by the airport."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-56350712

[southside bobby]

...and for balance the headline news of course...

Bought for £52M CWL is now valued at £15M & descibed as an "albatross" around the neck of the WG = taxpayers.

[PDXCWL45]

That description is by the Tories. In the end it comes down to the perception of the airport. Whether it's just a business or part of the transport infrastructure of Wales.

[southside bobby]

No matter who the opposition is surely it is their job to point out Government failings & shortcomings on behalf of taxpayers.

But mentioning the Tories it appears some of the latest Boris speak is being borrowed..."part of the transport infrastructure of"...in this case Wales.

[caaardiff]

https://www.conservatives.wales/news/welsh-conservatives-outline-plan-cardiff-airport-business-falls-93-percent

To be honest I'm not convinced the Torie proposal in this article would do much good. USA and Manchester link? Surely the USA link would need to be funded to be profitable.... more taxpayer money.

Better transport links? With such low demand, hardly anyone would be using it.... more tax payer money.

The Tories are admitting in this article that different types of funding is needed, which will come from the tax payers.
Regardless of which political party owns it or you support, it doesn't get away from the fact that money is needed to turn it around.

[PDXCWL45]

Yes but the problem i see with the Welsh Tories is that the strategy they say they'd adopt is basically the same as the one that the airport has been implementing.

[fanrailuk]

FR have added MLA again from CWL

2 x weekly flights recommence 31 October 2021, operating Thursdays and Sundays

Additionally, VY have put their 3 x weekly ALC on sale for W21/22 (Tue, Thu, Sat)

[Letsflycwl]

excellent to read something positive about CWL again and good to see FR return with MLA too....MLA was always a popular CWL destination !!

I wonder if FR will give us something extra now that Wizz are here ??

Does anyone actually update the CWL webpage with this kind of news ? It’s been stagnant since the Wizz announcement on 3rd December .....surely this should be made public and advertised or mentioned if it means people through those doors when they eventually open.....

[CWL757]

CWL social media/marketing is a joke. I don't know who runs it but professional social media ain't they're strong point really. Great news for CWL nevertheless!

[Letsflycwl]

Yeah I totally agree with you......the marketing on social media is totally shocking, they just don’t seem to want to advertise news unlike other airports that will bombard social media with new routes/destinations and airlines..... nothing on there since 3rd December 🤔

[PDXCWL45]

Airport tweets quite regular as well as posting on Facebook and Instagram. Malta returning isn't exactly massive press release news on it's own!
Good news that it's returning though!

[Letsflycwl]

That may be true but not to advertise it on their own webpage is a bit an odd route to take. Not everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any news is good news for CWL so they should “shout out” about it all.

[southside bobby]

Consider perhaps a "gentlemen`s agreement" between Wizz & the airport owners not to "shout out" competitor news so as not to dilute sales on their own routes at the new base...
There will be not be unlimited numbers of potential sun seekers in the market from CWL after all.

[PDXCWL45]

Letsflycwl

Well what are they going to say? Ryanair resumes Malta after dropping it. It's just a route resumption not a new route. Now if it was a route like Dublin it might be different.

[Letsflycwl]

Well considering the “news” section has not been updated since 03/12/2020 they could easily state FR are returning MLA to the departures board.....

[caaardiff]

Admittedly they aren't always the best at pushing social media. But give them chance, it's only been back on sale a day!
If it was a brand new route launch it would be different. They have promoted Malta in the past.
I highly doubt the general public checks their news sections often, if at all.

[PDXCWL45]

Considering Ryanair have taken it offsale maybe it was for the best that they didn't.

[CWL757]

Talking about advertising, in the last hour I've heard atleast 5 Jet2 adverts for BRS and absolutely zero Wizzair adverts for CWL. how can we hope to have a successful base if the airport/airline don't have an aggressive advertising campaign like Jet2 does?

[Letsflycwl]

Could not agree more with you !! All you hear on the radio, TV and on flyers through the door is Jet2 at BRS......kind of flat on the Wizz advertising but not sure if that it their strategy really?

[AirLCY]

I’m sure you’ll have Gemma Collins all over your tv in the future!

[irishlad06]

CWL757

I don’t think any airline has an advertising campaign like Jet2 though - they are aggressive - especially for new bases - you just have to look at BHX and STN when they opened.

[RedDragonFlyer]

Jet2 adverts have been on ITV Wales a lot over the last couple of months. They've also been doing mail marketing. They always mention their new Bristol base. That's Jet2's style though. They have done the same previously when they have opened bases.

Wizz have done a bit of marketing. They were in all of the South Wales newspapers and got a fair bit of social media buzz with their fly past a few weeks ago.

[PDXCWL45]

Nice to see Cardiff being used for PPE cargo flights again. There was one on Saturday and currently 2 aircraft on the ground a Nordwind 777 200er and I Fly A330 200. Also another Nordwind 777 300er currently on it's way from China.

[PDXCWL45]

Nice overhead shot of the WizzAir aircraft parked at Cardiff!
https://twitter.com/NPASSouthWest/status/1379875364869173251?s=19

[PDXCWL45]

Eastern Airways has put back the launch of the Cardiff to Belfast route to Monday 24th May, route is down as 6 weekly with no Saturday flight.
Anglesey won't resume until Mon 6th September, route is down as 10 weekly Monday to Friday.

[Letsflycwl]

It’s reported today that 42 out of 46 of Flybe’s domestic network have been taken over by other carriers, really baffles me how no one has taken the CWL-EDI and CWL-JER routes. Such a shame really.

[CabinCrewe]

...if they were money spinners someone would have been all over them eg Loganair. Could Wizz fill an A320? 🤣

[bycrewlgw]

ha price it right and anything is possible. They may operate at a loss, but could still be a full A320

[PDXCWL45]

Edinburgh used to have a daily 737 300 on it from bmiBaby, it's a route that has in general had yearly passenger numbers over 100,000. Wizz might actually be a better option for the route than loganair especially with Easyjet being the main competition.

[GrahamK]

There was a recent interview (a few months back?) where Loganair said the competition from easyJet was too much and EDI/GLA-CWL would be a big loss maker

[PDXCWL45]

The problem is that with routes like Jersey and Dublin the airlines the airport needs to engage with and attract already operate to Bristol and in their minds see Wales covered already or due to the downturn see passengers from Wales as a way of making their flights at Bristol more viable.
With Edinburgh i wouldn't be surprised if airline's like loganair and Eastern may want incentives that Cardiff either isn't willing to give or can't. In the long run Wizz might be the better option for these routes.

[caaardiff]

Pretty sure EDI was double, possibly triple daily some days with WW.

[Letsflycwl]

Yeah I’m sure some days there were 3 flights a day to EDI with WW on a 733 plus GLA & CDG too.

Even in the FR days the DUB 732/738 was usually into triple figures .

[Letsflycwl]

Interesting article on the Flybe page that mentions CWL-EDI as one of the “potential” routes for Flybe Mk.2.....I wonder if this will happen ?

[PDXCWL45]

Cardiff Airport launches COVID-19 testing facility in partnership with Nuffield Health

[Alteagod]

I know I have asked b4 but what is the updated date for the BHD flights to start up?

[SWBKCB]

Bookable from 24 May.

[bycrewlgw]

EI have CWL listed as a destination on their booking engine. No flights are available to book however. Maybe a future comeback for EI?

[PDXCWL45]

Been there since Flybe collapsed I believe. They used to codeshare with Flybe for transatlantic routes. Considering that they are operating Dublin out of 3 of 4 of the SW Britain airports hopefully eventually we might see them return to Cardiff.

[bycrewlgw]

Ah ok cool. 👍🏻

[Letsflycwl]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56862694

Great news that you can travel to JER but still no JER flights from Wales !

[PDXCWL45]

Can't see there being any for a long time and it may be a route that never returns.

[PDXCWL45]

Aer Lingus will return on the Dublin route on 30th August. Good news to see Dublin back!

[Alteagod]

Hopefully BHD will be next from CWL.

[PDXCWL45]

Eastern are due to start that so probably not though I do think Aer Lingus would be the better option personally.

[PDXCWL45]

Looks like Wizz won't be starting until 17th June

[Letsflycwl]

Aer Lingus will return on the Dublin route on 30th August. Good news to see Dublin back!

Excellent news, 3 a week is better than zero, let’s hope they do build up a network of daily flights again like before. Nothing of course from CWL (yet) on this, that marketing team must be all on furlough.

[PDXCWL45]

The route isn't onsale yet so they won't announce anything until then. I'd expect that they'll want to do the return of Aer Lingus justice pr wise.

[CWL757]

Letsflycwl

CWLs marketing team have been on furlough since the early 2000s 😂

[Letsflycwl]

Since American Trans Air operated the B757 & L1011 to New York or was it when Cambrian Airways introduced the 1-11......I just can’t remember

[caaardiff]

No point in creating any fanfare at the moment because
A) It's not a new route, its a returning route
B) It's not even on sale yet
C) Too much uncertainty over travel corridors to not only Ireland but the USA as well, so there's little confidence in anyone to start booking flights
D) The route doesn't start for just under 4 months so there's plenty of lead in time for people to book.

[SWBKCB]

A) It's not a new route, its a returning route

Which has never bothered any airport/airline PR unit, ever :ok:

[caaardiff]

A brand new route will always get more focus on it and a bigger fanfare than a returning route.

[PDXCWL45]

Wizz have started to load up Summer 2022. So far only difference to this summer seems to be Corfu and Heraklion starting on the 14th and 13th June respectively. Nothing onsale yet though.

[CabinCrewe]

any news on Qatar - Is it well and truly gone or still just ‘suspended’ ?

[PDXCWL45]

Depends who you ask!
Probably be a while until we see them back! Personally I'd be surprised if we saw them back for 2022 and it might also depend on how helpful the Welsh government might be compared to last time especially with the whole climate emergency thing.

[RedDragonFlyer]

Yes, long-haul travel to the East is not returning in any meaningful form this year.

The biggest markets from CWL were Australia and Thailand. Australia has said they won't reopen to foreigners this year so that's a no. Thailand is planning for a limited restart to tourism from the fourth quarter for vaccinated tourists who will also have to have multiple tests, but that will likely be limited and may be pushed back.

Summer 2022 would be the first viable restart date if they ever do restart.

[PDXCWL45]

Surprisingly Aer Lingus are launching Belfast

[Alteagod]

Not sure surprise as already launching DUB. Depends on what T3 are at. For customer experience ATR or J41. Would rather ATR and the fares seem much better than what T3 had proposed. Its probably a strong enough market for both but I would have had money on BRS rather than CWL to be honest from BHD

[caaardiff]

For those that continue to criticise CWLs marketing team.....here you go...

https://www.cardiff-airport.com/news/2021/05/05/stobart-air-adds-two-new-routes-from-cardiff-to-dublin-and-belfast/

Appears they were just waiting for BHD to be released. Several posts from various different social media channels already circulating too

[PDXCWL45]

There Facebook post has had 26 comments in the 19 minutes it's been up