Cardiff International Airport
Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAR : Cardiff International Airport
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Cardiff International Airport serves the city of Cardiff but is also important for the whole of South Wales.
The only large airport in Wales, Cardiff International is served by scheduled, low-fare and charter carriers, including Thomsonfly, Excel Airways, MyTravel, KLM Cityhopper, bmibaby, Zoom Airlines, Eastern Airways, Aer Arann and Air Southwest.
History
Cardiff airport is owned by TBI plc, a subsidiary of abertis airports.The airport is the main maintenance base for British Airways and home to a variety of aerospace-oriented firms, and therefore a major contributor to the economic development of the region.
Cardiff airport attracts around two million passengers a year.
In October 2004, the airport was named as one of the top ten best airports in the world, by the Telegraph Travel Awards * [link].
April 2006 saw the withdrawal of two scheduled airlines, Air Wales and Ryanair. Here is the article that was on page 5 of the July issue of Airliner World [link] magazine:-
Air Wales Suspends Flights
After struggling with mounting losses for some time, UK regional carrier Air Wales closed down its scheduled passenger business on April 23rd, though some of its routes from Cardiff continue to be served by Air Arann and Eastern Airways. Increasing fuel costs and aggressive competition from larger low-cost carriers were some of the problems faced by the airline, which will continue to operate freight and charter services.
Ryanair also announced on the 25th April that it was to cancel its Cardiff-Dublin service due to allegedly high airport charges, a "tactic" which, the airport insists, Ryanair has used against a number of airports. Shortly after the announcement was made by Ryanair, another Irish airline, Aer Arann, announced that it would take over on the Cardiff-Dublin route; thereby demonstrating the confidence the airline has in Cardiff, after only launching services from the airport earlier in the month.
On 2nd May, Thomsonfly commenced a major long-haul destination schedule from Cardiff with weekly flights to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Florida.
Eastern Airways also announced a major increase in its operation, from the airport, with the resumption of twice daily flights to Brussels.
Home-based airlines
Cardiff International has been home to a number of independent airlines; most notably during the 1950s through to the early 1990s, with airlines such as Cambrian, Airways International Cymru, Amberair and Inter European Airways, making this Vale of Glamorgan airport their home base.
Location
Cardiff International Airport is located in the village of Rhoose, in the picturesque Vale of Glamorgan, approximately twelve miles west of the city of Cardiff.
The airport lies in an area, dubbed by the Welsh Assembly Government as a centre for aviation excellence, with several high-profile aviation companies being located in a small radius.
DARA, a public-private partnership based at RAF St. Athan, less than three miles from Cardiff International Airport; is responsible for the major servicing of RAF aircraft, including transport/refuelling wide-bodied aircraft such as L1011 Tristars and VC10s, as well as front-line attack aircraft, sucuh as the Jaguar, Tornado and Typhoon.
The St. Athan site has recently become a major civil aviation maintenance centre for ATC Lasham, who will perform wing modifications for Boeing 737 aircraft at the facility and TES Aviation.
On the airport site itself, British Airways has its major long-haul maintenance facility (as mentioned above) and Barry College has an avionics and engineering training centre just outside the terminal building.
Transport links
Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station opened in June 2005 on the Vale of Glamorgan Line - linking Cardiff Central with Bridgend. The train station is actually approximately a mile walking distance from the entrance to the airport itself, but is linked by a local free bus service to the airport from the train station and vice versa. A bus service also links Cardiff to the airport. By road, the airport is located 10 miles from junction 33 of the M4 motorway, in the village of Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan.However, the airport supports Welsh Assembly Government proposals which could see a dedicated motorway link from the M4 motorway. Other proposals include modifications to the road network from Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff, to Five Mile Lane, Barry. A public inquiry into the WAG proposals is to commence shortly.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled
- Aer Arann (Cork, Dublin, Galway, Lorient)
- Air Southwest (Manchester, Newquay)
- bmibaby (Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast International, Edinburgh, Faro, Glasgow International, Jersey, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague)
- Eastern Airways (Aberdeen, Brussels, Newcastle)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- Thomsonfly (Alicante, Ibiza, Jersey, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca)
- Zoom Airlines (Toronto, Vancouver)
- British Airways (Ceased flight's from Cardiff Airport as of 2004, due to bmibaby's flight's from Crdiff.
- Air Europa (Mainland Spain, Canary Islands)
- Air Malta (Malta)
- Astraeus (Cyprus, Greece, Spain)
- BH Air (Bulgaria)
- Excel Airways (USA) (from Summer 2006)
- First Choice (Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Turkey)
- Flyjet
- Futura (Mainland Spain)
- Lauda Air (Austria)
- MyTravel (Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Turkey)
- Palmair
- Spanair (Mainland Spain)
- Thomas Cook (Cyprus, Greece, India, Spain, Turkey)
- Thomsonfly (Caribbean, Cyprus, Greece, India, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, USA)
- Travel City Direct (USA)
Future plans
The airport's management announced, on 29th March 2006, a £100m development strategy which will see the current terminal being extended, as well as upgrades to the apron and car parking facilities.
It is anticipated that the investment will attract up to 8m passengers by 2030; an increase of 400%.
The development comes after the government published its White Paper on the future of commercial aviation, throughout the United Kingdom, which recommended that Cardiff retains its status as the principal airport for Wales.
Speaking to BBC News, the airport's Managing Director, Jon Horne, stated that Cardiff International is hoping to attract scheduled services to Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, North America and the Middle East in the not too distant future.
External links
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