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Cardiff airport

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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Kyle

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostWed May 02, 2018 11:38 am

Lewisbeecham wrote:They have done a great job of marketing this route. Something Flybe needs to learn from. And if this proves successful, I don't see why an airline like Delta can't be convinced to set up shop to a US hub like Atlanta. This would had never happened without Welsh Government owning the airport, for once they did something worthwhile.


Exactly.

I just hope the GCC political situation will improve, the market for those doing business in Saudi, the UAE, Oman etc. and travelling regularly to the region isn't insignificant. On top of that there's ex-pats like me who have visitors or travel home to visit our families. There's lots of people from South Wales here in the UAE that could benefit from it, and plenty that come here on holidays for long weekends and longer, but are restricted to KLM or direct options via Heathrow, Birmingham etc,. More options into Cardiff would be good, and let's hope over the next year or two it resolves itself.
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Ash

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostThu May 03, 2018 9:34 pm

There was an interesting article in the print edition of The Times today. It may be on the website but, as I don't subscribe, I don't know. Quick sum-up.

1. The article claims that QA will more or less break even on the route if business class and freight are full. Economy passengers are profit. They envisage freight Cardiff>Qatar will be fully loaded because of fresh lamb exports.

2. Cardiff is preferable to Bristol for long haul in QA view because it has a greater captive catchment area. Bristol would be competing more with Heathrow and Brum for long haul passengers. I find this interesting as for short haul it's always claimed that Bristol has the larger catchment. I guess it's a sign that the two markets are very different - hence the Welsh Government's eagerness to set APD for long haul services

3. 'Rumours' that QA want to use Cardiff as a hub for North American destinations and may want to buy a 50% share of the airport.
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Lewisbeecham

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostThu May 03, 2018 11:06 pm

This route has had ample of media attention over the last few days, and it seems to me more now than this route goes way beyond passenger numbers. The very first flight (that I was on) was jam packed with freight, and from speaking to people at the launch, by just filling the plane with freight and selling all the buisness class seats, this route is breaking even. Economy is simply profit. And with 220 seats per day, it's a pretty sweet deal for Qatar.

As a country with so much money, who are now investing their money overseas, they obviously see Wales as an investable interest with plans to open with a warehouse at the airport to support the substantial freight, and a 5* hotel in Cardiff city centre.

The CEO said at the press event that they currently have no interest in purchasing the airport but that he cannot speak on behalf of their sovereign wealth fund.

It's interesting, Qatar chose Cardiff over Bristol because there's a larger catchment area and because it's on the "right side of the river Severn", i.e. further away from Heathrow and Birmingham. Im sure that it's fully owned by Welsh Government also helped too.

Could Qatar one day purchase shares in this Airport and turn it into a US bound hub? Sounds almost too good to be true, but if the data suggests it's viable (and seemingly there's strong data available), who knows? I'm sure the offer will be on the table.

One things for sure, Welsh Government now need to invest in a direct access route from the M4. It's absolutely crucial. And however possible, a rail link is needed that's not the Roose train station. Ideally a tram as part of the new South Wales Metro.
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Ash

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostThu May 24, 2018 2:25 pm

New flights are being proposed by the Welsh Government from Cardiff Airport to nine locations including Manchester, London and Aberdeen.

The Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, said he's been working with the UK government and European Commission to "impose a number of Public Service Obligations (PSOs) routes".

These are exempt from Air Passenger Duty, removing £26 from the cost of a return journey, and would allow airlines to operate exclusively on the routes for four years.

Services are expected to start in spring 2019 if carriers take up the contracts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44237823
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Jonathan

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostThu May 24, 2018 10:50 pm

I hope that the flights to London will be to one of the major hubs (preferably Heathrow) so that I can connect when visiting Cardiff from Vancouver.
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Lewisbeecham

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostFri May 25, 2018 5:19 am

I don't think it will be. It'll most likely be London City, as the route will be set up as a PSO. Never know though.

Have you looked at KLM? They'll do connections from Vancouver to Cardiff via Amsterdam. I've used KLM to connect to a few places in the US and Toronto from Cardiff, prices are reasonable if you're early and flexible.
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Simon_SW17

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostFri May 25, 2018 7:29 pm

Does anyone know how the loadings have been on the Qatar flights post launch?
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Lewisbeecham

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostSat May 26, 2018 1:45 am

I flew Doha to Cardiff on May 8th with a load of 102. I've seen people quote figures over the past few from as low as 28 to as high as almost 200. The key thing about this route is passengers are not the priority. Cargo is first, business class second, passenger numbers third.
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Cardiffbay

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostSat May 26, 2018 2:02 pm

Sadly halfnhalf it’s you who are wrong. The big key to the success for this route is plenty of cargo. 85% of the worlds air cargo is carried in the hold of passenger flights. If the cargo is full and bussness is full the money from econermy class is all profit.
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Msmurf

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Re: Cardiff airport

PostSat May 26, 2018 3:47 pm

I am in the middle on this....cargo is the moneyspinner but pax is what people see. Must do better...and probaly will once flights from DOH to DXB resume
Build it and they will come.
Get it wrong and they will fall off.
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