Cardiff Airport says it is performing better than expected despite the blow of low-cost airline Wizz Airport pulling its base for the winter season. It says it is on track to hit its target of passenger numbers recovering to around 50% of pre-pandemic levels for its current financial year.
The Rhoose-based airport, which is owned by the Welsh Government but operated by an at arm’s length commercial company, carried just over 122,000 passengers in July this year. That was 55% of the 208,000 passengers who passed through the airport in July 2019 before the pandemic. In comparison, the UK's three biggest airports Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester all carried around 81 or 82% of the passenger numbers they saw in 2019.
Cardiff airport said it was experiencing a better than expected May through to August which will continue until the middle of September, when Hungarian-owned airline Wizz Air ceases its base from the airport and the cancelling of what was planned as its first winter season following its inaugural summer one. Wizz will though operate two winter routes, using other aircraft, from Cardiff to Milan (Malpensa) and Bucharest.
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The airline has been more adversely impacted by the cost of hedging fuel costs than some competitive airlines. Its planned winter scheduled formed part of a business plan that predated the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Wizz Air is committed to bringing its base back to Cardiff for its second summer starting next spring. In the meantime staff at its Cardiff operation have been re-deployed to its bases at London Luton and Gatwick airports. Cardiff Airport has seen strong demand for both its Belfast and Dublin routes and from November KLM will double the current number of weekly flights between Cardiff and Amsterdam from 20 to 40 a week. The frequency of the route had been impacted by staffing issues at Schiphol Airport - an issue experienced by many airport over the summer with pandemic restrictions lifted - which have now been resolved.
A decision has yet to be made as to when Qatar Airways will resume its scheduled Cardiff to Doha route. The airport remains in constant dialogue with the airline which launched its route in 2018 before suspending it due to Covid. For the World Cup in November the Football Association of Wales has chartered four planes from the airport for Welsh fans through its travel provider Wonky Sheep.
The airport’s chief executive Spencer Birns said: “From May through to August and early September, we performed better than forecast at 60% recovered (compared to pre-pandemic). With a strong summer we are confident of achieving our 50% recovered target for our financial year (to end of March end 2023) of around 750,000 passengers.”
As part of a five-year turnaround plan the airport is aiming to get back to the pre-pandemic annual passenger number of around 1.6 million by 2026.
Latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that in July the airport handled just over 122,000 passengers. That was a huge rise of 1,102% on July, 2021, but has to be set against the context that the airport was effectively mothballed at the time due to the pandemic. The latest rolling year figure - the 12 months to the end of July - show passengers numbers at just over 574,000, a rise of 610% on the previous year.
The airport has also appointed a new non-executive director in chief executive of the Royal Mint Anne Jessopp.
During her time as the helm of the Royal Mint, based in Llantrisant, Ms Jessopp has successfully navigated the business to a profit of £12.4m. She has overseen a diversification strategy which has evolved The Royal Mint into a consumer brand, offering precious metals investments, historic coins and jewellery - while continuing to make coins for the UK and overseas.
Chairman of Cardiff Airport, Wayne Harvey, said:“I am delighted to welcome Anne Jessopp to the Board of Cardiff Airport as one of our non-executive directors. Anne adds an extra dimension to the Board with her strong track record in HR experience which will help drive our business forward”.
“Alongside our two other non-executive directors, Terry Morgan and Geraint Davies, and the three executive directors we have a strong and dynamic board with the right skill set to address the challenges of operating, enhancing and developing the airport business.
“We still have lots of work to do and I am confident that with the great team of people across all departments at Cardiff Airport we will deliver on our recovery plans ensuring the airport can once again be recognised for delivering great economic benefits for Wales.”
Ms Jessopp said:“This is an exciting and challenging time to join Cardiff Airport as we work to attract airlines, deliver excellent service and build consumer confidence in flying post Covid. Cardiff Airport plays a vital role in the Welsh economy, and I’m looking forward to working with the team to secure its long term future as a key UK hub.”
Ms Jesssopp replaces Fiona Gunn who served on the board for four years.
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