A cabinet member in Swansea said he shared people's frustration about the county's airport after its licence was provisionally suspended in February on safety management grounds. Campaigners asked a series of questions at a meeting of full council about what had gone on to date at the airport and why cabinet had agreed to start negotiating a new lease with the current operator.
They claimed the reputation of the council, which owns the facility at Fairwood Common, Gower, had been brought into disrepute by the way the lease had been managed and by January's decision to discuss a new one with operator Swansea Airport Ltd. Five campaigners spoke in turn, with one of them saying his plans to fly a plane on two occasions since cabinet agreed to start negotiating a new lease had been hampered by a lack of aircraft fuel due to no trained operators, a lack of fuel in the rescue vehicle, and poor maintenance of the runway and taxi ways. "How can the council even consider the lease with Swansea Airport Ltd?" he said.
Another campaigner asked if the council had a contingency plan were the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to permanently revoke the licence. A group called Swansea Airport Stakeholders Alliance, representing users of the airport, wants to run it as a not-for-profit venture. Separately, a businessman has put forward plans to operate it on a commercial basis. Cabinet was advised by legal experts when it took the decision to negotiate the new lease that Swansea Airport Ltd had significant legal rights, that the council had to be mindful of the landlord-tenant relationship, and that operational matters were essentially a matter for the operator and the CAA. The recommendation was to stick with Swansea Airport Ltd while ensuring it continued to invest in the airport. A report acknowledged, though, that "issues in connection with lack of aviation fuel, general management, staffing levels etc have all been raised over the years since the lease was first granted".
