Wizz Air: Cardiff Airport in wrong place, says ex-airline boss

Cardiff Airport was built in the wrong place to attract passengers, the former boss of a low-cost airline has said.

David Bryon, ex-director of BMI Baby, which operated from the airport between 2002-2011, said no-one in their “right mind” would invest in the airport.

He spoke out after budget airline Wizz Air announced it was quitting Cardiff and data showed passenger numbers had fallen following the pandemic.

The Welsh government said smaller UK airports were vital to the economy.

“Nobody in their right mind would look at investing in the airport as an infrastructure,” said Mr Bryon.

“It’s not an attractive proposition as an airport for an investor.”

Annual passengers numbers have fallen since the pandemic, down from 1.6 million in 2019 to 812,000 in the year to November 2022.

Meanwhile, Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which ceased operations due to “financial viability” last month, had 1.4 million passengers in 2019, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

“What I think was most alarming is, we saw an airport actually shut down with similar levels to Cardiff,” Mr Bryon said.

“Doncaster was carrying similar pre-pandemic passenger levels of 1.5 million… and sadly they announced in September that it’s closing.

“If you can’t get above two, three, four million [passengers] then… it’s very difficult for it to break even, let alone make money, and we saw that with Doncaster.”

Cardiff Airport was valued at £15m in 2021, but the Welsh government bought it for £52m in 2013.

Mr Bryon told BBC Radio Wales Drive BMI Baby had considered Cardiff a “key attraction” when it started routes in 2002 as it thought it could grow the market.

He claimed its coastal location at Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan, meant it could not attract as many passengers as other airports that were totally surrounded by potential customers.

“There just isn’t the volume [of passengers]. Not only is Cardiff Airport on the coast, which limits its catchment, it’s on the wrong side of Cardiff,” he explained.

To make the airport work, Mr Bryon said it would have to attract customers from England, but its position a 25-minute drive “down a country road to actually get to the airport” once customers left the M4 made it “quite a bind” to get to.

“Its location, unfortunately, is all wrong,” he said, adding: “Losing Wizz Air is a huge blow to the airport.”

“You look at Bristol, which is somewhere in the region of eight or nine million, and then we go up to 14 million for Birmingham… you’ve got to really get to that four to five million [passengers] to be able to make the airport viable.

“If we look at Monday, there are seven flights taking off, and seven landing back at Cardiff.”

Source: cardiff-airport.com

Jane Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said the Welsh government had serious questions to answer about the airport’s future.

“With a bill of £210m since the Welsh government purchased the airport and no sign of things improving, taxpayers will rightly be asking what value for money they are getting,” she said.

“Imagine what £210m of taxpayers’ money could have done if it had been ploughed into sustainable transport in Wales instead.”

The Welsh government did not specifically address the concerns over the airport’s location or its future, but said: “Our Covid recovery plan remains in place, but clearly the current economic climate is incredibly tough for the aviation sector.

“Smaller airports are vital to regional economies across the UK and we urge the UK government to provide the support to put them on a secure footing for the future.”

The UK government said the management and location of Cardiff Airport was a devolved matter for the Welsh government.