1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on what plans the Welsh Government has to improve Wales’s international connectivity? (OAQ51151)

International connectivity and selling Wales to the world is a key theme addressed in our national strategy ‘Prosperity for All’.

Thank you very much for that comprehensive response. Naturally, Cardiff Airport is exceptionally important in our efforts to link Wales to the rest of the world. Whilst Qatar Airways will be establishing a new direct service to Doha next year, there is an absence of services to other key locations across the world—North America, for example. Would you therefore be willing to consider creating a national airline company, let’s call it ‘Ken Skates Airlines International’, or an alternative model of governmental support to fill the gap that exists because of the unwillingness of the private sector to provide these services to these important locations?

Can I thank Dai Lloyd for his question and his kind suggestion, although I think my surname is probably better attributed to a different form of transport than flight? I’d like to pay tribute actually to the entire team at Cardiff Airport for the excellent work that’s being undertaken in promoting that particular facility and in establishing new routes. I think the new route that’s going to operate direct to Doha opens up Wales to the world. We’ve looked in the past, I believe, at the establishment of a national airline and found that the cost of establishing one could be prohibitive. However, it’s certainly something that I’m willing to give further consideration to. It’s my belief, however, at the same time, that Cardiff Airport is already doing an excellent job in attracting new routes and new operators to the facility, and I hope to have more news on that in the coming years.

I look forward to travelling on ‘Skates Air’. I think there’s probably a niche in the market for you there, Ken. [Laughter.] You’ve put me off my train of thought now. It’s clearly been disappointing, Cabinet Secretary, that air passenger duty hasn’t been devolved to this place, and before you say, ‘Well, it’s your Government’, I’m aware of that, and we will continue to press for the case for air passenger duty to be devolved so that we have that important tool in the toolbox. Will you also do the same to make sure that, at the same time as we get stamp duty devolved, and landfill tax and income tax, we also have vital economic tools, such as APD, so that we can really get on with the job of improving the economy in Wales?

Can I thank Nick Ramsay for his question and say that I agree entirely with him?