9. Debate: Cardiff Airport

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:23 pm on 10 March 2020.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:23, 10 March 2020

Okay. I agree that £1 million or £2 million is a lot of money, but I think that the point is that they are still within the amount of money that's already been agreed with the Welsh Government, further to the collapse of Thomas Cook.

So, there's no doubt that the collapse of Thomas Cook, and indeed Flybe, and on top of that coronavirus, are delaying the timescale by which the company is able to repay the loan to the Welsh Government. And the company executives were perfectly frank about that, even though it was before we knew about the demise of Flybe. 

But for every company that fails in normal commercial circumstances, there is another who is a potential beneficiary. So, we've seen TUI increasing the number of flights out of Cardiff. We've seen some of the Flybe routes taken over by Loganair. There'll always be commercial companies who will see somebody else's pain as a business opportunity, and that's absolutely fine.

I agree with Mick Antoniw that the previous Secretary of State for Wales should more accurately have been described as the Secretary of State for Bristol and the south-west, because he seemed far more interested in that. Quite why the Member of Parliament for the Vale of Glamorgan hated his local airport so much, only he knows. Maybe the flight path went over his house. [Laughter.]

But there are many reasons why Cardiff is more likely to survive the current difficulties for all airlines across the world than many other regional airports in the UK; it's because there are several features of Cardiff's airport that make it a much better bet in the long term. One is the fantastically long runway that we have got, which is far longer than the runway in Bristol or Birmingham, which means that it's ideal for long-haul airlines. Whatever the climate change emergency, it is difficult to envisage that all of us who need to travel to the United States are going to go by boat. Some people are going to continue to need to go by plane. So, having this very long runway—positioned mainly over the sea and agricultural land, which means it's far less disruptive than an airport in a built-up area—means that it's ideal for future runways.

On top of that, it's got the relationship with the British Airways maintenance centre, and it has the capacity to become a centre for innovation. For example, we discussed autonomous pods that are operating at Heathrow, which could be used to connect Rhoose station with the airport terminal, which would overcome one of the weaknesses that Cardiff Airport has at the moment. So, I think that this is an airport with a future, and is a very good Welsh Government investment.