Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 3 March 2021.
Can I thank Mick Antoniw for his question? I very much welcome his support for the airport. He's right; there are hundreds of jobs in his constituency and surrounding constituencies that directly rely on the airport, and many more that indirectly rely on the existence of the airport. I've already given the figure: 5,200 jobs in total are supported by the airport, with 2,400 aviation-related jobs. One can only imagine how many of those jobs and those key employers within south-east Wales in the aerospace and aviation industries directly rely on the very existence of Cardiff international airport. That's why I make no apology for ensuring that it survives this short-term challenge and that it has the best possible prospects for long-term success.
In terms of future prospects, obviously the airport wishes to be an exemplar in terms of low-carbon air travel. In September 2019, the airport launched an environmental flight path—a journey to becoming carbon neutral. It's hugely ambitious, and we very much welcomed it. The airport has its master plan in place and is delivering against the master plan. Contained within that is a desire to see better, more integrated public transport serving one of our hugely important national assets. We'll be working with the airport and with our local government stakeholders to ensure that public transport, in an integrated way, can meet the needs of the airport and the travelling public.