The national airport for Wales is continuing on its positive journey of transformation and has announced 15 months of consecutive passenger growth, with over 1.51 million customers now choosing to fly from Cardiff.
As of the end of May 2018, which in itself was the busiest May since 2009, passenger figures are up 9% for the rolling year, with double digit growth projected for the coming financial year.
This achievement reflects many positive milestones since the Airport’s change of ownership in 2013; which includes new airlines, more destinations and significant improvements to the terminal and customer experience.
18 airlines now fly out of Cardiff, many of which have added more capacity on existing routes and introduced new destinations as well as better value for money and convenient flight times.
The fastest growing routes over the last 12 months are:
- Belfast City (Flybe)
- Glasgow (Flybe)
- Anglesey (Eastern Airways, bookable on Flybe.com)
- Cork (Flybe)
- Paris Charles de Gaulle (Flybe)
- Jersey (Flybe)
- Verona (Flybe)
- Dusseldorf (Flybe)
- Faro (Flybe, TUI, Ryanair)
- Barcelona (Vueling)
Recent highlights at Cardiff Airport include:
- A new regular service to Doha, Qatar with 5* airline Qatar Airways, which creates new links between Wales and Australia, New Zealand, the Far East and beyond
- Flybe introduced a third aircraft to its base at Cardiff Airport and now offers flights to 17 destinations plus four others via franchise partners. Passenger numbers have grown by 124% since the base opened in June 2015
- KLM celebrated 30 years of flying customers between Wales and Amsterdam Schiphol airport, acting as a key hub for passengers flying onwards to destinations across the world. The airline has recently increased its capacity with the introduction of a larger, super-efficient Embraer 175 with a capacity of 88 seats and a 100 seater Embraer 190
- New summer flights to Antalya (Turkey) with TUI and Thomas Cook and a second weekly flight to Dalaman (Turkey) with Thomas Cook
- Spanish airline Iberia Express has returned for a second summer, flying twice a week to Madrid
To reflect Cardiff Airport’s commitment to delivering the best possible customer experience, the new-look Departure Lounge was also unveiled recently which includes a new Costa Coffee, WH Smith and 51° Executive and Business Lounge, all within a bright and airy space overlooking the airfield.
Deb Barber, CEO of Cardiff Airport, said:
“15 months of continuous passenger growth is a very promising reflection of how far Cardiff Airport has come and the positive direction that we are headed.
“Our airlines, namely KLM, Qatar Airways and TUI, have recognised the potential and invested in Wales and we have also made significant improvements to the customer experience and the terminal which, again, encourages customers to choose to fly from Cardiff.
“Our commitment is to be a national airport that the people of Wales can be proud of and to be a vital gateway for visitors into the UK. With more positive developments to come and double digit growth projected for the year ahead, Cardiff Airport is proud to fly the flag for Wales and to more exciting developments to follow.”
What’s next?
- Cardiff Airport will unveil its Masterplan, detailing our vision up to 2040
- TUI will add an additional aircraft to its base at Cardiff Airport for summer 2019. Adding new flights to Hurghada (Egypt), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Naples (Italy) and Enfidha (Tunisia) and 100,000 extra seats
- Thomas Cook will introduce flights to Enfidha (Tunisia) in summer 2019
- Super Break will operate a number of short break packages to Madeira and Iceland in 2018/19.
15 months of consecutive growth:
| March 17 | +11% |
| April 17 | +19% |
| May 17 | +10% |
| June 17 | +19% |
| July 17 | +5% |
| August 17 | +7% |
| September 17 | +7% |
| October 17 | +4% |
| November 17 | +8% |
| December 17 | +10% |
| January 18 | +7% |
| February 18 | +10% |
| March 18 | +11% |
| April 18 | +10% |
| May 18 | +12% |
