Another setback for beleaguered airport

THE collapse of the airline Flybe is devastating news for those who work for it, sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes inconvenient for those who were due to fly, and a damaging blow to connectivity across the UK.

It is also, of course, a worrying setback for Cardiff Airport, which has not been having the best of times recently.

The Welsh Government has moved swiftly to replace some of its lost destinations, and we hope that other routes previously run by Flybe will be reinstated.

It is worrying that the UK Government, which has made much of its new-found commitment to regional development, did not see fit to provide the loan requested by those who were trying to save the airline, a large part of whose remit was to connect the different parts of the UK.

Of course we have to be conscious of climate change, but while European countries like France and Germany have invested heavily in rail infrastructure over recent decades, bringing down journey times significantly, we have not done so.

Unless and until we do, we need to rely on reliable air services that bring the nations and regions of the British Isles closer together.

Air travel is in one sense just another form of public transport.

Cardiff Airport comes in for a lot of criticism, much of it unjustified, and much of it focused on the fact that it was bought by the Welsh Government.

What needs to be remembered is that before the Welsh Government stepped in the airport was failing under its private owners, who showed little interest in developing it.

Cardiff Airport isn’t in the best location to attract passengers from the west of England, who tend to use Bristol Airport instead.

For that reason, Bristol has been able to attract airlines and routes that go to a lot more places than Cardiff.

Under the Welsh Government’s ownership, Cardiff Airport has done what it can to increase the destinations on offer.

Flybe, of course, has played a significant part in that.

In one respect, it was the coronavirus that dealt Flybe a hammer blow from which it could not recover.

But the UK Government’s refusal to revive the airline with a desperately needed loan transfusion delivered the coup de grâce.

We wish Cardiff Airport a speedy recovery.