Cardiff Airport figures fall after airline cut and ash

Cuts by bmibaby account for the bulk of the 200,000 drop in passenger numbers, says Cardiff Airport

Passenger numbers at Cardiff Airport dropped by 200,000 last year, with the airport blaming a cut in capacity by a low-cost airline and the ash cloud.

The number of people using the airport fell 14% in 2010 to 1.4m, down from 1.6m in 2009.

The airport said bmibaby's cuts to routes, as part of the wider economic climate, accounted for 180,000 of that figure and May's ash cloud the rest.

New routes by carriers in the summer include Dubrovnik, Naples and Verona.

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, and its onward connections to more than 900 destinations, remained the most popular destination for people using the airport.

This was followed by Edinburgh, Alicante, Palma and Malaga. The next five most popular were Dalaman, Dublin, Tenerife, Glasgow and Faro.

Spencer Birns, Cardiff Airport's head of commercial operations and air services development, said the bulk of the passenger drop was due to bmibaby's cuts to routes and frequency of service.

Suspended its service

"Other contributing factors include the volcanic ash cloud and current economic climate affecting both airline and traveller decisions," he said.

"However 2011 promises to be a more exciting year for us, with new routes including Funchal, Dubrovnik, Naples and Verona available in the summer, and Swiss-based airline, Helvetic Airways will start operating new four-weekly services from Zurich to Wales in March."

Bmibaby suspended its service to Munich on 2 January this year and intends to suspend flights to Jersey from 25 March and to Edinburgh from 27 March.

A bmibaby spokesperson said: "In the current market, bmibaby needs to focus its efforts and activities on routes and services that are the best fit for the bmibaby business.

Frequent flights

"This way the airline can ensure that it continues to provide its customers with the best possible competitive fares, as well as services to a range of attractive destinations.

"Bmibaby remains committed to flying from Cardiff and provides frequent flights from the region to Alicante, Belfast City, Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, Mahon (Menorca), Malaga, Murcia and Palma."

The airline said its Cardiff-based crew would be used on its new service from Belfast to Stansted.