A new route between Cardiff Airport and Paris has been confirmed.
Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling will launch a twice weekly service from the Welsh Government-owned airport and Paris Orly from November.
The airport has not had a Paris route since the collapse of Flybe last year.
The twice weekly service comes as a result Vueling’s acquisition of slots at Paris Orly, enabling the airline to expand and operate 32 new routes from November.
Earlier this year, routes to Belfast and Edinburgh resumed from Cardiff Airport, operated by Eastern Airways and Loganair, and Ryanair will be launching a four -weekly service to Dublin from the end of this month.
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Flights to Paris Orly are currently on sale at special fares, with flights available for under £10.
Chief executive of Cardiff Airport Spencer Birns said: “We are delighted that Vueling has stepped in to provide a much-needed service to Paris from Cardiff Airport. The announcement will be welcome news for our customers wanting to travel to visit family, to explore one of the world’s greatest cities, and of course for large sporting events. Paris is also hugely popular with families wanting to visit Disneyland, and it is fantastic that this will once again be easily accessible for passengers.”
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“I’d like to thank Vueling for their continued confidence and partnership with Cardiff Airport, and we very much look forward to launching the route later this year.” The Cardiff-Paris route will be the fourth route in Vueling’s Cardiff offer, which currently consists of scheduled flights to Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Alicante.
Cardiff Airport, as part of a five year pandemic recovery plan, recently secured £42.5m in additional funding from the Welsh Government - with a previous tranche for the same amount having also been written off.
Passenger levels are currently at around 10% of pre-pandemic levels, but with an ending of the travel traffic light system and an easing of Covid testing requirements, there is optimism moving into 2022 with airline Wizz Air launching its new base.
The global pandemic has seen significant investment by governments globally into state-owned airports including in the US and Spain. Many privately owned airports have also required fresh investment from owners or new debt facilities.
Latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that in August Cardiff Airport handled 17,724 passengers, giving a rolling year figure of 63,046.
The valuation of the airport, in an assessment undertaken by the Welsh Government’s holding company that owns the airport, was recently revised down to just £15m.
This reflects the current challenges faced by the wider aviation sector, but when market conditions improve could be revised upwards.
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It shouldn’t be seen as a guide, even assuming the Welsh Government wanted to sell the airport, as to what it could be sold for. That would be down to any negotiation with a prospective acquirer. In a hypothetical scenario of the Welsh Government opting to close the airport, even when factoring in de-commissioning costs, the land value of several hundred acres would be far higher than its current equity valuation.
The Welsh Government has provided funding support of more than £100m to the airport outside of the £52m it paid to acquire it from Spanish firm Abertis in 2013. However, in terms of return on investment the Welsh Government, pre-pandemic, points to the airport having a £100m-plus gross valued added impact on the wider economy.
With pre-pandemic passenger levels now not expected to return until 2026 the prospects for the airport returning into the black on the measure of Ebitda will be sometime off and even longer for hopes of moving into a pre-tax profit, something it has not achieved under Welsh Government ownership.