Cardiff airport slammed as ‘vanity project’ wasting millions of taxpayers' money

Welsh government bought airport in 2013 for £52m; last year it lost over £4 per passenger

Cardiff Airport is the 20th busiest in the UK (Getty)

The Welsh government has been accused of wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on Cardiff airport.

Darren Millar, a Tory assembly member, told BBC Wales the airport is “over-priced and clearly under-performing”.

“It almost looks like a vanity project,” he said.

Cardiff airport was bought by the Welsh government in 2013 for £52m.

Since then passenger numbers have increased by 60 per cent.

But for the financial year 2017-18, the airport’s pre-tax loss was £6.63m – representing over £4 for each of the 1.58 million passengers using the airport.

A spokesperson for the economy minister, Ken Skates, told the BBC: “We now have an attractive national airport that is amongst the fastest growing in Europe, with passenger numbers having grown considerably and consistently since we took control in 2013.”

Revealing 10 per cent passenger growth between April and May 2019, the chief executive of Cardiff airport, Deb Bowen Rees, said this week: “It’s great to look back over our quarterly results and to see steady passenger growth, during what is a challenging time for the aviation industry, and to continue to work towards our long-term vision to deliver a sustainable airport business for Wales.

“Our airline partners have added new routes and continue to add more capacity where there is growing demand.”

A Qatar Airways link from Doha to Cardiff opened in 2018, with financial support being paid to the airline.

Cardiff is the 20th largest airport in the UK by passenger numbers, with Southend rapidly catching up. It is one-sixth the size of Bristol and one-eighth as big as Birmingham.

Cardiff and Bristol take a lot of passengers from South Wales; Bristol airport claims it handles more Welsh people than Cardiff.