Things include:
New state of the art air traffic control equipment (same as LHRs systems)
700 extra car parking spaces
Less use of buses to transport people from the gate to the aircraft- more use of walkways, piers & airbridges
6 extra stands for B737 aircraft (sounds like their expecting loco expansion)
new immigration hall for flight arrivals
Baggage reclaim area to be doubled in size and include a fourth carousel
Larger executive lounge
See full article below
Airport to get £7m makeover Mar 21 2006
Gerry Holt, South Wales Echo
Cardiff airport is set to get a £7m makeover after it was revealed a record number of passengers will take to the skies this summer.
The two million passengers who will travel through Cardiff International Airport this year can expect a much easier ride, with a new arrivals hall, an expanded departures area, and 700 extra car parking spaces.
Meanwhile, £1m has been spent on state-of-the-art air traffic control equipment which will put the airport on a par with Heathrow’s cutting edge technology and cut flight delay.
Airport managing director John Horne said: ‘Recent announcements of new routes and increased flights mean that the airport will serve more than two million passengers this year, with record numbers flying during the coming summer.
‘This investment programme is geared to match and exceed that growth, and ensure that our passengers continue to get the special benefit of a much less stressful experience than hubs like Heathrow and Gatwick.’
One of the many passenger benefits of the new changes will be a major reduction in the use of buses to take flyers to their aircraft.
Mr Horne said: ‘The airport will now have 15 aircraft parking stands adjacent to the terminal, with walkways, piers and gates enabling the majority of passengers to board their flight without having to be bussed from the departure gate.’
Other plans include six extra stands for Boeing 737 aircraft, a new immigration hall for flight-arrivals, a baggage- reclaim area double the size and including a fourth baggage carousel, and a larger executive lounge.
£1m has been spent on digital air traffic control equipment including a new flight data management system and new voice communication system.
Matt Riley, 33, control tower manager, said: ‘These new communications tools will enable us to offer an improved service delivery.’
Mr Horne advised passengers to check in on time in the coming months as there could be some disruption in some parts of the airport.
Work is due to be completed by the summer.
By: caaardiff - 23rd March 2006 at 16:56
See, that wasnt a very long wait 😀
By: Spence_CWL - 23rd March 2006 at 16:51
Yeh some route takeovers have been announced (see thread about Air wales collapse) with more set to follow.
By: caaardiff - 23rd March 2006 at 16:47
According to another thread the airlines are already getting in there.
Aer Arann have already announced Cardiff – Cork
And im sure the rest wont be far behind…..
Rumours of Eastern doing NCL, makes sense for Aurigny to get in on it with JER.
And im sure Air Southwest will have something up their sleaves.
Yeah we’re losing an airline, but with Air Wales past record, surely it would have started to effect the reputation of the airport, where people would travel with another airline from another airport.
If we now get another airline that has the stability to eventually expand further, surely this would be better for the airport in the long run?
PeterP seems to know more :dev2:
So lets just wait and see.
By: Spence_CWL - 23rd March 2006 at 16:43
So I’ve just heard! It seems theres a light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, I feel quite optimistic about all this. Job losses are minimal, a new airline has come to the airport as a direct result of this bringing with it new aircraft to CWL, and 2 existing airlines are expanding. All 3 of these airlines are undeniably better managed and more reliable than Air Wales, and all three still have scope to expand even furthur. This could be just what the airport needed to kick start it.
By: PeterP - 23rd March 2006 at 16:35
Already covered.
By: Spence_CWL - 23rd March 2006 at 16:25
Have you read the thread about Air Wales collapse? Seeing as you two know more about the everyday running at the airport than myself, how badly do you think this will affect the airport. I’m guessing it’ll be pretty bad, unless they get another carrier in sharpish.
By: PeterP - 23rd March 2006 at 11:40
Quite right, Spence. It also seems caaardiff is a bit of an insider too.
The Master Plan will be published next week. There’ll be a summary for people on-airport, public meetings throughout the area, a downloadable pdf and so on. Of course, the Plan is not “planning”; it’s a response to a Government White Paper and deals with their policy/predictions/priorities. Public comment and market development could impact the reality – who knows what conditions will be like in 2015 and 2030!
On the current investment, caaardiff has a pretty good grip on it. We do want to avoid putting pax through the bus experience as much as possible … they don’t like it. But never say never.
By: caaardiff - 22nd March 2006 at 22:51
The masterplan was due out in Feb, then mid March, so it cant be far off.
The 737 stands are making the Stand 1 side more ‘plane friendly’ as Stand 1 is usually only used by the smaller aircraft (ATR’s etc). Moving the baby’s (soon to be triplets!), ryanair and other 737s makes room for the larger charters on the international pier side 3 x Tom, 1 x MYT 1x First Choice. They will probably occupy that side alone, not to mention the extras poppiing in! At the moment it appears they are just making room for what we’re going to be getting this summer, with a little extra spare space. Anymore airlines and echo will have to be used, i think those buses will come in handy once again after all!
By: Spence_CWL - 22nd March 2006 at 16:50
The airport actually said “in the summer”, not “by the summer”!
What’s more, the idea is to provide capacity beyond the needs of the 2006 two million pax. After that, the Master Plan for 2015 should kick in – but more about that next week.
“Loco expansion”? It’s necessary to balance ideas about expansion with the other driving factor: better quality delivery to airlines and their customers.
I think we have an insider here! The airport hasn’t said anything about this on thier website, but you know exactly what they said and about a new masterplan to be unveiled next week. Come on then, spill the beans! When I said about the loco expansion, I mean if they were expecting large scale expansion by an airline using 767s, they wouldn’t then go and build extra 737 stands. The fact that their buildind the extra 737 stands suggests they are anticipating or targeting airlines that use these a/c, which predominately are locos, with some charter carriers like XL.
By: PeterP - 22nd March 2006 at 14:10
The airport actually said “in the summer”, not “by the summer”! But that’s journalism for you. There’s no question that it’s going to be difficult for everyone working at the airport to make life comfortable for large numbers of travellers while the builders are in – any suggestions are very welcome.
What’s more, the idea is to provide capacity beyond the needs of the 2006 two million pax. After that, the Master Plan for 2015 should kick in – but more about that next week.
“Loco expansion”? It’s necessary to balance ideas about expansion with the other driving factor: better quality delivery to airlines and their customers.
By: caaardiff - 21st March 2006 at 19:25
Isn’t that a bit too ambitious
I’d have to agree, not long left until the summer kicks in.
There doesnt seem to be much happening around Stand 1 lately either, i dont know how far they are from finishing it all.
Also no mention of the work to be done on the international pier either?
Lets hope they dont contract the same people that are building wembley! 😮
By: G-CDFF - 21st March 2006 at 19:19
Excellent news for CWL! 😀
Work is due to be completed by the summer.
Isn’t that a bit too ambitious :confused:
By: caaardiff - 21st March 2006 at 19:08
Nice to see this being promoted and great news for Cardiff after speculation of Luton getting all the investment.
Hopefully, all going well this summer, we can show the true potential at CWL!
Work is due to be completed by the summer.
How much is left to do on the old pier? They are cutting it fine to start the other work, surely?
Heres to the Heathrow of the West! :p 😀 :diablo:
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March 21, 2006 at 5:00 pm