JUMBO-JETS RETURN TO CARDIFF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Cardiff International Airport celebrated the return of Boeing 747 jumbo-jets on Tuesday 20 July, when 449 passengers took to the skies on a new trans-Atlantic service to Orlando.
Passengers were welcomed at Cardiff International with a hearty American breakfast and a jazz band to acclimatise to the American way of life.
Operated by Swansea based Travel City Direct, the UK’s largest independent Florida specialist, the weekly service will operate from Cardiff International over a six week period.
Travel City Direct’s director Steve Boardman explains, “Because of the extremely competitive price of this service the uptake has been very high, however, there are a limited number of seats still available for those people looking for a good deal at the last minute.
“Our prices start at only £299 for a 14-night fly-drive and £399 for a two-week full package, which is a great deal for a destination such as Florida. The response we’ve had has been very encouraging and has highlighted that holidaymakers would rather fly from their local airport than make the daunting and costly trip to Gatwick, Heathrow, or Manchester.”
Research shows that 36,000 Welsh passengers are still making the trek to Gatwick, Heathrow, or Manchester for their flights to Orlando when they could save time and money flying from Cardiff International Airport.
Cardiff International Airport’s head of business development Steve Hodgetts says, “This service will be Cardiff International’s third trans-Atlantic service and will support the existing charter services to Orlando and Toronto. Cardiff International is the only airport in the Wales and West which can accommodate a trans-Atlantic service.”
By: RIPConcorde - 6th August 2004 at 18:52
The passengers were also unhappy about what they claim was an unscheduled stop to refuel at Shannon Airport in the Republic of Ireland on the outward flight.
How could it be unscheduled, a fully loaded 747 with a load of fuel to make it non-stop to Orlando wouldn’t get off of CWL’s runway, they couldn’t manage it at EDI, and the runway at EDI is almost 1000ft longer.
By: Spence_CWL - 6th August 2004 at 17:54
There is a great demand for outbound flights to America but not many Americans come into Cardiff. In Europe there is also a demand for key cities and many Europeans fly into Cardiff on buisness & long weekends.
By: LBARULES - 6th August 2004 at 17:37
Good start…… 😮
By: RIPConcorde - 6th August 2004 at 13:24
Are there that many people that want to go to Wales?????????
LOL, maybe not, but there’s that many people who want to get away judging by the fact the flight was departing CWL. 😀
By: steve rowell - 6th August 2004 at 11:57
Are there that many people that want to go to Wales?????????
By: Mark L - 5th August 2004 at 21:13
That would almost certainly be because of the weather again.
By: T5 - 5th August 2004 at 18:54
6 and a half hour delay for Travel City Direct from Gatwick today!
I noticed that most flights were departing late, some even cancelled. Even Phuket Air to Bangkok was 75 minutes late.
By: RIPConcorde - 5th August 2004 at 18:39
Going off topic a bit; When bmibaby first announced their winter routes Jersey & Toulouse appeared to have been canned from CWL. Now on their website not only are they on the route map but they are part of an offer for travel in September & October, which is obviously the winter schedule. So are they or arn’t they servicing these routes?
Staying off topic, I believe Sep and Oct are still the summer schedule, with the winter schedule beginning in November.
By: Spence_CWL - 5th August 2004 at 17:28
Going off topic a bit; When bmibaby first announced their winter routes Jersey & Toulouse appeared to have been canned from CWL. Now on their website not only are they on the route map but they are part of an offer for travel in September & October, which is obviously the winter schedule. So are they or arn’t they servicing these routes?
By: Pablo - 5th August 2004 at 11:04
I guess its seasonal demand, as schools in Scotland and the North have historically started their summer holidays earlier than in Wales and the South
By: Britannia - 5th August 2004 at 10:38
Well they were just going to fly out of NCL for 6 weeks
By: Ren Frew - 5th August 2004 at 10:25
They don’t have the fleet to operate from all their UK bases over the complete season. They only operated out of GLA for about 6 weeks.
By: Britannia - 5th August 2004 at 10:21
2000 POSTS AND I LEAVE!!
Why?
By: Britannia - 5th August 2004 at 10:20
So they drop NCL and go to Cardiff
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August 4, 2004 at 11:58 pm