Chapter 6 - Wales
Key issues
6.1 Cardiff International Airport is the largest airport in Wales; the only other airport currently offering commercial services is Swansea. However, Wales does have several other active aerodromes - the civil ones mainly serve air taxi operations and other general aviation users; Aberporth, RAF St Athan, RAF Valley and RAF Mona are presently used mainly for military purposes.
6.2 It is a notable feature of the air travel market in Wales that the great majority of air passengers (around 70 per cent) travelling to and from Wales currently use airports in England. Of these, Heathrow and Gatwick are the most important, but Manchester and Liverpool Airports also play an important role in meeting the needs of air travellers in North Wales, and Birmingham serves a similar function for Central Wales.
6.3 The key issues raised during the Welsh consultation related to the location of additional airport capacity, and whether this should be at Cardiff International or a new airport near the Severn Estuary; surface access links to Cardiff and the major English airports; intra-Wales air services; and the scope for building on the existing aircraft maintenance cluster in South Wales to create a 'Centre of Excellence'.
Main conclusions
6.4 The conclusions in this section have been drawn up in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government, which has devolved responsibility for land use planning, surface transport and a number of other matters related to air transport, in the light of responses to the consultation document for Wales. 1
6.5 We have given careful consideration to the concept of a new airport in South East Wales, including the specific proposals for Severnside International and Llanwern. Our assessment is that a new airport would struggle to attract sufficient traffic to be financially viable and would not generate sufficient economic or regeneration benefits to merit support in this White Paper. Accordingly, our view is that Cardiff will remain the main airport serving South Wales and that the additional terminal capacity and surface access improvements needed to facilitate its long-term growth should be supported, subject to satisfactory resolution of any local environmental concerns.
6.6 Although we expect Cardiff Airport to claw back an increased share of Welsh traffic, airports in England will continue to have a significant role in meeting the needs of air travellers from Wales. Surface access connections to these airports from Wales, by both road and rail, are therefore important.
6.7 We have also identified that there may be an opportunity to develop intra-Wales air services. The Welsh Assembly Government is reviewing possible options. We have highlighted an opportunity to establish South Wales as a Centre of Excellence for aircraft maintenance and training. And we have noted the Welsh Assembly Government's interest in creating a route development fund similar to those operating in the UK's other devolved areas.
Cardiff International Airport
6.8 Cardiff International Airport is the principal airport in Wales and likely to remain so. It has recently undergone a period of rapid growth, in particular following the introduction of new 'no-frills' scheduled services. Passenger throughput in 2003 should be approaching 2mppa and forecasts suggest that demand by 2030 could exceed 5mppa.
6.9 Further terminal development will be needed to cater for this level of traffic. The airport operator is currently considering whether this is best provided by extending the existing terminal building or by constructing a new one.
6.10 The number of people affected by noise is small, and we expect that this will continue to be the case. We do not expect the projected growth to give rise to significant negative local impacts, although these will need to be monitored carefully. We therefore consider that proposals for the necessary level of increased terminal capacity should be brought forward, and that its exact form should be determined locally.
6.11 The airport owners have expressed the view that, in due course, a runway extension will be desirable to facilitate larger planes than can currently be handled. Since the consultation document did not seek views on this possibility, we do not address it in our conclusions, and any such proposal would need to be considered through the land use planning system in the normal way. 2
6.12 If the economic benefits arising from the projected passenger growth are to be felt more widely across South Wales, there will be a need to improve access to Cardiff International Airport. The Welsh Assembly Government has agreed arrangements with the Strategic Rail Authority for the reopening of the Vale of Glamorgan line (expected to be in 2005), and the construction of a new station at Rhoose with a dedicated bus link to the airport. The Welsh Assembly Government is also examining improvements to the road network west of Cardiff, from which the airport would be an important (though not the only) beneficiary. These include phased enhancements to the existing road network and the possible development of a new link from Junction 34 of the M4. The Welsh Assembly Government is currently considering these proposals, 3 and it will ultimately determine the exact form of the final schemes, and their funding and timing, in consultation with the relevant local authorities.
6.13 English airports will continue to play a significant role in serving the air travel needs of Wales throughout the period covered by the White Paper. The quality of surface access links to those airports will therefore remain important. Strategic road access is currently good, although increasingly affected by congestion on the approach to the airports concerned. As a result, if opportunities arise to improve rail access to Heathrow and Gatwick and to Manchester, either directly or by improving interchange connections, these could impact positively on travel times and the public transport mode split for air passengers travelling to and from Wales.
Other proposals
6.14 We received two proposals for a new airport in or around the Severn Estuary to the east of Newport, and Newport City Council supported further exploration of such a concept, with a view to capturing the jobs and regeneration benefits it could offer. We have examined these proposals carefully, and have assessed how much traffic such an airport might attract. Our assessment is that a new airport would struggle to attract traffic from the established airports at Cardiff and Bristol, and is too distant from South East England to serve that market. With the forecast levels of traffic, we consider that a new airport would not be financially viable and would not attract sufficient economic or regeneration benefits to justify its development. We therefore do not support this concept being taken forward.
6.15 The Welsh Assembly Government is working on proposals to establish a network of intra-Wales air services, including a link between North Wales and Cardiff and Swansea in the south of the country. The Assembly Government will consider the merits of each of the routes under consideration and the costs of the infrastructure improvements required to ensure the Civil Aviation Authority is willing to license the chosen airports in the North as being safe to accept commercial services. Consultation will take place before a preferred route or routes are determined. It will then need to evaluate the potential environmental impacts and economic benefits of such services, and whether the initial support that would need to be provided would represent value for money. The Government will need to consider any proposals for setting up and funding a Public Service Obligation that the Assembly Government may wish to support. Responsibility for ensuring compliance with the criteria laid down in the relevant European Regulation remains a reserved matter for the UK Government.
6.16 Separately, the Welsh Assembly Government is also considering setting up a route development fund on similar lines to those in Scotland and Northern Ireland (see Chapter 4) to encourage new services to be developed on routes that would improve international and UK connectivity but would not be eligible for PSO support. There is the potential to develop a Centre of Excellence for aircraft maintenance and training based around the existing aerospace cluster in South Wales, which includes a heavy maintenance centre for long-haul aircraft at Cardiff and proposals for a new aerospace park at RAF St Athan.
1 See Bibliography.
2 Any planning application would need to be judged on its merits and in the light of guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government.
3 The A48/A4232 Culverhouse Cross and Airport Access Study 2003, Welsh Assembly Government.
