Rogerpt

Qatar as an airline and a country are currently facing these savage embargoes by their neighbours which impact on their ability to offer Middle East connections, this impacts on passenger loads for sure.
I hope we can be positive and support the CWL flights .
As for the lounge in Cardiff it is pathetic! Yes for some the lounge is important, walker up CWL! But at least we have the amazing lounge in Doha to look forward to.

IAN-UK

I do get all that, and it highlights why Cardiff was not the brightest idea. For some, though, relatively sparse lounging facilities are part and parcel of the delight in using a small, (relatively) faff-free regional airport.

Cardiff shares a substantial catchment area with Heathrow airport, and others. The attraction of Heathrow in terms of frequencies and fares gives it a much greater pull than distance and journey time might suggest. The population for whom Cardiff presents an overwhelming advantage may be significant, but must be very small compared with the potential passengernumbers on the other side of the bridge. Sadly for Cardiff Airport, that potential mass of travellers, and one with a high propensity to travel, comes under the influence of the Heathrow pull.

Cargo/freight is largely immune to that pull, so gives a sunny smile to CWL.

But for passengers, Qatar is competing for those who would otherwise select Cardiff's regional flights to continental hubs for long-haul travel, and passengers who might otherwise use its own services from Heathrow or Birmingham. That current Cardiff-dedicated passengers are wedded to continental hubs through frequent-flyer programmes, more frequent connections and pure habit, makes the situation more difficult for QR.

To get bums on CWL DOH seats, the only real way Qatar can reduce the Heathrow pull is by manipulating fares. But that is likely to reduce still further sector revenue and network profitability by cannibalising higher revenue traffic using Heathrow, turning it into low revenue Cardiff traffic.

Al Baker is disappointed in Cardiff. I'd hope QR's well-heeled shareholders are just a little disappointed in Al Baker - Cardiff is far from the only dud he has launched as his airline faces an existential crisis.

tinkicker

So given the choice would people do Birmingham or Cardiff? BHX is about 40 miles further by car but has easy train access which is useful and I don't have to pay the Severn toll! Prices are the same, flight times are similar. I went out of BHX a couple of weeks ago and have a Cardiff in a couple of weeks time but have to book another trip shortly...

celtic_warrior

For me it would be cost of travel to and from the airport etc , if flight prices and times were roughly the same.

I have my second QR flight from CWL on the 25th. I will only book 2019 flights if the price is right. As my upcoming flight is on a Saturday, the bus to the airport is free ( another Welsh Assembly cash give away IMO)

tinkicker

It's pretty much even cost wise on ground transport from here. There is a small price difference now with BHX about Ł150 more than CWL but LHR is now an eye-watering additional Ł2,000. To be honest it's one of those decisions where it's so in the balance it's irrelevant which one I choose. Just curious on others.

IAN-UK

all else equal, Ł150 is quite a significant kick towards Cardiff.

If prices and schedule are much the same, I don't get the dilemma - just select the best transport option.

celtic_warrior

I agree , save the Ł150.00 and fly from CWL

celtic_warrior

When will the passenger figures for July be released?

Shuttle_Endeavour

Usually the last couple of days of the month, for the previous month. I get them from the CAA website in the airport data section.

IAN-UK

There's a 4 or 5 week lag.

https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/...e_Analysis.pdf

bmibaby737

TravelDream

Whilst I didn't fly in July... when I flew DOH-CWL a few weeks ago, there were 64 onboard.

Looking forward to the report.

bmibaby737

IAN-UK

That seems unlikely.

For those looking a the CAA stats, remember the passenger figures represent arrivals and departures.
So dividing the number of passengers by 2x the number of fight departures gives the average passengers per movement.

bmibaby737