Came back from Faro today with Ryanair after a nice short break, travelled out with BE:

Flybe- 15/04/17- CWL-FAO: 118 PAX- flight Full
Ryanair 24/04/17- FAO-CWL: 184 PAX
 
Great figures for April outside of the Easter break too.

Be surprised if BE manage to hold FR to those figures throughout the whole Summer.
 
Arrived back today from a two week break in Majorca, once again couldn't fault anything from the CWL end, Very quick check in on the 2nd, From arriving at the airport at 3:45 I was in departures at 4:10 after a speedy bag drop and efficient security control, The beer house seems to be having a small problem with the amount of time it takes to get served, with one member of staff serving a fair amount of passengers, this could do with being looked at. Boarding commenced at 5:45 for the 6:20 departure, after a small walk to gate 13 ( BA Maintenance end for anyone not familiar ) very efficient system and the aircraft was ready to board after a small 5 minute wait, First time I've used the Ramp instead of the steps at the front of the plane, Seems to be a good fit, much more safer than a pair of steps it appears. Aircraft departed pretty much right on time, a pretty turbulent flight in which the seat belt sign was only switched off around the Toulouse point and then switched back on over Barcelona, Landing in a fairly overcast Palma, It only took around 30 mins from the bus to the baggage reclaim in which time it was a case of making my way to the TUI bus area.

Check in at PMI was very efficient on the way home, arriving at the airport at 8:25 for the 10:45 flight back home, Security once again very good, It is worth noting that on the way down to the A section ( all British flights ) there is now a massive queue which tends to snake all the way from the passport control point at the entrance of A right back towards concourse section after duty free, considering Wednesday isn't classed as a busy busy day, I'd hate to think what Saturday mornings are like, flight departed a little late due to ATC restrictions ( pretty common at PMI) however a very nice flight back, Cabin crew very efficient and lovely to talk too ( more than can be said about the ones on the way out ) Landing in Cardiff a few minutes late, once again a ramp at Gate 8, after a few minutes to get too passport control it took around 10 or so minutes to get through the passport E-gates, and then another 10 or so to collect the bags, Living around 15-20 minutes away from the airport means for me Taxi is a great option at £22 one way, and an under an hour after landing I was then home.

There also seems to be movement around the airport with potential work happening both in the check in area towards the TUI check in ( far left ) and also potentially towards gate 7 where a host of people with clipboards taking notes, over the coming months ( October onwards ) I'd expect to see some developments

Overall a great holiday again with TUI ( Thomson) and two weeks of total bliss with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees, made for an enjoyable two weeks :)



2nd August
TOM6336 - G-FDZJ
16th August
TOM6337 - G-TAWU

image.jpeg
 
Great report and picture. Many thanks, Craig. Glad you had such a marvellous time. Welcome home.
 
30th Sept
I used CWL yesterday for my trip to VRN. Airport busy which was nice to see; 3 security lanes were open which was a first for me. Excellent service too; from check in to departure lounge in less than 10 minutes, and that was with ALC, LPA, FAO all checking in at the same time.

Unfortunately there were only 30 of us onboard. I’m not surprised though as most airlines from UK stop flying to VRN from end of sept. BE to SOU and TOM two examples. TOM also used BE flights from CWL too which would have diluted this and the rest of Oct loads too. Also logistically without TOM’s included transfers, doing the trip separate like myself found it very hard to get to my destination from the airport without paying eye watering taxi fees. Return flight was rumoured to have 100 plus though and FAO which was boarding next to us looked near enough full too.


4th Oct
Returned back into a very windy CWL on wednesday night. Another pleasurable BE experience. The aircraft was a lot more poplutated on the return, although under different and difficult circumstances.


When we arrived to VRN airport, we was greated by a lady with a british embassy high viz jacket who asked us if we was flying to MAN. (ex MON flight) It appeared that the rescue flight that they were sending to VRN was an A320 (Not sure if QR) and the MON aircraft scheduled to arrive at VRN was an A321 so a loss of 50/60 seats depending on variants. These people were told they were not getting on the flight and to find alternative arrangements to get home. Some people strangely caught the train to Venice to catch a FR flight to BHX the next morning. The others had the chance to get on the CWL flight or a later BA flight to LGW at their own cost.


I would hazard a guess that around 15-20 pax out of the 50/60 on board were MAN pax, not knowing how they were getting back to MAN but just wanted to be back on british ground. I overheard a crowd of 5 who booked themselves on to our flight who managed to get flights for 90 euros each, and then hired a car to get home.

Interestingly there was also 2 families on the return leg from weston super mare although use CWL to travel to VRN as it is closer to the east side of the lake, where they go on holiday. They said 'Bristol doesn't fly to Verona, they fly to Bergamo' apparently using Bergamo adds a few hours onto their journey. Im sure TOM/Neos fly to VRN, is that package only? The one couple said they loved the 2x2 seating and would definatly use them again next year. (Only reason I knew that is they were loud and sat behind me)

It was very chaotic and stressful at VRN. Although im pleased that BE didnt charge these pax silly prices knowing they were desperate to get home. We arrived around 9:20 and was out the airport and in the car for 9:50.
 
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Thank you for that and welcome to Forum 4 airports Liam.
VRN will start to wind down now with many other destinations but it's nice to here FAO was rumoured to be full. Glad as well that the CWL experience was quick for you and pleasant for you.
It's nice to hear that CWL is attracting passengers from outside it's catchment area though in the case of the Monarch passengers that is sad though it is good that Flybe didn't seem to exploit their situation. It does make me wonder why EZY or FR doesn't operate VRN but it does sound like CWL benefits from that.
 
Excellent report Liam. Thank you for that. Looking forward to reading more posts from you in the future.

Incidentally you are right, BRS does fly to Verona and has done for many years. There are two flights each Saturday in summer and ski flights in winter. In summer Neos operates a B 738 for Thomson Lakes and Mountains and bmi regional operates an E145 for Inghams. I'm not sure if seat-only is available on these flights.

Ryanair does the Bergamo.
 
I just returned from a week in AGP with VY. Managed to get a bargain at only £46 return!

CWL was quiet on departure day, walked straight to check in my bags without waiting in any sort of queue and straight up the stairs and through security in less than 10 minutes. That can be CWL’s strength in the quieter periods. I noticed a lot of QR advertising in the airport; a big billboard advertising Sydney alongside others such as Thailand and Cape Town being others.

No works was being done in the departure lounge. Maybe they are leaving that to after Christmas , although the game machines had been taken away.

The outbound flight was near to full with only a handful of seats available.

On arrival into CWL this morning, we arrived a little earlier than schedudled around 8:15 and parked on stand 10; luckily this resulted in us avoiding the wind and the rain as we went through the airbridge. Again the flight was very well loaded, around 4/5 empty seats.

Whilst walking through passport control, the area where the egates are usually positioned was blocked off with a sign saying that the airport apologised for the inconvieicnes whilst making the area a more pleasurable experience for passengers. I wonder if they are getting new egates as the old ones didn’t work on new passports.

The Costa Coffee shop is taking shape in the arrivals hall, although blocked off you can still visably see the construction shell up with the costa sign on top. I’m pretty sure this will be done before May 2018.

Further to what Jerry said in a previous thread regarding check in desks. I saw this morning that desks to the right of the steps around 8/9 desks maybe were blocked off and you couldn’t see what wasn’t going on behind them. Maybe it is for QR? Or they could be revamping the check in desks and are doing them section by section.

There was also a lot of work going on outside and around the terminal building too so it appears to lookg promising for when QR arrive next year.
 
Many thanks for the report and update on CWL amelioration.
 
Two videos from my youtube channel, they are more flight experience videos than actual reviews, but they include Cardiff airport. Hope that’s alright. I’ll also have a flybe CWL-DUB uploaded tomorrow to share!

AMS-CWL on KLM City-hopper’s E175:

CWL-AMS on KLM City-hopper’s Fokker 70: (taken exactly a week before retirement)

 
Great video, though i noticed how quite CWL was and was one of the check in desks for Toulon rugby? Never been in the executive lounge, it looks quite nice i may have to use it one day.
 
Many thanks for those videos and the ones in the BRS section. I enjoyed them all. Haven't been to AMS for over ten years. We (Mrs TLY and I) used it regularly in the 90s and early 'noughties' both for transatlantic and for visiting the Netherlands. In the early days our jaunts were on KLM Cityhopper Saab 340s.
 
Many thanks for those videos and the ones in the BRS section. I enjoyed them all. Haven't been to AMS for over ten years. We (Mrs TLY and I) used it regularly in the 90s and early 'noughties' both for transatlantic and for visiting the Netherlands. In the early days our jaunts were on KLM Cityhopper Saab 340s.

Thanks for watching TLY, I’m glad you enjoyed them! I enjoy making them and sharing them so I can look back on them on years to come. I’ve got a few more to share on other airports on here.

I quite like AMS, although there do seem to be some long walks involved. I’ve passed through a few times now but never connected. Saab 340’s eh? That must of been some years ago!

Great video, though i noticed how quite CWL was and was one of the check in desks for Toulon rugby? Never been in the executive lounge, it looks quite nice i may have to use it one day.

Thanks for watching Jerry! Yeah it was very quiet, it did fill up in the departure lounge mind as DUB, TXL and CDG plus a Thomson were departing all at once. It may of been before the rugby, although I must say I didn’t notice at the time!

The exec lounge I find very pleasant , the food offering currently isn’t huge but will hopefully change with Qatar arriving. It is very clean and professional however with the limited food options being of high quality (the rocky road is excellent!). It also does a good job of displaying welsh industry, food and drink. Powerpoints and good wifi.
 
Thanks for watching TLY, I’m glad you enjoyed them! I enjoy making them and sharing them so I can look back on them on years to come. I’ve got a few more to share on other airports on here.

I quite like AMS, although there do seem to be some long walks involved. I’ve passed through a few times now but never connected. Saab 340’s eh? That must of been some years ago!



Thanks for watching Jerry! Yeah it was very quiet, it did fill up in the departure lounge mind as DUB, TXL and CDG plus a Thomson were departing all at once. It may of been before the rugby, although I must say I didn’t notice at the time!

The exec lounge I find very pleasant , the food offering currently isn’t huge but will hopefully change with Qatar arriving. It is very clean and professional however with the limited food options being of high quality (the rocky road is excellent!). It also does a good job of displaying welsh industry, food and drink. Powerpoints and good wifi.
I've been meaning to try it one day but generally my flights tend to be at 6am with KLM and Flybe and i'm not sure i want to pay £20 just for 30 mins as it doesn't open till 5 am. I'm flying with Flybe at the end of March and it's a 7am departure so maybe i'll give it try after i've had a look at the revamped departure area.
 
I've been meaning to try it one day but generally my flights tend to be at 6am with KLM and Flybe and i'm not sure i want to pay £20 just for 30 mins as it doesn't open till 5 am. I'm flying with Flybe at the end of March and it's a 7am departure so maybe i'll give it try after i've had a look at the revamped departure area.

Thats fair enough - I’ve only ever really been in during the morning so couldn’t comment for the rest of the day! I noticed Air France and KLM frequent flyers can get admitted too. I’m tempted to book a flight just to take a nosy at the departure area!
 
Thats fair enough - I’ve only ever really been in during the morning so couldn’t comment for the rest of the day! I noticed Air France and KLM frequent flyers can get admitted too. I’m tempted to book a flight just to take a nosy at the departure area!
With Air France/KLM i'm not sure what Flying Blue level you have to be to get access. I think it might be Silver and above.
 
Trip review Cardiff Airport to Edinburgh Airport and back.

On the 29/3/18 i took the 7 am flight from Cardiff to Edinburgh with Flybe. I checked in online so was alble to head straight to security and got to the airport about 5 am. Getting through security was pretty quick and without hassle and the staff were pretty friendly as well. Procceeded then through duty free into departures and this was my first look at the newly extended departure area and it looks good. The new Costa Coffee is on the left and is reasonably priced, i bought a Ham and Cheese toastie and a bottle of diet Coke for roughly £5, Cafe Rittasa and the Beer House are in the same position but WH Smith has been moved and expanded and is in the new area.
The new area is nice and big with plenty of seating and a good view of stands 1,2,3 and 7. Never used the executive lounge but there was works still ongoing at the entrance to it. The only slight criticism i have of the new area is there are no powerpoint benches or tables in the departure area for people's phone's, tablets and laptops.
The flight was called for boarding and we used Gate 10 which is the first time i've departed from that gate but unfortunately we couldn't use the airbridge as it doesn't fit Flybe's E jets. Boarding was quick and easy and the flight departed roughly ontime and the aircraft, which was an E195, was full with quite a few of the passengers being Cardiff Blues fans heading for the rugby in Edinburgh. The flight was about 50 mins which was enough time to polish off my BLT sandwich and diet coke. The landing at Edinburgh was nice and smooth and came in from the sea which gave us a taxi past the main terminal to the extension course of Edinburgh airport. As we taxiied it was notable to see the varied airlines that serve Edinburgh with Delta, American, Ryanair, United and Etihad all on stands at the time. Deboarding was pretty quick and after a walk through to the main terminal building and then outside i was at the Car hire centre not even 30 mins after we got to the stand to begin my trip.

My return flight to Cardiff from Edinburgh was on the 3/4/18 with a 19.40 departure and i got to the airport about 17.00. After dropping off my hire car i had about a 5 minute walk to the terminal past the tram station and then wnet to the self-check in terminal, after checking in i used the bag drop facility for the first time which was nice and easy and pretty self explanotary as well. After dropping off my rucksack i headed upstairs to security which though was busy was pretty quick if not a bit too warm for my liking but i had no problems and then proceeded through Duty Free which like Cardiff is the only way you can get to the departures area.
Departure's was very busy with lots of people in the shops and eateries like Witherspoons were all busy. One thing i noticed was a lot of different languages being spoke there from Russian to Spanish to German. I had a bit to eat ad sat myself down by Gate 11 to watch the aircraft landing, taking off and taxiing. It was noticeable that there was quite a lot of British Airways flights during this time departing and arriving from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports and when i looked at the departure boards there was 21 domestic flights on their.
At about 19.00 my gate number came up and i preceeded to gate 21. The flight started to board and the aircraft was a Flybe E195 which i noticed had it's own steps at the front, was full and departed about 25 mins late. The flight encountered a bit of turbulence after takeoff but apart from that was pretty smooth. One thing about this flight was a lot more people bought something to eat and drink compared to the flight on the way up which was a morning flight. We approached the airport from over Newport and passed with Cardiff to the right with the city all light up, landing was pretty smooth and even with the wait of collecting my rucksack i was coming out of arrivals about 20 mins after landing.
In all both flights were pretty good with Flybe providing a good service and both airports providing a good experience and i'm looking forward to my next flight from Cardiff!
 
Used the airport for the first time since it the revamp had been completed and it was a good experience all in all. Security on the way out was quick even with the boarding pass scanners not working but the terminal itself was pretty busy which was good to see. Boarding of the flight was slower than what i'm used to at Cardiff because it was via airbridge but it was nice to use an airbridge at CWL for a change as for some reason they give an airport more of a 'proper' airport feel than using steps. Only negative to the whole experience was on my return as they have gotten rid of the egates at passport control and passport control was much more slower than on previous occasions!
 

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9 trips in 9 days done 70 miles walked and over 23-00 photos taken with a large number taken at 20mph or above. Heavy rain on 1 day only
5 trips done and 45 miles walked,. Also the RAF has had 4 F35B Lightning follow me yesterday and today....
My plans got altered slightly as one of the minibus companies had to cancel 3 trips and refunded me but will be getting nice discount when I rebook them.
wondering why on my "holidays" I choose to get up 2 hours earlier than when going to work. 6 trips in 6 days soon coming up with 3 more days to sort out

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