Even with government money, Cardiff airport continues to make a…
Cardiff Airport is continuing to make a loss as it struggles to attract passengers back to pre-pandemic levels. It lost £4.5m in the year to March 2023 according to company accounts, after receiving a government grant of £5.3m. The company, which is owned by the Welsh government, is hoping to make more use of its land to raise money.Welsh government ministers are currently supporting the airport through a grant worth £42.6m over four years. Over the years it has received millions in government loans. In 2021 Labour ministers wrote off a £42.6m loan they had given the airport, leaving it to repay £26.3m by 2045. The number of passengers using the airport in the year up to March 2023 was only 58% of the number using it before Covid. . Tweet Cardiff Airport continuing to make losses 14.2.2024 (BBC) By David Deans, BBC Wales political reporter Cardiff Airport is continuing to make a loss as it struggles to attract passengers back to pre-pandemic levels. It lost £4.5m in the year to March 2023 according to company accounts, after receiving a government grant of £5.3m. The company, which is owned by the Welsh government, is hoping to make more use of its land to raise money. The Welsh government said the airport is working to restore flights to the facility and diversify its business. Cardiff Airport said it facilitates 4,000 jobs related to aviation in the Vale of Glamorgan, where it is located. The accounts report the first full financial year after Covid travel restrictions were lifted, and the year that Wizz Air pulled out. Welsh government ministers are currently supporting the airport through a grant worth £42.6m over four years. Cardiff Airport to be loaned more taxpayers’ cash Over the years it has received millions in government loans. In 2021 Labour ministers wrote off a £42.6m loan they had given the airport, leaving it to repay £26.3m by 2045. Some 910,000 used the airport in the year to March 2023, which was 380% more than the previous 12 months. However it was only 58% of the figures from the last reported pre-pandemic year. The accounts record pre-tax losses for 2022-23 of £4.5m. However Cardiff Airport also uses a different measure, EBITDA which records earnings before tax, interest and other items, to report on its financial performance. Using EBITDA Cardiff Airport said it reported a profit of £863,000 in 2022-23. It says its underlying losses fell by £2.1m from the year before, when it received a £7.9m grant. Rather than just relying on passengers, Cardiff Airport is hoping to increase its income by making more use of its runway and land. The accounts say that the decision of Wizz Air to close its operations in early 2023 reinforces “the need to ensure that dependence on passenge
