Cardiff Airport to be loaned more taxpayers' cash

Wales' only international airport is being loaned more taxpayers' money.

Cardiff Airport could already borrow up to £38.2m of Welsh Government cash - but that has now been extended by £21.2m.

It brings the total amount of borrowing the airport can draw down to more than than the £52m Welsh ministers paid in 2013 to buy it.

The Welsh Conservatives said the airport should be sold back to the private sector.

It comes after a senior official told a Welsh Assembly committee that, under the way the airport is currently run, it may always need public support.

In a statement to assembly members, Economy Minister Ken Skates said plans for the airport to boost passenger growth are hampered "by the disproportionate costs that smaller airports across the UK face".

"Regulatory burdens and security measures are not shared proportionately," Mr Skates said, "and we continue to press the UK government to develop a more competitive environment for smaller, ambitious airports wanting to grow and expand."

The minister said he had "agreed to provide an extended commercial loan facility to the airport of up to £21.2m to help support its ambitious plans for the future. The airport will repay the loan in full, with interest, under a planned repayment schedule".

The loan would deliver the airport's proposals for "significant further investment" in its facilities over the next six years, Mr Skates added.

The number of passengers at the airport has risen from 2013 by 65%, to 1.7m annually. But it made a pre-tax loss of £6.6m in 2017/18.

The Welsh Government says the new loan will be repaid over 25 years. Director general of economy at Welsh Government, Andrew Slade, told Public Accounts Committee on Monday that "most" of the original loan had been "drawn down".

Welsh Conservative economy spokesman, Russell George, said: "Although we applaud Cardiff Airport's aim of having two million passengers go through the airport, the current passenger levels are lower than they were back in 2007 when they last hit two million.

"With Welsh Labour being in charge of this vital transport hub since 2013 we see a lot of promises but very little action.

"The airport needs to be sold back to the private sector where proper investment can be made which doesn't rely on the people of Wales shouldering the financial burden."

Deb Bowen Rees, chief executive officer of Cardiff Airport, said: "The national airport has gone from strength to strength since coming under public ownership in 2013. We have delivered consistent passenger growth, over 65%, and welcome almost 1.7 million passengers annually.

She said the loan extension "allows the airport to continue to focus on its ambitious plans for success".

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "The airport has a positive impact on our economy, with a total GVA [Gross Value Added - an economic measure] footprint of £246m and sustaining around 2,400 aviation related jobs."