Air Wales

Air Wales was an airline based at Cardiff International Airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan.[1] It operated scheduled regional services within Great Britain, as well as to Ireland, Belgium and France. On 23 April 2006, Air Wales ceased all operations, citing "spiralling costs" and "aggressive competition" from larger low-cost airlines.[1]

For the airline that existed from 1977 to 1979, see Air Wales (1977).

Air Wales
IATA ICAO Callsign
6G AWW RED DRAGON
FoundedJanuary 1997
Commenced operationsJanuary 2000
Ceased operationsApril 2006
Operating basesCardiff
Focus cities
Fleet size5
Destinations13
Parent companyAir Wales Limited
HeadquartersCardiff International Airport, Rhoose, Wales
Key peopleRoy Thomas (Chairman)
Websiteairwales.co.uk
Air Wales Dornier 228 arriving at Manchester Airport on a schedule from Cardiff in 2001
Air Wales ATR42 parked at Cardiff International Airport, Wales (2004).
The tailfin of an Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft displaying a Welsh Dragon (2004).

History

Air Wales was established in January 1997 with the assistance of property financier Roy Thomas and started operations in January 2000. Initially based at Pembrey Airport in west Wales and operating two Dornier 228 aircraft, Air Wales expanded to employ over 120 personnel, including 45 flight deck staff, 20 engineers and 20 cabin crew.

Operations transferred to Red Dragon House at the grounds of Swansea Airport, Fairwood Common, in October 2001.[2][3] Passenger numbers failed to reach the company's break-even levels and, after three years, Air Wales gave up all its Swansea routes. The airline decided to concentrate on routes out of Cardiff, moving operations to a new headquarters at Cardiff International Airport in October 2004.[3]

In December 2005, bmibaby and Air Wales had a fallout leaving bmibaby to cancel a partnership between the two airlines. The partnership covered the routes Belfast and Glasgow which were operated by Air Wales.[4]

During February 2006, Air Wales gave up all routes from Plymouth Airport to focus on more popular routes and international routes.[5]

On 23 April 2006, the airline ceased all scheduled services with a loss of 80 jobs to focus on charter and cargo operations, however these operations never materialised and the aircraft were all sold to other airlines.[6]

Services

Air Wales operated the following services (in February 2006), which had all ceased by the end of April 2006:

Cardiff

Cork

Exeter

Swansea

Terminated destinations
Main article: List of Air Wales destinations

Air Wales served 20 destinations across Europe.

Partnership with bmibaby

Air Wales had a partnership with bmibaby to operate on the following routes:

Fleet
An Air Wales ATR 42 departing Cardiff International Airport, Wales. (2004)

Air Wales originally operated Dornier 228 aircraft. These were replaced by a fleet of ATR-42-300 aircraft:[7]

Air Wales Fleet
Aircraft Total Routes
ATR-42-300 5 Short haul

In March 2006, Air Wales fleet average age was 13.4 years.

References
  1. "BBC news:Wales:Airline to end scheduled flights". BBC News website. BBC. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  2. "World Airlines Directory." Flight International. 16–22 March 2004. 78.
  3. "BBC news:Wales:South West Wales:Air Wales pulls out of Swansea". BBC News website. BBC. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  4. Air Wales and bmibaby fallout
  5. "Air Wales gives up Plymouth route". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  6. "Air Wales to cease operations on 23 April 2006" BBC News
  7. UK CAA Aircraft Register
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