Taxpayer hit by another new £130m bill for Cardiff Airport

Commenting on the Welsh Government’s latest statement on financial support for Cardiff Airport, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Economy, Russell George MS said:

“The aviation sector has been badly hit by coronavirus and governments across the world are supporting the industry.

“However, the balance of support – including the writing off of millions of pounds of taxpayers cash already invested by Labour ministers before the pandemic even hit – will be rightly questioned when thousands of small businesses in Wales are crying out for more help.

“Small firms desperately need support to help protect jobs but Labour ministers only seem to be interested in bailing out their wholly-owned enterprise – and today Welsh taxpayers have taken a new hit to the tune of over £130m.

“Labour’s statement provides no picture of what the plans are for the airport, nor a timeline of when the quoted ‘restructuring’ will be completed. Welsh Conservatives have outlined a plan for Cardiff Airport, and repeatedly made the case for a roadmap to recovery that takes in all business sectors, not just Labour’s pet projects.

“It’s time Labour listened.”

Cardiff Airport posts £18.5m pre-tax loss

Notes:

The statement can be read here: https://gov.wales/written-statement-future-support-cardiff-airport
Welsh Labour Government has agreed investment by way of a grant of up to £42.6m which will be given to enable Cardiff Airport to restructure its operations.
Separately, as sole shareholders of Cardiff Airport, they have made the decision on a purely commercial basis to write off £42.6 million of the airports debt.
Welsh Labour ministers are also impairing the equity at this time to reflect the loss of value which amounts to £46.3m.

The Wales and Borders franchises are branded Transport for Wales but operated by KeolisAmey since October 2018, when the company was awarded a €6 billion contract to transform the 1,623km Wales and the Border network over the course of 15 years. In May 2020 £65 million set aside to keep Wales’ railway running