Welsh Conservatives have called for renewed government efforts to assist in the creation of a direct Cardiff-New York air route.
Shadow Minister for Transport, Byron Davies AM, has written to the minister asking what direct action will be taken in the coming weeks and months. The call follows the publication of a previously unseen economic appraisal of the route, released under the freedom of information act late last year.
The document, written in August 2007, suggests the daily air link could add one million pounds to the Welsh economy every year in the wake of extra business and leisure visits.
It also claims support costs for the route would be approximately 580 thousand pounds a year and concludes that ‘the proposed Delta CWL-JFK service passes the Economic Appraisal’.
Mr Davies said:
“Continued claims from the government that discussions on new air routes from Cardiff are being monitored are not good enough. It’s time to act on an issue that has been stagnating for years.
“This report was produced in 2007 and its conclusion is clear. We should have seen concerted efforts from the government to act on that.
“A recent decline in international travel opportunities to and from Wales and a drop in passenger numbers have been of great concern. Ministers now need to sit down with airport officials and develop a clear strategy to stem the airport’s decline. A direct route to New York should be top of the agenda.
“There is now an annual government subsidy of over one million pounds for the north-south Wales air service. This report suggests support costs for a New York route would be substantially less, yet the economic benefits for Wales would be vast.
“That’s a disparity the minister needs to look at very carefully indeed.”
