Cardiff: Ryanair Flights, New Routes & Schedule Updates

[Fernley]

Can’t see that, the loads haven’t exactly been good down there and they said no new bases until 2030.

Hope Cardiff 🤞

New routes being mooted include NCL and EDI. GLA and BFS loads from SOU in July were over 90% so your theory doesn’t stack up

 

[Jack Ruckley]

New routes being mooted include NCL and EDI. GLA and BFS loads from SOU in July were over 90% so your theory doesn’t stack up

Yeah. 2 routes of of 7, the sun routes at peak summer should be at least achieving 90% LF, I know it’s not all about loads it’s about yields but SOU are not cutting it.

It doesn’t seem likely it will be SOU. But we shall see whenever it’s announced by Sean on X

 

[cardiff12345]

If Vueling don't return for Summer 2027 then I make it that Ryanair would need to add another 5 weekly departures to replace that lost capacity. Hopefully we'll see an increase on Alicante with an extra 2 weekly departures, Malaga to go daily and then possibly a new route to say maybe Mallorca say 3 weekly? That would compensate for the loss of Vueling and would put Ryanair near 26 weekly departures.

Palma would be a good addition and potentially Barcelona too.

I don’t think we’re ready for something slightly more niche like Porto yet.

The biggest shame continues to be lack of flights to Scotland. I could only see Ryanair being able to do it now. 2008 i think cardiff had 5 daily edinburgh. Two flybe and three bmibaby.

 

[Samdorob]

The biggest shame continues to be lack of flights to Scotland. I could only see Ryanair being able to do it now

I could see a 4 weekly route working. Mainly scheduled around weekend travel and eventually building up to a daily service. The trouble is having UK registered aircraft available. There’s also the issue that the figures from Loganair weren’t great, so you’d hope they would look further back as to how successful the route was.

 

[cardiff12345]

I could see a 4 weekly route working. Mainly scheduled around weekend travel and eventually building up to a daily service. The trouble is having UK registered aircraft available. There’s also the issue that the figures from Loganair weren’t great, so you’d hope they would look further back as to how successful the route was.

Was the issue with loganair though the base fare being too high due to the small aircraft?

I heard of some fares being £300 return. £600 for a couple to go away for the weekend.

 

[Jerry]

I could see a 4 weekly route working. Mainly scheduled around weekend travel and eventually building up to a daily service. The trouble is having UK registered aircraft available. There’s also the issue that the figures from Loganair weren’t great, so you’d hope they would look further back as to how successful the route was.

To be fair Ryanair is a very different airline to Loganair i doubt they make any decision on Loganair figures but more on how they believe they could generate footfall, aircraft availability and how such a route could fit in to maximising the usage of their aircraft. If you look at Dublin a lot of the flights at Cardiff will be to get an extra 2 flights a day out of aircraft.

 

[CAN&I]

I could see a 4 weekly route working. Mainly scheduled around weekend travel and eventually building up to a daily service. The trouble is having UK registered aircraft available. There’s also the issue that the figures from Loganair weren’t great, so you’d hope they would look further back as to how successful the route was.

The irony is that not only were the pax numbers increasing over 2024 and 2025, Loganair's CEO also went public with their plans to grow services at Cardiff as a means of forming a south west UK "hub". Just a year later they were pulling the plug at Cardiff (and elsewhere to be fair) to chase the golden goose at Southampton and to make the most of government money and a monopoly on the Southampton lifeline service at Jersey.

Southampton came and went, Guernsey's government declined them a licence to compete with Aurigny on the Southampton route and blocked the Jersey-Guernsey inter-island service and Jersey-Southampton numbers are down on the Blue Islands days. Now they are retreating elsewhere.

Was the issue with loganair though the base fare being too high due to the small aircraft?

I heard of some fares being £300 return. £600 for a couple to go away for the weekend.

It was indeed. They didn't compete well enough on price. OK, it was positioned as a "premium" service but with a low cost airline offering return fares at a fraction of the price just 50 miles away, the casual customer booking that weekend break just wasn't convinced, and rightly so.

Yet, you only have to look at the Aer Lingus Regional / Belfast City equation. Same aircraft, same offering, yet the fares are far more competitive and, like Ryanair with Dublin, its a route that that grown steadily year on year and found a healthy customer base.

To be fair Ryanair is a very different airline to Loganair i doubt they make any decision on Loganair figures but more on how they believe they could generate footfall, aircraft availability and how such a route could fit in to maximising the usage of their aircraft. If you look at Dublin a lot of the flights at Cardiff will be to get an extra 2 flights a day out of aircraft.

Precisely. Its not demand thats the issue. The demand is there. Its more about getting the product offering right. Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus are proving the art of the possible on a daily basis to Dublin and Belfast City. Either airline would be more than capable of doing the same with Edinburgh, although patience would have to be the key given the frequency and cost on offer via easyJet at Bristol. Its aircraft and crew availability thats the main blocker for now sadly as Cardiff has to compete for attention across a vast number of airports and routes.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Yet, you only have to look at the Aer Lingus Regional / Belfast City equation. Same aircraft, same offering, yet the fares are far more competitive and, like Ryanair with Dublin, its a route that that grown steadily year on year and found a healthy customer base.

It's always been an interesting one for me comparing these two airlines. On the face of it, they should be very similar in operations, so it baffles me why Loganair is generally so much more expensive than Aer Lingus/Emerald.
Specifically to CWL, EDI was always carrying more numbers than BHD, although BHD wasn't far behind. The comparison is EI offer a consistent daily service around lunchtime, whereas LG were a bit more sporadic, have flights later in the day, on a mix of E-jets and ATR.
I think with better timings LG may have attracted more custom, but ultimately business travel has changed, but they haven't changed with it. They still price themselves for business passengers, and are missing out on more price sensitive leisure passengers. Ryanair are a perfect example that even with terrible timings, people will still fly if the price is right.
On a wider comparison, EI do have lower costs of a single, modern fleet type, whereas LG for years have relied upon owning their older, less efficient aircraft, that now needs replacing.
EI have 20 ATR72-600s, where as LG are now up to 12 ATR72-600s, with another due, 6 ATR42-500/600, but also an old fleet of E-145 jets and smaller aircraft for their island routes. LG relies heavily on subsidies, whereas EI less so.

The only figures I can find are from 2024/2025:
EI - 9.6 million Euros profit, carrying 2.2m passengers. A first time profit since they started.
LG - £6.9m profit carrying 1.5m passengers, and £11m profit in 2025.

LG have 33 aircraft, not including the cargo aircraft
EI have 20 aircraft
Yet EI carry considerably more passengers.

 

[CAN&I]

It's always been an interesting one for me comparing these two airlines. On the face of it, they should be very similar in operations, so it baffles me why Loganair is generally so much more expensive than Aer Lingus/Emerald.
Specifically to CWL, EDI was always carrying more numbers than BHD, although BHD wasn't far behind. The comparison is EI offer a consistent daily service around lunchtime, whereas LG were a bit more sporadic, have flights later in the day, on a mix of E-jets and ATR.
I think with better timings LG may have attracted more custom, but ultimately business travel has changed, but they haven't changed with it. They still price themselves for business passengers, and are missing out on more price sensitive leisure passengers. Ryanair are a perfect example that even with terrible timings, people will still fly if the price is right.
On a wider comparison, EI do have lower costs of a single, modern fleet type, whereas LG for years have relied upon owning their older, less efficient aircraft, that now needs replacing.
EI have 20 ATR72-600s, where as LG are now up to 12 ATR72-600s, with another due, 6 ATR42-500/600, but also an old fleet of E-145 jets and smaller aircraft for their island routes. LG relies heavily on subsidies, whereas EI less so.

The only figures I can find are from 2024/2025:
EI - 9.6 million Euros profit, carrying 2.2m passengers. A first time profit since they started.
LG - £6.9m profit carrying 1.5m passengers, and £11m profit in 2025.

LG have 33 aircraft, not including the cargo aircraft
EI have 20 aircraft
Yet EI carry considerably more passengers.

You've hit the nail on the head. Potential customers prioritise convenience, timing and price. Get at least the convenience and price right and timing is usually the one compromise open to consideration, especially in the low cost market. Although Emerald are not low cost, they're not expensive either and the timings have got better as the years have passed. Loganair, on the other hand, had timings all over the place and despite a reputation for a good customer experience, they just cannot compete against Ryanair or easyJet.

Another nail - single fleet type. Still cannot fathom why Loganair went ahead with their modernisation programme for the ERJ 145s. The type was never the most efficient anyway and was designed as a low volume high yield business commuter jet for the American and Far East markets, not regional mixed connectivity. It was expensive to run back in the days of BA City Connect 20-odd years ago. Guess the problem is ownership. Cheaper for Loganair to persevere and maintain and modernise an asset than to invest in more efficient aircraft. Still doesn't make sense in today's world though.

The problem Cardiff (and others) have is that regional connectivity supply is at an all time low. BA, easyJet, Ryanair and Aer Lingus / Emerald have taken up all the volume trunk routes both north-south and UK-Ireland. The smaller players left to fill in the gaps have all disappeared asides Loganair who seem to be in a phase of contraction once more and relaying heavily on Scottish and Jersey government support. Can't see them coming back to Cardiff unless there is government money available which, under the terms of the new funding model, there is none. That only leaves Emerald or Ryanair UK left to step in and both are currently maxed out.

Hugely frustrating.

 

[Jerry]

That only leaves Emerald or Ryanair UK left to step in and both are currently maxed out.

There is a certain orange airline that could operate the route but unfortunately there's more chance of Qatar Airways operating the route 😆

They still price themselves for business passengers,

That's the problem they don't really have any basic leisure fare but seem to run routes with leisure frequency.

 

[cardiff12345]

There is a certain orange airline that could operate the route but unfortunately there's more chance of Qatar Airways operating the route 😆


That's the problem they don't really have any basic leisure fare but seem to run routes with leisure frequency.

In my opinion i think it’s unlikely the orange airline will ever operate the route but with their new PE backers who will want a 5-7 year turnaround on their investment and need quick growth it’s the closest to happening it’s ever been i’d say!

 

[CAN&I]

In my opinion i think it’s unlikely the orange airline will ever operate the route but with their new PE backers who will want a 5-7 year turnaround on their investment and need quick growth it’s the closest to happening it’s ever been i’d say!

The only reason the orange lot would ever appear at Cardiff would be a situation where Bristol Airport could not physically accommodate their short to medium term growth plans. If (and its a big "if") Bristol's expansion plans are rejected and the matter ends up in a lengthy legal battle, we could feasibly see such movement.

Ultimately, no realistic flavour of current or future UK Government would be likely to object should the matter land in their hands so expansion will happen, just a quesiton of when.

Unless the orange airline suddenly decides to spread capacity on their volume routes to allow growth within the existing perameters at Bristol, which lets face it they've not done so over the last 24 years, there is otherwise zero incentive for it to do so.

Of course there is the matter of devolution of APD potentially happening but you'd imagine both the orange lot and their buddies at Bristol Airport would mount their own legal action and tie that decision up in knots for years to come. No matter how much the likes of TUI, Ryanair, Loganair and WestJet would welcome it, easyJet and Bristol Airport would doubtless argue that a zero-rate or heavily reduced APD at Cardiff would create another case of "unlawful market distortion".

 

[Jerry]

In my opinion i think it’s unlikely the orange airline will ever operate the route but with their new PE backers who will want a 5-7 year turnaround on their investment and need quick growth it’s the closest to happening it’s ever been i’d say!

I do think it's extremely unlikely tbh especially with the new owners.
I think for Cardiff the best chance is a Ryanair base and they base a UK reg aircraft at the airport or they have an expansion at Edinburgh.