The CEO of Ryanair, Eddie Wilson, has revealed what would make the airline choose Cardiff Airport as a base for more holiday destinations - and it's all to do with cost. Mr Wilson spoke to WalesOnline at Funchal Airport in Madeira, where he was celebrating the launch of Ryanair's new base.
In response to a question about whether there were any more flights or destinations planned from Cardiff Airport, the CEO said: "Regional UK airports continue to be very strong for us. We've got a heavy presence in Bristol. We don't yet have a base in Cardiff, but I would like to think that we could - I mean, I know we launched the destination to Dublin there last year - but I would like to think we'd expand there. But it's all down to the cost.
"You look at it and say, 'why are they in Bristol, not in Cardiff?' You can be sure it's to do with cost and cost just translates to lower fares, which allows us to transport people, so we'll do our best for Cardiff."
Read more: 24 destinations you can fly to from Cardiff in April and May
Currently, you can fly to Ireland's capital city, Dublin, from Cardiff Airport with Ryanair, with flights from the end of March to the conclusion of October, 2022, on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays. You can also fly to Malaga from Cardiff with the airline during April and May on Wednesdays and Sundays. This is how early you need to arrive at Cardiff Airport.
Mr Wilson said Cardiff had the "infrastructure, the runway facilities, all that there" and that the airline had invested in the UK this year, opening a base in Newcastle and putting additional aircraft in airports including Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham.
"There's still plenty of demand in the UK, and I'd like to think we'd do something with Cardiff, but tell them [the airport] to give us a call," Mr Wilson added. He said the main issue was lower airport costs. "We generally say, 'we'll bring more traffic, lower the costs,' you know, a very simplistic way. Lower costs, they'll have more passengers, they'll make more money on the car parking, on the facilities at the airport," he said.
He added that more passengers would be "good for Ryanair, good for the airport, and good for people who are travelling at our legendary low fares". Mr Wilson said Ryanair planned to fly 165 million passengers this year, and that he was "extremely happy" to be launching a base in Madeira.
