Swansea Council will re-consider its position on the operating of Swansea Airport, it has indicated. The legal review was revealed in answers to questions from councillors. The situation will be discussed at a council meeting tomorrow. It comes after the UK's aviation regulator has suspended Swansea Airport's licence once again. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) inspectors visited the airport last week and suspended its refuelling licence before calling a provisional halt on the operating licence.
Swansea Council agendas state that councillors James McGettrick, Jeff Jones, Lynda James, Michael Locke and Cheryl Philpott will ask the authority in councillors questions on Thursday, March 30: "The council decided to award a new lease to the current leaseholder, Swansea Airport Ltd (SAL) on January 19. Last week the CAA suspended the airport licence for several safety related issues, including systemic failure of airport safety systems. Most of these failures have been the cause that the airport licence has been suspended for periods over the past 15 years. This is a case of 'repeat offending'. Since SAL have been unable to meet the prime lease requirement of maintaining the airport licence in the past, how do the council propose to secure compliance with the new lease?"
The authority will answer: "Given recent events, the council are now reviewing its legal position and officers will be updating cabinet in April. Nevertheless, the recent CAA situation will require the Council to review its legal position further before it can confirm the next course of action."
READ MORE: Swansea Airport's licence has been suspended again
It comes less than a month after Swansea Council, which owns the facility, agreed to start negotiating a new lease with the current operator, Swansea Airport Ltd, to the consternation of campaigners who had urged the authority to consider other options. Shortly before council chiefs decided to renew the lease, Swansea Airport Ltd said scheduled passenger flights between Swansea and Exeter would start at the end of March this year. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
The CAA told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it had provisionally suspended the operating licence due to a "systemic failure of safety management". It cited ineffective safety management, inadequate safeguarding of the aerodrome, and an absence of an accountable manager. Swansea Airport Ltd took over an existing lease for the airport, at Fairwood Common, Gower, around 20 years ago. The CAA suspended the operating licence in 2019 on safety grounds, reinstating it two years later.
A number of airport users have claimed that the airport has become run down, and set up a group called Swansea Airport Stakeholders' Alliance. The alliance has submitted proposals to the council to take over the running of the airport, as has a businessman, Jim Blythe, who leases aircraft there.
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