Cardiff Airport wins legal battle over subsidies brought by Bristol counterpart

Daniel Bevan - Editor

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The Welsh Government has won a legal battle which was brought by Bristol Airport over subsidies given to its Cardiff rival.

The challenge, brought before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, claimed the £205.2m in funding over ten years was “unlawful”.

Bristol Airport said it would “take some time to study the decision in detail before deciding on our next steps”, while the Welsh Government welcomed the ruling.

In publishing its ruling, the Competition Appeal Tribunal outlined the four grounds for which the appeal was lodged and said: “The Tribunal held that none of the four grounds of challenge were made out.

“Accordingly, the appeal failed and the application for a declaration, quashing order and recovery order was dismissed.”

The subsidy was granted to Cardiff International Airport Limited (CIAL), which the Welsh Government purchased in 2013 for £52 million.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling that our investment in Cardiff Airport is lawful and can continue on its current terms.”

“The airport, which recently celebrated a 9% growth in passenger numbers for last year, is looking forward to its busiest summer flying programme in many years, and we very much hope to see both Cardiff Airport and Bristol Airport continue to thrive and grow.”

A Bristol Airport spokesperson said: “The competition tribunal heard significant concerns about the unprecedented £205m subsidy, which comes on the back of £181m of taxpayers’ money that Cardiff Airport has already received.

“The subsidy will see Welsh taxpayers forking out around £71 for every single additional passenger flying out of Cardiff Airport.

“We’re disappointed that the tribunal feels, that despite the burden being put on the taxpayer, the flexibility given by the Subsidy Control Act introduced after Brexit means that the subsidy can proceed.

“We’ll now take some time to study the decision in detail before deciding on our next steps.”