Ready for take off? – What does the future hold for troubled airport?

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

A Welsh airport is hoping for a brighter future after a period of turbulence which looked like it could land it in the the courtroom.

Swansea Council, which owns but doesn’t run Swansea airport, was taking steps to end the lease held by the current operator – citing a “range of issues” – when it announced at the beginning of August that the operator had agreed to relinquish it.

A group representing users of the 450-acre Gower site is to take it over on a temporary basis.

Although court action was avoided there has been frustration on many sides – and in some cases still is – and a question mark lingers over the future of staff who work there currently.

Equally several people who have spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service have expressed their wish to look ahead and maximise what the Fairwood Common facility has to offer.

There aren’t many airports where pilots can soar above an area of outstanding natural beauty in largely unrestricted airspace surrounded on three sides by a coastline like Gower’s. The majority of aircraft which took part in last month’s Wales National Airshow refuelled there, and on the morning of August 23 six tradesmen were ordering breakfast at the reopened airport cafe.

Fond memories

Thousands of people will have fond memories of flights over the Bristol Channel or learning to fly in gliders as air cadets. Gower councillor Richard Lewis recalled arranging a half-term flight many years ago to Swansea from Taunton, Somerset, where he was at school at the time.

“There was a rail strike, so I organised the flight,” he said. “There was me and eight of my friends from the Swansea area. It was fantastic.” In later years he and a fellow councillor flew from the airport in a Lancaster bomber, and while serving as Lord Mayor of Swansea he and his daughter Francesca were taken up in a pair of gliders. “Fabulous,” he said.

There have been attempts over the years to run commercial passenger services from Swansea Airport – most latterly by Air Wales which flew to London City, Dublin, Jersey and Amsterdam – but demand wasn’t strong enough. The current operator, Swansea Airport Ltd, whose director Roy Thomas owned and subsidised Air Wales, announced plans in January last year to start a passenger service to Exeter but they didn’t come to fruition.

Gifted

Swansea Council said is predecessor council was gifted the airport site and its land in 1938 and that the airfield was run by the authority until around 35 years ago except during the Second World War. The council said it didn’t have the in-house expertise to run such a facility. “Running an airport is a specialised activity, one that’s not within the core business of a council,” said a spokesman.

According to heritage website Coflein, the airfield was used by the RAF for Hurricane, Beaufighter and Spitfire squadrons from June 1941 onwards, ceasing in this capacity three years later when it become a training base solely. The airfield was targeted by enemy bombers, said the website, with one unexploded 1,000lb device apparently remaining in-situ until 1976 when it was extracted and taken to Whiteford Point, North Gower, for detonation.

After being decommissioned by the RAF the airfield went on to be used by private pilots, flying clubs and occasional fare-paying passenger services run by Cambrian Airways and, for a three-year period up to 2004, Air Wales. Wales Air Ambulance and RAF 636 air cadets glider squadron also had bases there.

The airport and its two runways are home now to two flying schools, a skydiving business and around 20 pilots, plus visitors flying in from elsewhere.

The soon-to-be-installed operator, Swansea Airport Stakeholders’ Alliance, said it wanted to support current users and safely operate the airport seven days a week, talk to potential investors, and offer opportunities to the community. An alliance spokesman said such opportunities could include buildings being available for community use, work experience for people with physical or learning disabilities, an expanded catering offer, and potentially a creche serving Gower.

Civil Aviation Authority licence

He said there was no plan for commercial flights, partly because the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licence permitting these was suspended and did not transfer with the lease. The current aviation activities can take place without a CAA licence but the alliance stressed it would abide by CAA regulations.

Alliance members have visited small airports which have grown their business such as Sandown, Isle of Wight, and Sleap airfield, Shropshire. “Sandown had around the same number of movements 10 years ago when the current operator took over as we do now at Swansea – it now has almost 12 times as many,” said the alliance spokesman. “There are facilities for the local community. The place is buzzing.”

He added: “Sleap is an enormous success after being rescued. A hundred or more small aircraft go there for an event with folk bands and a barbecue. People are saying to me, ‘Why can’t we do that?’ Well, we can. We have to provide people with a reason for coming.”

The alliance has previously submitted a business plan to the council, and said it would work with the authority’s events team with a view to hosting events. But the spokesman said there would be no change of use of the land – for example house-building on part of it. “It’s legally, politically and practically impossible,” he said.

Workers

Asked about the staff currently working there, the spokesman said he sympathised with them but that he couldn’t say for sure what would happen until the alliance took over. He said there would have to be certain key roles filled such as airport manager and head of safety. He added: “We are also in the process of drawing up a revised scale of charges, but we’re not planning substantial rises.”

Phil Thomas, the airport’s current manager, said he was brought in by leaseholder Roy Thomas in March last year following a critical CAA audit which identified a “systemic failure of safety management”. Phil Thomas in turn brought in Peter Beales, operations manager, and with the small team of staff he said they’d successfully addressed all the most serious safety concerns and the majority of the less serious ones.

He said the licence suspension was voluntary and that he felt the airport had done what it needed to address the outstanding matters, describing the situation as “immensely frustrating”.

Swansea Airport Ltd said the team had also brought an additional hangar into use, introduced an effective self-service fuelling system, increased the number of visiting aircraft, and made preparations for the reintroduction of grass runways. Phil Thomas said at least £20,000 had been spent on the airport’s fire appliance this year alone. He said the airport was staffed five days a week and that it operated on the other two, although pilots had to sign disclaimers on those days if they wanted to use it.

“This place has had its ups and downs,” he said. “It can be disheartening, but then you have days like the air show when 75% of the aircraft came here for fuelling and parking, and the place changes. I think all our staff are very professional – the rescue and fire-fighting guys are top drawer.” He added: “We have worked with the alliance towards a safe transition.

All we want is a well-run airport which is operated safely, regardless of whose name is above the door.” Operations manager Mr Beales said in an ideal world the company would have had the time to finalise the remaining non-compliance matters. He added: “We are passionate about the airport succeeding.”

Cambrian Flying Club has been based at the airport since 2009, offering flight training, hobby flying and flight experiences for the public. It has three two-seater and one four-seater aircraft.

Operations manager Ben Clyde said the training provided was the “first rung in the ladder” towards a commercial pilot licence and that former trainees now flew planes for British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Ryanair, among others.

Mr Clyde said the flying club had been taken over by his father in 2003 and that it operated at Pembrey prior to Swansea.

He said he picked up the aviation bug as a boy, travelling to air shows. He then took the family firm over around four years ago having worked as a business manager and building inspector, among other things.

“We’ve currently got just under 150 students on our books,” he said. “It’s for all ages – we’ve got a 14-year-old up to people in their 90s.” Mr Clyde, 42, said the club was part of the alliance and that he hoped the airport would become busier. Ideally he’d like to provide the next level up in commercial flight training. “I’m sure we can make a go of this,” he said.

Microlights

Karl Nicholson, flight instructor at microlight outfit, Gower Flight Centre, which also operates from the airport, said it had more than 100 learners on its books. “We all want a safe and thriving airport,” he said.

Carl Williams set up Skydive Swansea at the airport 18 years ago, building it up and eventually buying a plane worth more than £1 million. “It was the scariest signature I have ever put on paper,” he said. The company has since been acquired by a business called Go Skydive, with Mr Williams managing the Swansea operation on its behalf. Looking ahead to the alliance takeover, he said security of tenure was key. “Go Skydive are in a very good position going forward,” he said.

For Lisa Winter, joint operator of the airport cafe, the future feels very uncertain. She said she started working with leaseholder Roy Thomas last summer on plans to re-open the cafe, including a kitchen redesign. After opening earlier this year there was a brief period of closure due to a plumbing issue. “We have been building things up, and it’s starting to get really busy,” she said.

The not-for-profit alliance said it intended to work towards reinstating the suspended CAA licence and would apply for a long-term tenancy when the council launched a competitive tender process at some point in the future.

Speaking earlier this month, Roy Thomas said he would also bid for a long-term lease when the opportunity arose. He has repeatedly said he has ploughed significant sums of money into the airport since he took it over in the early 2000s. “I took it from dereliction to a stage where it’s got a bright future,” he said.

Mr Thomas said he’d never taken a salary, and he reiterated his call for an inquiry into the process which had led to the current turn of events. Cllr Lewis, meanwhile, said he wished the best for the airport. “I think there are opportunities,” he said. “My view is that there could be a small caravan site linked to it.”