Swansea Airport
Our councillors have an important role in holding the Council to account across the City & County. After speaking to several residents on the doors about this issue and being contacted by concerned residents and users of Swansea Airport, our councillors have agreed to ask probing questions on their behalf.
Swansea Council has indicated that it will review its stance on the operation of Swansea Airport. The revelation came in response to inquiries from councillors, and the matter is slated for discussion at a council meeting scheduled for tomorrow. This development follows the repeated suspension of Swansea Airport's license by the UK's aviation regulator. Inspectors from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) visited the airport last week and first suspended its refuelling license before subsequently placing a provisional hold on its operating license.
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."
This development occurred within a month of Swansea Council's decision to commence negotiations with Swansea Airport Ltd, the current operator and owner of the facility, for a new lease. This decision was met with disapproval from activists who had advocated for the council to explore alternative options. Not long before council leaders opted to renew the lease, Swansea Airport Ltd announced its plan to initiate scheduled passenger flights between Swansea and Exeter by the end of March this year.
It has been observed that the current leaseholder's management of the airport has resulted in numerous operational deficiencies over the past several years. Despite multiple instances of this, Swansea Council's decision to renegotiate with the leaseholder is perplexing to some. It is unfortunate because the airport has the potential to serve as an important connection to other destinations in the UK.
