Another airline has pulled out of Cardiff Airport taking away the only direct route from south Wales to Paris. Eastern Airways has scrapped its route from Cardiff to Paris Orly less than a year after it was launched in April 2023.
The service ran daily between the airports but will come to an end on Saturday, March 30. Cardiff Airport confirmed they had been advised the service was being suspended at the start of the summer schedule. Eastern Airways has not responded to WalesOnline’s request for comment.
The Cardiff to Paris route appears to be the last one operated from Cardiff Airport by the airline, which previously offered flights to Anglesey and Southampton.
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As a result of this route being scrapped, there is currently no direct air link between the Welsh and French capitals. Passengers wishing to travel to one of Paris’ airports from Cardiff will now have to go via Amsterdam or travel from Bristol Airport.
Cardiff Airport has said they are “actively speaking” to airlines to try and reinstate a direct route from the Welsh Government-owned airport to Paris.
While there are no Eastern Airways commercial routes running from the airport from the end of March, Cardiff Airport says that the airline makes use of facilities and flies regularly from Cardiff for charter flights, as and when required.
Cardiff Airport has struggled to restore passenger numbers to their pre-pandemic levels. Recent setbacks include low-cost carrier Wizz Air permanently pulling out of the airport in January 2023 and Qatar Airways suspending its long-haul service to Doha at the start of the pandemic.
The Middle Eastern airline has since resumed all its UK routes, apart from Cardiff, and no set date to resume the service has been set. Despite these challenges, in February, Chief executive of Cardiff Airport, Spencer Birns, said the target of getting back to its pre-Covid annual passenger number of 1.6 million still stands.
Speaking of the scrapping of the Paris route, a spokesperson for Cardiff Airport said: “We can confirm that Eastern Airways have advised they are suspending the Paris Orly route from the start of the summer schedule.
“Our team are actively speaking to airlines to provide direct flights between Cardiff and Paris. We know our customers living in Wales are keen for more choice and great prices from our airport.
“Wales does remain connected to eight cities in France daily with our fantastic KLM flights via Amsterdam. Customers can choose to fly from Paris twice daily to Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Strasbourg and Nice.”
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