Bristol Live
Tristan Cork
08 Apr 2026
Taxpayers are paying £71 for every passenger to fly out of Cardiff, when more Welsh people fly out of Bristol
Bristol Airport has lost a legal battle against the Welsh Government in a row over whether it was fair or legal for ministers to give £205 million of taxpayers’ money as a subsidy to Cardiff Airport.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled that the Welsh Government had not broken any rules in handing out the subsidy.
Bristol Airport ’s bosses had launched an appeal against a decision by ministers to award a total of £205.2 million, phased over ten years, to support Cardiff International Airport. The money came from the Welsh Government’s budget, almost all of which ultimately comes from Westminster, and Bristol Airport claimed ministers had breached the rules in granting the subsidy programme...
