World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Cardiff International Airport (CWL)
Tel: (01446) 711 111.
Website: www.cardiffairportonline.com

Cardiff International Airport is located at Rhoose, 19km (12 miles) southwest of the city centre. As a regional airport, it is much smaller than the major UK international hubs. Even so, it handles currently about 1.5 million passengers annually, with a capacity for three million.

Major airlines: Direct scheduled flights are provided by the national carrier, British Airways (tel: (0845) 773 377 or (0845) 779 9977; website: www.ba.com), to Aberdeen, Belfast, Brussels and Paris. Other airlines include KLM (website: www.klm.com), which offers a connection to Amsterdam, and British Midland subsidiary Bmibaby (website: www.bmibaby.com), which serves Belfast, Edinburgh, Geneva, Glasgow, Jersey, Milan, Alicante, Faro and Malaga. Air Wales (website: www.airwales.com) connects Cardiff with Cork and Dublin, while low-cost airline Ryanair (website: www.ryanair.com) also serves the Irish capital. A number of airlines run seasonal charter services to mainland Europe and further afield.

Approximate flight times to Cardiff: From New York is 8 hours 45 minutes; from Los Angeles is 12 hours 20 minutes; from Toronto is 8 hours 50 minutes and from Sydney is 24 hours 20 minutes. These times include stopovers and transfers. There are no flights between London and Cardiff but London Heathrow is less than three hours away by rail and a little longer by road.

Airport facilities: Banking and exchange facilities are available. There is also a 24-hour information desk, ATM, duty-free shops, restaurants, cafés and pubs, and car hire from Avis, Europcar and Hertz.

Business facilities: There is no business centre in the airport. There is an executive lounge in the departures lounge, with Internet access, fax and photocopiers, as well as refreshments and newspapers. Fax and photocopying facilities are available at the information desk in the main terminal.

Transport to the city: From summer 2005, a rail link will connect Cardiff International Airport to Cardiff Central and Bridgend. Trains will run each direction every hour, with onward connections possible to other destinations on the rail network. For further information, including fares and timetables, contact National Rail Enquiries (tel: (0845) 748 4950). Cardiff Bus (tel: (029) 2066 6444; website: www.cardiffbus.com) service X91 operates direct between Cardiff city centre (including Central Station) and the airport with up to a half hourly frequency on Mondays to Fridays, hourly on Saturdays and Sundays. Additional Cardiff Bus service 95 runs via Barry on Monday to Saturday evenings.

Shamrock Coaches (tel: (01443) 407 000 or (01446) 722800; website: www.shamrocktravel.co.uk) runs bus X45 hourly 0630-1830 Monday to Saturday. On Monday to Saturday evenings, hourly between 1936 and 2236, EST (tel: (01446) 793 100) operates bus 345. First (website: www.firstgroup.com) X5 coach runs every two hours from Cardiff Airport to Cardiff coach station 0845-2135 on Sunday only. Cardiff Air Taxis (tel: (01446) 710 693) charge approximately £20 for trips to and from the city centre (journey time – 20-30 minutes). The nearest railway station is 8km (5 miles) away, at Barry, with connections from Cardiff.