Cardiff Airport (Image: Sharpshotaero / Alamy)
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A £205 million package of public funding for Cardiff Airport has been ruled lawful after a rival hub’s attempt to have it overturned was dismissed by a tribunal.
Bristol Airport had mounted a legal challenge against the Welsh Government subsidy, arguing it breached competition rules and risked distorting the aviation market between the two airports. The Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected the claim in a unanimous ruling published on Tuesday.
The subsidy
The Welsh Government officially awarded the £205.2m subsidy to Cardiff Airport, based in Rhoose, in April 2025. The funding is being phased over 10 years, with £20m already allocated for spending during the current financial year.
Ministers said the investment would support new maintenance facilities, hangars and cargo capacity, alongside the development of new routes focused on global aviation hubs and destinations linked to Wales’ economic growth.
Bristol’s challenge
Bristol Airport filed its appeal with the Competition Appeal Tribunal in July 2025, after seeing the scale and detail of the proposed subsidy.
Lawyers for Bristol Airport told the tribunal in February that the funding “should be declared unlawful”, describing it as unprecedented in UK aviation. A central argument was that around half the subsidy was earmarked for route development, which Bristol claimed could be used to unfairly attract airlines to Cardiff at the expense of fair competition.
Bristol Airport also pointed to the per-passenger cost, with a spokesperson stating: “The subsidy will see Welsh taxpayers forking out around £71 for every single additional passenger flying out of Cardiff Airport.”
The spokesperson added that the subsidy came “on the back of £181m of taxpayers’ money that Cardiff Airport has already received.”
The ruling
The tribunal dismissed all of Bristol’s claims. Its ruling stated: “Bristol’s application for a declaration, a quashing order and a recovery order is dismissed.”
“This judgment is unanimous.”
Reaction
The Welsh Government argued during proceedings that up-front payments from airports to airlines were common practice across the industry.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling that our investment in Cardiff Airport is lawful and can continue on its current terms.”
“The airport, which recently celebrated a 9% growth in passenger numbers for last year, is looking forward to its busiest summer flying programme in many years, and we very much hope to see both Cardiff Airport and Bristol Airport continue to thrive and grow.”
Bristol Airport said it was “disappointed” with the outcome, adding that it felt the flexibility provided by the post-Brexit Subsidy Control Act had allowed the funding to proceed despite concerns over the burden on taxpayers.
“We’ll now take some time to study the decision in detail before deciding on our next steps,” the spokesperson said.
