Cardiff Airport's £205m handout 'unlawful', claims Bristol

A planned £205.2m subsidy of Cardiff Airport "should be declared unlawful", lawyers for Bristol Airport have argued at a competition tribunal.

They said that the size of the Welsh government subsidy was unprecedented in UK aviation and a breach of competition rules.

The government will respond during the second day of the tribunal on Tuesday, but has previously defended its 10-year plan to invest in the airport, which it has owned since 2013.

The competition appeal tribunal is expected to last two days.

In April 2025 the Welsh government officially awarded a subsidy worth £205.2m to Cardiff Airport, with £20m already allocated to be spent during the current financial year. The full amount would be phased over 10 years.

Ministers said the subsidy would support new maintenance facilities, hangars and cargo capacity. New routes would also be developed, concentrating on global aviation hubs and destinations that could also support Wales's economic growth.

After seeing the size and details of the proposed subsidy, Bristol Airport filed an appeal with the competition appeal tribunal in July 2025.

At a tribunal hearing in Cardiff, a barrister for Bristol Airport called for the subsidy to be quashed.

"We say the subsidy should be declared unlawful," said Ewan West KC.

He said Bristol was "not seeking to drive Cardiff from the market," and that "Bristol relishes competition".

But Mr West said such competition "must be fair and lawful".

It is evident in assessing the impact of the subsidy that "Welsh ministers have failed to appreciate, and seriously underestimate" the harm to Bristol, the barrister told the tribunal.

Ahead of the hearing Bristol Airport argued the investment amounted to a subsidy of £71.50 per passenger, and that the taxpayer would be paying for people to go on holiday from Cardiff Airport. It claimed that passengers and airlines could be drawn away by means that were anti-competitive.

During the hearing Bristol Airport's barrister also argued that Cardiff Airport should have been more seriously treated as an "ailing or insolvent enterprise" during a review of the subsidy, a legal category which would have triggered extra checks before public money could be used to subsidise the business.

Welsh government lawyers will respond to the appeal by Bristol Airport during the second day of the hearing.

The Welsh government has previously said it would defend the legal challenge by Bristol Airport, and that it would "fight for our ability to invest" in Cardiff Airport's "long-term prosperity and shape its economic destiny".

In a statement ahead of the hearing, Bristol Airport said the Welsh government's subsidy "was unlawful, disproportionate, and would unfairly harm airport and airline competition."

It added that it would be "asking the tribunal to quash the subsidy decision made by the Welsh government, which it believes failed to lawfully apply the subsidy control principles, resulting in a subsidy that should not have been granted".

A spokesperson for the Welsh government said ministers would present their position "through the proper legal process".

They added: "As the case is the subject of ongoing litigation, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage."

A panel of three, chaired by Ben Tidswell, is hearing Bristol Airport's appeal against the subsidy and the response of Welsh ministers.

The hearing is expected to last two days, with a decision likely to be deferred until a later date.