Convenience, or at least I thought it was until on Saturday in July 2001, when my perception of this small, but perfectly formed airport definitely changed for the worse.

For daytime flights, the likes of Airtours and Britannia can charge horrendous flight supplements, often as much as £80/£100 per person for daytime flights, somewhat less for night-time flights (flying I loathe at the best of times, flying at night.....enough said).

ENTRANCE HALL
TBI (the airport owners) have spent substantial sums in upgrading the area, although Britannia and MyTravel (a.k.a Airtours) have lost a number of check-in desks since the birth of BMI Baby at Cardiff, in addition, Air Wales now fly out of there daily to destinations such as London, Swansea, Plymouth, Jersey, Belfast, Cork and Dublin and KLM appear to becoming more prominent there - British Airways have now pulled out of flying from Cardiff altogether, although they still have a depot there.

In the lounge area accessed via stairs or lift, immediately after check-in, there is:
• A Bar - which also has a TV, and appears to be open normal drinking hours only;
• Newsagents;
• Canteen with clearly marked smoking and non-smoking areas;
• A Thomas Cook exchange booth;
• A childrens gaming area; and
• An indoor and outdoor viewing tower for plane fanatics.

PARKING (UPDATED JUNE 03)
There is lots of reasonably priced on-airport parking a short distance away from the main terminal, prices start at £3/day for long term is booked in advance, this can be done by booking through BCP online or over the telephone, we paid £24 for 8 days in 2001, a saving of £6 and considerably cheaper than Heathrow. The advent of BMI Baby flights from Cardiff has seen considerable changes on the parking front. My forthcoming 8 days parking at Cardiff in July will set me back £31.60, 15 days would cost just £45, for once the old adage of the more you buy the cheaper it is, actually being true.

The new short term parking arrangements should be viewed with care - There are two car-parks on the opposite side of the road from the airport, entry through the left hand entry will cost £7 per day and incrementally stepped for following days, right hand entry will set you back £9 per day or part thereof. Payment is by credit card or cash at the machine directly outside the arrivals hall, if you need to claim your money back, remember to select the receipt button, as your ticket will be eaten by the machine on exit from the car-park.

There are also a number of hotels springing up in the area where you can book a room for the night and take advantage of free parking and free shuttle buses to the airport.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?
We elected to fly from Cardiff because of the convenience factor, and excited and wound up (the kids refused to go to sleep).

The coaches supplied were in fact local school buses with no leg room, toilets or drink facilities, and the 4 buses had to run in convoy because 3 of the drivers didn't know where they were going, not a good start to our holiday.

It was only when we were on the plane that we discovered that our plane had in fact aborted two landings in Cardiff before flying on to Birmingham and thus the airport staff must have known the circumstances at least an 1½ before they told anyone.

Whilst no-one can account for adverse weather conditions, the way it was handled, the risk the passengers were placed in through lack of suitable exits in the event of an emergency and the persistent lack of respect and thought for the customers has put these guys way down in my estimations.