Swansea Airport hopes to have its operating licence reinstated in the coming weeks - and has revealed plans for added attractions.
The Civil Aviation Authority suspended its licence in September, but declined to confirm the reasons for the suspension.
The suspension of the licence means commercial flights for paying passengers from the airport on Fairwood Common are not permitted, although training and private flights have been able to land and take off "at their own risk".
Swansea councillors have this month raised the issue with the authority’s leadership, claiming the suspension of the licence sends out the message Swansea is ‘closed for business’ as it continues to develop the city’s £1.3billion City Deal, the public and private project to boost investment and jobs in south west Wales.
Swansea Council is landlord of the site.
In a written statement, councillor David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for delivery and performance, warned: “Ultimately, the tenant may decide at some point in the future that it is no longer willing to subsidise the airport and in which case the company could become insolvent.
“In this scenario, the land would revert to the council and the cost of decommissioning would be substantial. The chance of finding another tenant would prove very difficult after a period of closure as the CAA would be no doubt be hesitant about issuing a fresh licence without substantial investment”.
However, a spokesman for Swansea Airport said not only did they hope to have satisfied the CAA that it had addressed the issues which lead to the suspension of its licence, leading to its restoration, but that it also hoped later this year to commence work on air museum, as well as replacing the existing cafe with a larger, bespoke themed restaurant.
He added: “Along with necessary repairs, there has been an extensive review of operations and a tightening of procedures.
“It is expected that all outstanding work to enable full reinstatement will be completed in the next few weeks.
“Meanwhile, longer term improvement plans are under consideration and it is hoped that details will be available within the next six months”.
The airport was built during the Second World War, and was decommissioned and opened as Swansea Airport in 1949.
In addition to flying schools using the airport, it also used by sky diving operators as well as private pilots of small planes.
