Cardiff International Airport

Cardiff is Wales' national airport and a rarity in the UK: it has been owned by the Welsh Government since 2013. With about 954,000 passengers in 2025 it is genuinely quiet — short queues, one small terminal with everything under one roof, and two hours before departure is ample. The route map is leisure-led: Ryanair, TUI and Vueling to the Mediterranean, Aer Lingus Regional to Ireland, KLM's Amsterdam link as the main connecting hub, and WestJet restoring a non-stop Toronto service from summer 2026.

The airport sits at Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 19 km southwest of Cardiff, and its old T9 express bus to the city was never reinstated after 2020 — there is no direct city bus. The standard route in is the 905 shuttle (7–10 minutes) to Rhoose Cardiff International Airport rail station, then a Transport for Wales train to Cardiff Central — an integrated through-ticket costs about £7.20 and the whole trip takes ~45 minutes. Note the station is not at the terminal despite its name.

Otherwise a taxi to the centre runs roughly £30–45 (25–30 minutes) with Veezu as the approved operator, and the slow Cardiff Bus 304 (~£3.40) takes almost an hour and a half. Standard UK security rules apply — check current liquid limits before you fly, as UK airports are switching to new scanners at different speeds.