Airline deal may bring 1,000 jobs to area.

Byline: Tryst Williams

UP to 1,000 jobs could come to the Vale of Glamorgan following a budget airline's decision to fly out of Cardiff International Airport, airport bosses have revealed.

The county could land the jobs bonanza after no-frills carrier bmibaby chose the airport as its second UK base. Details of flight destinations will be revealed later this month.

The move is set to increase passenger numbers by around one million a year and initially create 100 airline jobs. But managing director Jon Horne said it could have a deeper impact on the local economy.

He said: ``We're delighted to have reached agreement with bmibaby, which is not only a huge boost for the airport but the whole of Wales.

``Research from Airports Council International Europe shows that for every million passengers at airports some 1,000 direct and indirect jobs are created.''

Vale of Glamorgan Assembly Member Jane Hutt told the Echo: ``This is just the kind of breakthrough we had been waiting for. It's not just great news for the airport and for the potential passengers who will have a much better access to a range of flights, but this is alsotremendous news for the Vale.'' The announcement of bmibaby's arrival is only the latest sign of Cardiff International Airport's increasing popularity. In recent years passenger numbers have continued to rise, and owners TBI revealed last month that despite the effect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on air travel, it had still recorded increases in its passengers and income at Rhoose.

The company's Welsh chief executive Keith Brooks said that although the past year had been ``the most challenging in TBI's history'', it had made profits totalling more than pounds 16m.

CAPTION(S):

GOOD NEWS Cardiff International