The Welsh Assembly must now offer every possible assistance in finding new carriers to operate existing Air Wales routes and develop new ones, Plaid MEP Jill Evans said. Her calls follow the announcement on Thursday that Air Wales is to end scheduled passenger flights from Cardiff Airport, with the loss of 80 jobs.
The Plaid Cymru Vice President, who used the Air Wales service to travel between Wales and Brussels for meetings of the European Parliament, said she hoped action would be taken to ensure important air links from Wales continue and to secure the jobs of Air Wales staff.
Speaking from Brussels, Ms Evans said: 'This is very disappointing news both for the company and its employees and for the Welsh travelling public. It's absolutely vital for the Welsh economy that the business community is able to depend on regular and reliable scheduled air travel.'
'The Welsh Assembly must now offer every possible assistance in terms of finding new airlines to operate existing Air Wales routes and develop new ones. Assistance should also be given to any Air Wales staff who face losing their jobs to find alternative employment, hopefully with other airlines.'
'I have always found Air Wales staff to be courteous and helpful and I'm very sorry to see the company have to end scheduled services.'
