Cardiff Airport () is the only airport offering commercial passenger services in Wales. It has been under the ownership of the Welsh Government since March 2013, operating at an arm's length as a commercial business. Passenger numbers were 1.66 million in 2019 and were increasing year-on-year. Since 2020, like most other airports, Cardiff Airport has suffered a major downturn in passengers due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These however have failed to recover, and passenger numbers are now down to those seen in the 1960s. Company In March 2013, the Welsh Government purchased Cardiff International Airport Ltd (CIAL) from TBI Ltd for £52million. The government operates CIAL at arm's length as a private limited company, having established WGC Holdco Limited as a holding company. The Welsh Government is the sole shareholder and states that it "operates in an independent and commercial manner, makes investment decisions on a commercial basis, and is liable for its own actions and any issues arising from the running of its business." In June 2020, Wayne Harvey, the former Senior Managing Partner for Deloitte Wales, was appointed Chair of Cardiff Airport. He took over from Roger Lewis, who had served in the role since November 2015. Since 2013, Cardiff Airport has seen improvements made to the terminal and surrounding infrastructure, customer service standards, as well as the introduction of new routes. History In the early 1940s, the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire pilots. Construction started in 1941, and the airfield officially began life on 7 April 1942 when it was taken over by No 53 Operational Training Unit. After World War II the airfield fell into disuse and was abandoned. In 1951, the Bridgend-born Minister of Civil Aviation, David Rees-Williams, called for a commercial airport to be built in South Wales. He told the House of Lords that "a decision had to be taken whether to do nothing at...or whether Pengam Moors, the existing airport for Cardiff, should be improved at a cost of some millions of pounds, involving the alteration of the course of the Rumney River or, thirdly, whether an entirely new airport should be constructed or acquired in the vicinity of the capital of Wales." Lord Ogmore thought diverting the river at Pengam would be a problem, and feared that