The Welsh government has unveiled plans to buy Cardiff Airport to help secure its future.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said an agreement has already been reached with the airport’s existing owners and it is hoped a purchase will be completed in the next few months.
Jones said the airport would be run on a commercial basis by an independent operator and would not receive subsidies.
The airport was privatised in 1995 and is currently owned by TBI, which itself is now largely owned by the Spanish company Abertis with a minority stake held by the Spanish airports operator AENA.
Passenger numbers have fallen this year from 558,000 to 400,000 mainly after low-cost carrier bmibaby ended its Cardiff flights.
Jones said Cardiff would benefit from the addition of long haul routes to the Middle East and North America, but said the priority was to increase passenger numbers by expanding short haul routes.
