:00:19. > :00:24.Good evening. They're saying it's take off at Cardiff Airport. New
:00:25. > :00:27.figures show a rise in the number of passengers since it was bought by
:00:28. > :00:30.the Welsh Government for ?52 million a year ago. The figures, obtained
:00:31. > :00:33.exclusively by BBC Wales, reveal the number of people using the airport
:00:34. > :00:39.went up by more than 9% between April last year and February this
:00:40. > :00:42.year. That means more than a million passengers using the airport,
:00:43. > :00:55.compared with 942,000 the year before.
:00:56. > :00:59.Millions of pounds are being spent on work at Cardiff Airport. We have
:01:00. > :01:04.been given exclusive access and have seen the work being done in front
:01:05. > :01:09.and behind the scenes, but well facilities at important the success
:01:10. > :01:14.of the airport is on being able to fly people were they want to go at a
:01:15. > :01:25.place they want to pay. All the existing carriers have had a year,
:01:26. > :01:30.with places like Alicante and Barcelona, links to the US. It is
:01:31. > :01:38.our local airport. It is very convenient. It could do with being a
:01:39. > :01:40.bit bigger. The Welsh government says the increase in passengers
:01:41. > :01:47.shows that baby airport was the right decision. It shows that for
:01:48. > :01:51.those who thought it was a bad idea for the government to only airport,
:01:52. > :01:58.have you seen the figures? It confirms what we thought, at the
:01:59. > :02:04.airport has a future. A new carrier operating from here is one of the
:02:05. > :02:07.reasons Cardiff is attracting more passengers flying to increasing
:02:08. > :02:12.numbers of destinations. There's still a lot of ground to make up to
:02:13. > :02:23.reach the peak as it was all over 2,000,007 years ago. These
:02:24. > :02:31.passengers arrived from Amsterdam -- 2000 seven years ago. It is lovely.
:02:32. > :02:36.Cardiff is flying to 40 destinations. Experts say there are
:02:37. > :02:40.challenges ahead. One of the key things is to reinforce a distinctive
:02:41. > :02:44.local brand identity which can take a number of forms but one of the
:02:45. > :02:49.things we have seen is that by and large people do not have a good word
:02:50. > :02:55.to say about airports, they are to be injured rather than enjoyed. If
:02:56. > :03:01.they can create an identity that will be useful. That is what
:03:02. > :03:03.Liverpool has done with the John Lennon Airport and the Scottish
:03:04. > :03:12.Government has bought Prestwick airport. The decision to buy Cardiff
:03:13. > :03:16.was not universally welcomed. Considering the trend unfortunately
:03:17. > :03:21.for the airport was down, 9% is to be welcomed, but it takes it nowhere
:03:22. > :03:26.near what the figures used to be. We welcome any growth at Cardiff
:03:27. > :03:31.Airport but we are keen that should be a proper International Airport
:03:32. > :03:36.which means proper investment which has to be transparent so we know
:03:37. > :03:41.where the money came from and where it is going. After years of decline
:03:42. > :03:45.the airport may be back on the right course. The question is whether it
:03:46. > :03:48.can continue to go back to its peak of 2 million passengers.
:03:49. > :03:51.An escalating row between the Welsh and UK governments is casting doubt
:03:52. > :03:55.over who'll pay for a major upgrade to the railways in South Wales.
:03:56. > :03:58.First Minister Carwyn Jones says the Prime Minister told him the UK
:03:59. > :04:04.Government will fund the electrification of the main line to
:04:05. > :04:07.Swansea and the Valleys lines. But the UK Government insists ministers
:04:08. > :04:12.in Cardiff had agreed to bear the costs of electrifying the Valleys
:04:13. > :04:15.lines. A female teacher from Newport has
:04:16. > :04:20.admitted a series of sexual offences against a teenage pupil. Kelly
:04:21. > :04:26.Ann-Marie Burgess, 26, here in the brown coat, appeared before
:04:27. > :04:30.magistrates in Weston-super-Mare. She admitted sexual activity with a
:04:31. > :04:34.boy when he was 16 and 17 last year. The offences took place in north
:04:35. > :04:39.Somerset. A choir director who was unfairly
:04:40. > :04:42.dismissed from her job with St. Giles' church in Wrexham has been
:04:43. > :04:45.awarded compensation running into five figures. Jacqui Blore was made
:04:46. > :04:50.redundant last August and many choir members went on strike in protest.
:04:51. > :04:56.The church council had been accused of failing to follow the correct
:04:57. > :04:59.procedure in dismissing her. The emergency services have been
:05:00. > :05:03.fighting a large grass fire near Merthyr Tydfil. The fire, near a
:05:04. > :05:07.reservoir just north of the town, scorched an area of hillside around
:05:08. > :05:11.six miles wide. Tonight, South Wales Fire Service says it's still getting
:05:12. > :05:17.a high volume of calls about grass fires.
:05:18. > :05:19.Since mid morning the grass burned high on the hillside above the
:05:20. > :05:24.Ponsticill Reservoir, fanned by strong winds. This beautiful
:05:25. > :05:29.countryside is part of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the flames
:05:30. > :05:31.were perilously close to forestry. Firefighters from Merthyr Tydfil,
:05:32. > :05:40.Aberdare and Tonypandy have had to use special vehicles to get close to
:05:41. > :05:45.the seat of the fire. We have a number of resources dealing with the
:05:46. > :05:53.incident but our priority is to stop the fire getting into the forestry
:05:54. > :05:55.and protect the habitat. The flame is still visible despite
:05:56. > :06:01.firefighters tackling it for over eight hours. The stench of small and
:06:02. > :06:10.the charred hillside testament to a blaze that spread 8-10 Coloma tours
:06:11. > :06:15.across the hillside -- 8-10 kilometres. Within a three mile
:06:16. > :06:18.radius, other smaller grass fires were alight during the day. Over the
:06:19. > :06:21.weekend in South Wales alone, 54 such fires were tackled. All were
:06:22. > :06:24.started deliberately. It has a drastic effect on the Fire Service
:06:25. > :06:30.and other agencies because once we are here it is difficult to deploy
:06:31. > :06:34.resources to other areas, so it puts lives at risk and damages wildlife.
:06:35. > :06:37.Tonight officers say the grass fire on the Beacons is under control and
:06:38. > :06:40.they're damping down. However, they know as the weather improves and
:06:41. > :06:47.more people venture into the countryside they'll get more and
:06:48. > :06:50.more calls of this nature. Peace looks set to break out in
:06:51. > :06:54.rugby with agreement for a new European Cup likely to be announced
:06:55. > :06:57.this week. The Six Nations Committee met in Paris today to put the
:06:58. > :07:00.finishing touches to the plan. Agreement would bring to an end
:07:01. > :07:02.nearly two years of bitter argument and stand-offs over who should run
:07:03. > :07:19.the competition. We enjoyed some lovely sunshine over
:07:20. > :07:25.the weekend. Not quite so nice over the next few days. We will all see
:07:26. > :07:29.some rain on Thursday and strong winds as well and the temperature is
:07:30. > :07:37.set to drop on Friday with a chilli and to the week. 20 of clouds around
:07:38. > :07:43.-- plenty of cloud around. Temperatures staying above freezing
:07:44. > :07:47.with the south-westerly breeze. Tomorrow, low pressure across the UK
:07:48. > :07:51.which will bring rain and showers, heavy rain for the north-west of
:07:52. > :07:58.Holland and the wind will be stronger than it was today --
:07:59. > :08:03.Scotland. Showers will spread across the country during the morning.
:08:04. > :08:10.Quite breezy, strong winds on exposed costs and the north-west.
:08:11. > :08:14.Across the rest of the UK, some rain and showers, some heavy rain for
:08:15. > :08:21.part of northern England and Scotland, you may hear a rumble of
:08:22. > :08:26.thunder. Further south, fewer showers, most of southern England
:08:27. > :08:30.dry with a little sunshine. It should be dry in London tomorrow, a
:08:31. > :08:37.few showers for Edinburgh and Belfast. Most of Wales by tomorrow
:08:38. > :08:40.afternoon, one or two showers in the afternoon, a few glimpses of
:08:41. > :08:46.sunshine, breezy, so feeling cooler than today. Tomorrow night looks dry
:08:47. > :08:52.but low cloud may bring some drizzle to Snowdonia later and then into
:08:53. > :08:58.weapons they mixed fortunes. Low cloud and hill fog in the south and
:08:59. > :09:02.west. Otherwise dry, the best of the sunshine and the highest
:09:03. > :09:08.temperatures in the north-east. On Thursday, a cold front moves south
:09:09. > :09:14.during the day which will bring rain, so turning wet and windy,
:09:15. > :09:18.heavy rain accompanied by strong to gale force winds. The rain will
:09:19. > :09:24.clear and then it turns colder, so a chilly weekend with showers, perhaps
:09:25. > :09:27.snow on the weekend and the risk of frost.
:09:28. > :09:31.Quick word about tomorrow. There's six months to go until Scotland goes
:09:32. > :09:33.to the polls in the referendum on independence. I've been to
:09:34. > :09:37.Motherwell, a former coal and steel town that has much in common with
:09:38. > :09:41.places like Ebbw Vale, to find out why independence is on the agenda
:09:42. > :09:45.there and not here. Much more on that and what a yes vote in Scotland
:09:46. > :09:50.might mean for us on tomorrow night's Wales Today.
:09:51. > :09:52.Jeremy Paxman's got Newsnight over on Two now. We're back at 6am
:09:53. > :10:11.tomorrow. Goodnight. Hello, Mr Walsh.
:10:12. > :10:14.I'm Ciara's...friend. And this is me life partner Martin,
:10:15. > :10:19.Ciara's other da. I didn't know Ciara had a younger
:10:20. > :10:27.brother. She doesn't.