In 1951, the Bridgend-born Minister of Civil Aviation, David Rees-Williams, called for a commercial airport to be built in South Wales.

"[citation needed] Lord Ogmore thought diverting the river at Pengam would be a problem, and feared that the tall chimney stacks of the nearby East Moors Steelworks could pose a safety hazard to aircraft.

[citation needed] The Welsh Civil Aviation Consultative Committee then proposed the abandoned RAF airfield at Rhoose as a possible alternative.

On inspecting it, Ogmore found it "in a poor condition, with a large number of bombs stacked on the runways, and buildings in an extreme state of dilapidation".

[citation needed] In October 1952, the new Rhoose Airport was opened by Rees-Williams's successor as Minister of Aviation Alan Lennox-Boyd.

[7] The council started a five-year plan to develop the airport, including a new control tower, terminal building and a runway extension.

[3] In April 1995, as a result of planned local government reorganisation in Wales, the airport company was privatised; the shares were sold to property and development firm TBI plc.

In 1996, Cardiff was one of the first airports the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair used for its "no frills" services using second-hand Boeing 737-200s on a short hop from Dublin.

Following a survey conducted by the airport operator in 2008 as part of a campaign to attract additional business routes, popular destinations such as Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Brussels, and Scandinavian cities were identified as lacking a current link.

[13] Later, it emerged that the airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.

This attracted immediate public criticism and requests that the airport's owners, Abertis, match such an investment with a £6 million route development programme.

Byron Davies, Shadow Minister for Transport, said: "It is a bit rich for the First Minister to publicly attack and run down Cardiff Airport, when he has failed to seize opportunities, which would massively increase the range of routes available from Cardiff, introduce direct routes to North America, opening our economy to trade and business with one of the world's biggest economies".

"[18] The First Minister's criticism was roundly rejected by Alex Cruz, chief executive of Vueling – a Spanish airline which operates regular flights from Cardiff.

"[20] On 29 May 2012, it was announced that Jones would personally chair a "Task Force" on Cardiff Airport with the aim of "maximising its economic impact, commercially and for Wales".

[21] On 27 June 2012, the Task Force, comprising tourist chiefs, local government spokesmen and trade unionists, met for the first time.

[23] Figures from the UK Civil Aviation Authority showed that the number of passengers passing through Cardiff Airport fell to 1 Million in 2012.

[28] In June 2015, a major deal was signed with Flybe for the opening of a two-aircraft base for their Embraer 195 jet aircraft, which saw the addition of 16 direct routes across the UK and Europe to destinations including Faro, Jersey, Dublin, Glasgow, Berlin, Venice, Munich, Verona, Rome, Edinburgh and Paris CDG.

[31] In April 2017, Qatar Airways announced plans to launch a new service from Cardiff Airport, linking Wales and the West of England to Doha.

[32] It announced Cardiff Airport as the only new planned UK route in its network for 2018, although the resumption of Qatar Airways flights from the Middle East to London-Gatwick was also later confirmed.

This was a huge blow for the airport as Flybe was Cardiffs largest airline providing 27% of its annual passenger numbers in 2018 and meant a loss of its routes to Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast, Paris, Jersey, Cork, Munich, Rome, Verona, Faro, Milan, Venice, seasonal winter services to Geneva and Chambery also Berlin and Düsseldorf which were ceased in January.

It was anticipated that the investment would attract up to five million passengers by 2015 – an increase of 150% – according to the airport's published response to a UK Government White paper on the future of air transport throughout the United Kingdom.

[38] Costing around £3m, half funded by the Welsh Government, extensive refurbishment began with the redevelopment of the front of the Airport terminal and approach areas.

[39] The development works included an extension to the front of the terminal linking the arrivals and departures halls into one large common area, and providing new food and retail services.

As part of the work, most of the first floor of the terminal became 'airside' as the security control point to access the departures lounge is relocated there, above the existing arrivals hall.

[44] This Welsh Government subsidised service was operated by Flybe using its franchise partner Eastern Airways with daily flights to the Isle of Anglesey.

[61][62] The Institute of Welsh Affairs debated the future of the project in their 2017 article "A road to Cardiff Airport... or regeneration in Pontypridd?

The proposal is also likely to include a new railway station and park and ride near Junction 34 on the South Wales Main Line near Hensol Castle.