Holiday Inn Express Cardiff Airport, Rhoose

The Holiday Inn Express at Cardiff Airport sits on Port Road in Rhoose (CF62 3BT), a short walk from the airport terminal in the Vale of Glamorgan. The Vale of Glamorgan Council publicly confirmed in July 2025 that the site had been selected by the Ministry of Defence as part of an operation to support Afghans who had worked alongside the British military and who now hold indefinite leave to remain in the UK^[1]Council.

The first intake described in the council statement comprised 19 families with children, three couples and a single person, with the arrangement running for up to nine months while more permanent housing was arranged across the UK. The council and the Welsh Government were explicit that the residents are not asylum seekers, refugees or illegal arrivals; they are Afghan Entitled Persons recognised under the ARAP / ACRS framework^[2]GOV.UK.

Welsh Conservative leader and South Wales Central MS Andrew RT Davies issued a statement in August 2025 acknowledging the MoD decision and recording local concerns about site suitability, transport access and the lack of advance notice given to residents and elected representatives^[3]Press. The Welsh Government FOI disclosure ATISN 25049, published the same month, set out the department's correspondence on the scheme and confirmed the indefinite leave to remain status of the resident households^[2]GOV.UK.

The MoD operation at the Cardiff Airport site echoes the wider 2023 to 2025 use of surplus military and hotel accommodation under ARAP, which the Commons Library briefing treats as a distinct policy stream from Home Office asylum dispersal^[4]GOV.UK.