🅿️ Parking & Transport: Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA)

[Seasider]

I can always recommend Sentinel, never had a bad experience yet. I remember coming back from GVA on hand baggage only and was straight to the waiting bus. When I told the driver that I was first off the plane and no luggage he said he had time to take me to Sentinel and get back before the others came out of the Terminal - great service.

 

[752]

anybody know if Viking car park has re-opened yet? its available to book on the website but last time i booked, it was shut and had to park in mid stay..

 

[Seasider]

No idea, I'd book Sentinel.

 

[KARFA]

I will have a look tomorrow when I am at the airport.

I am a long term loyal Sentinel customer too and would recommend them - they are open.

 

[752]

personally i would like to keep the revenue stream within the airport itself as it does need the ££, ive heard good reports on sentinel.

 

[KARFA]

Just to finish off my post from yesterday, Viking is now open. All of about half a dozen cars parked up there today.

 

[752]

Just to finish off my post from yesterday, Viking is now open. All of about half a dozen cars parked up there today.

Brill thank you very much

 

[White Heather]

personally i would like to keep the revenue stream within the airport itself as it does need the ££, ive heard good reports on sentinel.

Good as this other parking company are, with their nice shuttle buses, they opened without planning consent, having been refused planning approval by LCC and won an appeal subsequently so we're able to continue to trade. Their presence and the business they took from the airport, who had recently expanded their car parks to cater for growth, resulted in the introduction of the original drop off charges as LBAs income stream from parking was drastically reduced almost overnight. So, parking there results in less income for the airport which means higher airport parking fees to compensate. I therefore totally agree with your sentiments.

 

[KARFA]

The way you talk makes it sound like all parking should be LBA's by right. LBA provided a sub standard product and got caught out when someone else provided something which was both better and lower priced. LBA went off to cry to LCC as they thought it was unfair that someone was challenging their monopoly, yet a few years later LBA copied the model and has now set up Viking.

I put plenty of money in to LBA. I don't feel guilty using Sentinel for parking.

 

[White Heather]

The way you talk makes it sound like all parking should be LBA's by right. LBA provided a sub standard product and got caught out when someone else provided something which was both better and lower priced. LBA went off to cry to LCC as they thought it was unfair that someone was challenging their monopoly, yet a few years later LBA copied the model and has now set up Viking.

I put plenty of money in to LBA. I don't feel guilty using Sentinel for parking.

Thanks for your somewhat defensive response Karfa! The way 'I talk' (as you put it) is to point out facts, relating to airport finances, even if you find those facts unappealing!

LBA didn't cry to the Council at all. Get your facts straight. The Council refused planning consent - no way LBA had any influence on that decision other than the right to object as applies to all planning applications. I imagine they did just that.

LBA had invested in car parks based on expected custom due to unprecedented growth, only to then find they had not one, but two companies, neither with planning approval, suddenly competing to take customers away and remove a sizeable chunk of the airport's expected income. The very same income that regular users of LBA have complained should be used to enhance facilities.

Ultimately, you park where you like. I don't have a problem with that and nor did I say that I had. Nor did I say anyone should feel guilty, so not sure why you seem to be so defensive about it. But facts are facts. Personally, I prefer to put my money into a facility provided by LBA which goes towards running it, rather than to other companies who profit from its existence but contribute little or nothing to it.

 

[KARFA]

Absolutely, because LBA didn’t put in comments to LCC trying to get LCC to reject the planning consent for Sentinel? LCC didn’t refuse permission in 2010 so be careful when you start telling others to get your facts right.

If what LBA provided was so good, Sentinel wouldn’t have got very far at all. The fact Sentinel have done so well and invested in larger facilities was indicative of the poor parking LBA provided.

Sentinel is a locally owned company. LBA hasn’t been for many years now. Personally I prefer to put my money in to a local company that provides a better service than an Australian owned private equity company that provides a poorer and more expensive product.

I think you made it quite clear you have a problem with Sentinel with this and your previous posts on the issue.

 

[A400]

I agree with Heather on this. Airport Finances are important especially after the last year and a half where the airport had lost income due to travel restrictions and these other parking company’s should be supporting LBA and me personally would spend my money towards helping LBA.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I cant remember the exact time scales (so I stand to be corrected) but
if memory serves me correctly Sentinel were in existence for a long time before Viking was even thought about and LBA only reacted when they realised how much potential business was being lost to Viking. Of course independent off airport parking exists at other airports and is essential for healthy competition so why should LBA be any different? If LBA want to win back market share all they need to do is drop on-airport and Vikings charges. I think it may also help to rebrand Viking to make it clearer they are owned by LBA.

 

[White Heather]

I cant remember the exact time scales (so I stand to be corrected) but
if memory serves me correctly Sentinel were in existence for a long time before Viking was even thought about and LBA only reacted when they realised how much potential business was being lost to Viking. Of course independent off airport parking exists at other airports and is essential for healthy competition so why should LBA be any different? If LBA want to win back market share all they need to do is drop on-airport and Vikings charges. I think it may also help to rebrand Viking to make it clearer they are owned by LBA.

Yes, Viking came long after Sentinel and no doubt in response to their success. And nobody is suggesting there shouldn't be healthy competition. The issue with the planning consent was in the days of Bridgepoint Capital who at the time had invested heavily in new car parking, based on a demand that was unexpectedly reduced due to new competition that had previously been refused planning consent by the council. At the time it left a huge hole in their expected finances and immediately afterwards, the airport management felt it necessary to introduce the infamous drop off charges.

All that is history now, but it's a personal choice whether or not people pay less to park in Sentinel, who undoubtedly provide a good service, or park in the airport car parks and contribute further towards the running of the airport. I would prefer the latter - others feel differently. Yes, the airport could reduce charges in their car parks to attract more customers, but, bear in mind they are under constant pressure from the Council to reduce car journeys to the airport In favour of the public transport/walking/cycling option that Leeds Council loves so much, so it's a fine balancing act between making money to fund the airport business and keeping the anti car council happy. Off site car parks however, are pretty much immune from such pressure unless they seek further planning consent to expand, when they will no doubt have to face up to the same anti car agenda the airport does all the time.

As you may recall, the new terminal plans include a commitment that there will be no additional carparking beyond the number of spaces in existence, which pretty much prevents the airport from generating any more funds from parking unless they increase prices - and that would very much be shooting themselves in the foot. In some ways therefore, the competition between airport and off airport competitors isn't equal at all as the airport is having to deal with constant pressure to not only reduce car journeys to LBA, but at the same time, help fund public transport options.

 

[flyboy]

Sentinel go back a very long way - I parked with them when I flew from LBA to Ibiza in 1978, however then they were based in a covered warehouse-type building in Horsforth and they transferred you to the airport in a car. I still always use them and they are an excellent local company who offer a much more friendly and personalised service compared to the airport's car parks. You could argue that Sentinel were in existence long before much of the airport's own parking was created.

 

[White Heather]

Sentinel go back a very long way - I parked with them when I flew from LBA to Ibiza in 1978, however then they were based in a covered warehouse-type building in Horsforth and they transferred you to the airport in a car. I still always use them and they are an excellent local company who offer a much more friendly and personalised service compared to the airport's car parks. You could argue that Sentinel were in existence long before much of the airport's own parking was created.

True, but not on the scale they are now, and not where they are now. So their impact was nowhere near what it is now. Nor were car parking fees such a vital part of an airports income source back then, when most airport income was generated from landing fees.

Not any more. Low cost airlines changed that for good. Car parking and airside retail are what keeps an airport in business now. The less an airport makes from car parking, the less they have available for wages, or for infrastructure investment and particularly so at the likes of LBA compared to larger airports.

As things stand, LBA now have healthy competition which keeps them from being complacent. The point I am making, and occasionally being shot at for, is that the less people use LBA parking, the less profit ( or greater loss) the airport makes, so the less there is to invest in improvements. There isn't a pot of money in Australia for the airport to dip into when they feel like it. The airport has to be self sustaining. They need parking fees to survive, yet the Council are constantly demanding less cars which results in further erosion of income. If the airport respond by increasing parking fees, then yet more people will opt for the competing carparking, who do not have the council putting them under constant pressure. The airport cannot win.

It's not a good situation and threatens the airport's future unless they are able to expand - and their efforts to do that are also being thwarted by a combination of Government and Covid. You only have to look now at the car parks which remain mostly empty off Scotland Lane, to see the impact and that will have repercussions. Even if Jenrick finally delves into his in-tray and signs off the terminal, the airport CEO has made it clear that construction will not start until the airport is back at 2019 levels in terms of passenger figures and income resources.

Just to make it abundantly clear, I am not anti Sentinel, or any other competing company. But as a 30+ years member of the Consultative Committee I have seen the figures and had the discussions at meetings, and it seems reasonable to me that you guys recognise that the decisions taken on parking do have a major impact on the ability of the airport to invest.

 

[airforced]

I think it ought to be remembered and taken due account of that, in addition to providing an oblong piece of tarmac to park you car on for whatever duration, at a reasonable price, they also provide a good service. That is why people, including me, go back to them time and time again.

One personal example is when I picked up nail in a tyre on the way to Leeds which required inflating twice before arriving at Sentinel at 5am the next morning I reported this on checking in and asked if they would be kind enough to see to it while I was away in Crete. The girl on the desk said she would sort it for me. After a few days I got an email from the chap who looks after their servicing etc saying that the tyre company they use had said that it wasn't repairable, which I half expected, and asked for the go ahead to replace the tyre. I gave the go ahead and said that I would pay for it on our return. I got another email later saying that it had been done and to pay at the desk when I picked the car up. On our return the bill for the tyre was presented to me which I paid with my card. I was not charged anything at all for the time and running about they had to do on my behalf and the tyre was charged at the proper price if anyone is wondering if that had been loaded in lieu of a charge from Sentinel. It hadn't.

This sort of service is why Sentinel have the reputation they have and why so many people recommend them and keep going back there. I doubt if any airport would be capable or willing for that matter to provide such service at their on-airport car parking.

Having said all of that I quite understand that any airport needs to maximise their revenue in every way they can as they are squeezed by the airlines these days on fees and need to make their money whichever way they can. I understand that but would suggest that as they provide a quite different product and service to that which the airport provides and Sentinel do it very well too.

As a separate congratulatory note they also refunded my parking charges within 2 days when my week in Majorca was cancelled last year by Jet2 due to the pandemic. Good service once again by Sentinel as they, as with everyone alse, will have suffered quite badly during the pandemic.

 

[Seasider]

I have already documented the reasons I use Sentinel on here but would like to say why.
About 20 years ago I used both Sentinel and LBA parking until one day I was waiting for a coach to take me to the Terminal. I would have walked but it was pouring with rain and after 20 min one turned up - full. I would have to wait for the next one which would be 20 minutes. I walked (not wanting to check in late - no online check in then) and was a "little damp" when I arrived at the Terminal.
Since then I have used Sentinel and have not had to wait more than 10 mins at any time. I checked the LBA parking for a holiday 2 years ago, not only was it more expensive, there was booking fee as well.

LBA is owned by a company with shareholders so a proportion of parking fees are funneled to them.

LBA is my airport of choice even though there are 2 nearer to my home, but that loyalty does not go as far as using an inferior product.

 

[752]

HI everyone, after returning from my trip, I did book Viking as it was the cheapest option and easy to use in my previous experiences however I can confirm the car park is still closed, I received an email from LBA moving me to Mid stay for the same price (booking mid stay itself was more expensive) so ended up saving money with a closer parking choice.

 

[Aviador]

Re the discussion about Sentinel, I have no doubt they provide a good service but in my opinion we should be supporting the airport where possible. Sentinel are basically getting money for old rope. Unlike the airport, the gravel field from which they operate requires no upkeep whatsoever unlike the operations of the airport. You might well think you are protecting your pocket but could it be at the expense of other services or facilities that might benefit you at the airport?