Leeds Bradford - General Thread

[Seasider]

Whoshotjimmi

It just shows how subjective the appearance of the airport is.
I have used the airport 5 times since last February, at quiet/busy times and I have never thought of it as claustrophobic, I have not noticed any drastic deterioration in the appearance (I wasn't looking closing) of the facilities. With reference to the Arrivals Hall, I spend as little time as possible in it (usually walk straight through as I am hand luggage only) I find it very satisfactory.
My one criticism would be that they have closed the best view out on to the apron by using it for the "Wheelchair Assembly Point". But that is me, an enthusiast, most people couldn't care less.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Was In T5 last June/July, even in mid summer early evening, half the lights were out and for me was a real issue with my eyes. Talking to an airport manager advised that due to the height of the ceiling they have not been able to replace bulbs on a routine basis, they were going to have to scaffold and renew on a one off basis, leaving again until more then 50% bulbs out.
What a mess, another Richard Rodger design folly, at least LBA does not have to put up with this darkness, I see lights replaced on every visit, the ability to read your travel documents, obviously not a priority at LHR. I had allowed a huge changeover time to explore T5, big error, either too hot (was 30 outside and 35 inside) or too dark, not pleasant at all.

 

[Seasider]

Do you see what I mean by "subjectivity". I went through Heathrow T1 & T5 last year, one quiet and dim, the other busy and bright.

 

[airforced]

I agree with the general comments Whoshotjimmi makes regarding the lack of seating (unless you do retail) in departures and the grim experience you endure when arriving at LBA. But, like him, I don't want to knock LBA too much as there have been improvements and comparing it with other airports is a waste of time because we could all find fault with whichever airport we flew from.

And as Tarn Spotter and Seasider say, it is all a bit subjective at the end of the day.

Now where I do I make mention of the 'ornamental' escalator in Arrivals?

 

[SNOWMAN]

good morning airforced
I agree with you on the seating problem at lba at the busy times,i counted all the seats
not including retail and arrived at about 400,then look at the departure board and you will see the problem.
re the ornamental escalator (I like that) on my last 3 arrivals at lba it has been working
I think we have to thank white heather for that as she brought this problem to the
attention of the management at one of the committee meetings.
my worst fear is arriving at stand 12 then the long walk to the terminal then up the
dreaded 3 flights of steps.no lift no escalator.come on lba do something to help us old
gits have a better experience on returning to lba.and people with push chairs and young children which all have to be carried up the 3 flights of steps.

regards
sm1

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Snowman 1: WE arrived at stand 12 in October and I agree regard the long walk with steps etc. Unfortunately this seems to be the way of airports to make you walk for ever. Up to a year ago the hike from T1 malaga for jet2 booking in, to T3 security and then to the end of zone B for departure gate, made this walk from stand 12 a very short stroll.
The new arrivals at Ibiza from the bus drop to passport and then on to baggage again will never allow me to complain about LBA, however, Ibiza have balanced this by issuing departure gate 24 hours in advance and made the airport silent, no announcements.
No airport seems to be aware of the distress it causes old people, they think providing wheelchairs makes everything right, however, I want to use a wheelchair as a last resort, if I am having a good day I want to use my limbs.

 

[lbaspotter]

Did anyone see the headline news on BBC Look North this evening? It was mentioned by one person, that there are calls for Leeds/Bradford Airport to be moved in the long run to a new site near to the motoway network! Also mentioned the new road been built to Doncaster-Sheffield and better train links been introduced to Manchester. Tony Hallwood commented that included in the Airports new Master Plan is that a rail link is vital and is top of the list for making access to the airport from the whole of the Leeds City region much easier.

You can watch item using BBC Iplayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03sgcs2/Look_North_(Yorkshire)_27_01_2014/

 

[Aviador]

It seems Leeds City Council shares the sentiments of many on here in that the airport isn't expanding quick enough. In effect, it isn't keeping up with the growth of the Leeds City Region so it's no wonder really that council leaders are starting to ask the question, "should the airport be moved?"

 

[Moo2009]

They should buy RAF church Fenton

 

[yorkshire]

That would be no good for me as I live the other side of leeds. If they did move it, then its as quick to go to Manchester as I live in Bingley.

I prefer its current location as its only a 20 mins run over the tops from were I live.

 

[Bigman]

I saw the report as well. I mooted this idea a few months back and was largely lambasted for my thoughts. If the leader of the council is starting to think on these lines, then I am all for it. You have an existing airfield at Church Fenton with a railway station less than a mile away. There are 7 trains an hour to Leeds and York, 3 an hour to Bradford and Halifax, 3 per hour to Huddersfield, and hourly trains to Wakefield, Sheffield, Scarborough and Newcastle. You can even add the likes of Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh to the list!!

There would be scope to build a station at the Eastern end of the airfield on the ECML, so that's a direct link to Doncaster and Selby/Hull as well. And then there is of course HS2 which would go right past it.

As the A1M is only a few miles away, a road link could easily be built.

That would give our region a highly capable airport, built from scratch so hopefully designed well, with excellent road and rail links.

 

[Daviator]

Church Fenton? not a chance. I fly out of Sherburn, so that would probably go, and as for the well organised noise abatement network in the area (who are made up that Fenton has closed) would not be impressed!
To near Doncaster too, if LBA should have been re-sited it should have happened after WW2.

 

[White Heather]

Nice idea, but will never happen. Where on earth does Keith Wakefield think that all that money will be found to build Yorkshire a new larger airport? We couldn't even get the money for Supertram and we now face an embarrassing trolley bus system. The cost of an airport would be huge - far more than the council could afford, or all of the councils for that matter. Imagine the battle over compulsory land purchase, and overflying areas that have never had that problem previously. Imagine the NIMBY's, court battles etc. Imagine the reaction when Church Fenton (or anywhere around there) finds out that not only are they going to be treated to HS2, they are going to get a nice shiny new airport too.

Whilst I would admit that an airport to the East of Leeds would be great for access from a wider area of Yorkshire, they might as well close Doncaster if that happened, whilst those living to the West of Leeds might be sorely tempted to travel West rather than East and use MAN instead. So it could be self defeating. Even then there is an assumption that sufficient airline demand would occur to justify the huge cost, and that is by no means guaranteed. The shadow of MAN will loom just as large.

Sadly, this is a non starter - I would never expect to see this in my lifetime. I would far prefer to see the maximum investment in LBA, including the runway extension, taxiways, apron extension, new terminal etc. I am convinced LBA could still cover most of our requirements if all of this happened, and of course, it got its rail link and direct access road.

I find it rather amusing that Cllr Wakefields council sells LBA for a record amount to Bridgepoint, and then a few years later starts calling for the airport to be moved. I wonder what he thought Bridgepoint would make of that? Perhaps he think it might give them a kick up the backside to get them to invest more heavily in LBA. However, the access to LBA is not LBA's problem alone - it mainly lies with the council and the Leeds City Region and METRO. The logical solution is not to move the airport to the roads and railways, it is to build the roads and railways to the airports. Quicker, cheaper, and with the right investment in LBA, potentially the same outcome.

To those who want a new airport further away from the built up area, be careful what you wish for. It could backfire.

 

[airforced]

I'm afraid the story, or more accurately non-story, was a typical Look North load of tosh. More accurate news can be found on here on a daily basis than the tripe purveyed by that so called news programme.

There mustn't have been any cats up trees for them to enthrall us with yesterday!

 

[Aviador]

Lots of wise words there White Heather and a sense of realism. (as we have come to expect from you )

Personally, although I do feel the airport is under performing, I also feel it's not as easy as some people think it is to relocate it.

On top of all the obvious problems associated with relocating the airport like the initial upfront cost of building a brand new airport, a new airport if it were to be built would need to be significantly bigger with better facilities and a longer runway if it were to be a truly international airport.

It is my view that Leeds Bradford Airport should be handling in the region of 6 million passengers a year right now. So a new airport would need room to grow to at least 15 million passenger a year.

As a replacement to LBA It would initially need to employ in the region of 3 to 4 thousand people from the onset. The current LBA workforce would be unwilling or unable to travel to the new airport location because of the cost implications. The new airport would need to find a new workforce for the majority of positions.

 

[airforced]

Bridgepoint could always take Donnie of Peel and relocate the whole shooting match there. I'm sure Peel would be pleased to get rid and I'm also sure that Bridgepoint would make a better fist of making it a viable proposition than Peel will ever do however long they are in residence at DSA.

Tin hat already on!!

 

[Aviador]

Perhaps it's a poke

by the council to get Bridgepoint to start spending money at LBA? Acknowledging that Bridgepoint owns the airport, they can of course do with it as they choose but if you take the business side out of the equation for a moment, the airport does still lack millions of pounds worth of investment wherever that should come from.

 

[adam]

How much would it cost to build a new airport and relocate there and how much could all that money buy at LBA. I'd imagine we'd have a top class airport if it was invested in the current airport

 

[Aviador]

Hi Adam, I think I quoted in the region of 200 million for an airport worthy of it's "international" title.

It has been discussed many times before and I expect the argument will rage on for decades to come even if serious money is ever spent on the airport. If you read some of the comments in the Bristol forum here, you'll see endless criticism about Bristol airport despite the fact it's one of the UK's most successful regional airports.

Interestingly, I was looking through some on-line newspaper archives and to quote one, "flying into Yeadon, the local mill chimneys seemed uncomfortably close at times". All the mills and chimneys have gone yet we're still here 50 odd years on discussing whether or not the airport should be moved and I fully expect the discussion will still be going in another 50 odd years.

 

[Seasider]

If the the airport was moved to Church Fenton, 50% of your catchment are would find it easier to get to Manchester and would vote with their feet. I am sorry, it's a no brainer. How did they say they were going to pay for it? :s_dunno