Future Infrastructure Developments

[User0001]

Official opening of the terminal and VIP reception announced today as 30th August.

 

[Aviador]

Official opening of the terminal and VIP reception announced today as 30th August.

It would seem a little premature as the walkway is still incomplete as is the ground floor departure area.

Work is progressing on the new Saltaire Bar & Eatery. It looks impressive and much better than the artist impressions. It's due for completion in around a week.

On a negative, there are still not going to be enough seats so I hope this can be addressed as soon as possible.

Main seating area.

The bar.

The kitchen area is going to be in full open view from both the walkway and from inside the Saltaire Bar. It's going to look very much like restaurants such as Wagamama and other town bars & restaurants where you can watch your food being made.

The flooring in the Saltaire will mostly be parkay flooring very similar to this:

 

[Aviador]

All looking rather good and rather high end look to the place. It still sounds a concern about the general seating. Is the area I suppose still to be converted to a lounge seating area where the current food village is? That will surely boost the seating options.

No because the food village seating will simply be replaced with lounge seating so no additional seating. I don't want to detract too much from the positives of the work to improve the airport because it is clearly 100 times better than before but the lack of seating is a concern and it lets the airport down on what is otherwise a very big improvement on what we had previously.

 

[tleeds]

I flew out on Sunday 29th of July and arrived back early this morning back into Leeds Bradford.

I must say from my experience of the early morning Sunday rush, which I would consider as a peak time for the airport, everyone I saw was able to sit on a seat! There was none of the old "floor-seating" situation, where passengers are forced to sit on the floor due to no seating, so whether every flight was less than 50% full or not, I'd say LBA have managed to accommodate better in terms of seating!

I wouldn't like to see it in a state where there are 2 or more delays at rush hour mind, but I'm sure a lot of airports would struggle with delays during peak times!

I must admit, we sat down in the "older" part of the terminal, and in the cafe right by Gate 4, sorry I've forgotten it's name, just past the danby bar, and when we arrived at around 620am there were about half a dozen tables spare, dotted around and no flights had even started boarding due to the Amsterdam being announced with a delay..

Whatever other people's experiences might be, mine was; easy, smooth and pleasant, and my party can be the worst nightmare for ground crew as there is usually a large number of us at all ages.. :whiteflag:

 

[Bigman]

They could have gone for some Saltaire Brewery beers such as Saltaire Blond. Everywhere gets Theakstons and Black Sheep, and to be honest I think they have missed the boat on this one.

 

[White Heather]

Disappointing that they have no Leeds Brewery beer too. They should be selling a brew that comes from the City served by the airport. :drinks:

 

[Bigman]

Too right. Leeds Pale, Wharfebank Tether Blonde, Kirkstall Three Swords, Ilkley Mary Jane...take your pick.

 

[SNOWMAN]

Too right. Leeds Pale, Wharfebank Tether Blonde, Kirkstall Three Swords, Ilkley Mary Jane...take your pick.

i totally agree with you on your selection of good local real ales9(leeds best for me)if they sold that lot i would have my holiday in the bar. i wonder how many would be pissed when there flight was called??.

sm1

 

[Galaxy]

Ilkley Brewery - Dark Summit, nothing else locally does it for me like that magic potion!

 

[Bigman]

My fault for taking this thread off track. Sorry guys and gals. One track mind these days, ie Wednesday = Albert Inn Yeadon = BEER!!!!!

Anyway, back on track now, I can't seem to recollect anyone talking about the arrivals this summer. Main focus has been on the departure lounges. How have they coped with the arrivals this year? I am guessing that unless things change substantially over the next 9 months, things could get a bit crowded next year.

 

[White Heather]

The airport are to introduce a traffic light system, with red lights in the new walkway. When the light is red, passengers will be held in the walkway until such time as the baggage reclaim area has room for them. Coaches will similarly be held back on the apron at a newly installed set of lights.......

Only kidding - of course they aren't, but you are right Bigman, there will be times when its very busy, especially if a couple of 757's arrive at the same time. I think that by delaying disembarkation from aircraft, the airport already operate a sort of control system to manage the through flow within the reclaim area. I have always thought it odd that the current scheme caters for far more passengers outbound, most of whom will come back to LBA, but it provides nothing at all to enhance the experience when landing. Its hard to see how at peak times, with larger aircraft types, only 3 carousels can cope. Imagine if one broke down??

As the next phase of the terminal development would be to extend the building to the front, it will be interesting to see how they create the space for a larger and brighter re-claim area, as they must surely do it next time around.

 

[SNOWMAN]

The airport are to introduce a traffic light system, with red lights in the new walkway. When the light is red, passengers will be held in the walkway until such time as the baggage reclaim area has room for them. Coaches will similarly be held back on the apron at a newly installed set of lights.......

Only kidding - of course they aren't, but you are right Bigman, there will be times when its very busy, especially if a couple of 757's arrive at the same time. I think that by delaying disembarkation from aircraft, the airport already operate a sort of control system to manage the through flow within the reclaim area. I have always thought it odd that the current scheme caters for far more passengers outbound, most of whom will come back to LBA, but it provides nothing at all to enhance the experience when landing. Its hard to see how at peak times, with larger aircraft types, only 3 carousels can cope. Imagine if one broke down??

As the next phase of the terminal development would be to extend the building to the front, it will be interesting to see how they create the space for a larger and brighter re-claim area, as they must surely do it next time around.

hi heather
the baggage reclaim is a JOKE,all the focus has been on departures,the management seem to have forgotten what goes out must come back.out of the 3 carousels 2 are very small and not much use for full 737 I no them well i have had to use them,the larger of the 3 is an odd shape and not enough room for a full 757 people at the front get pushed from behind and hit with a case as it is pulled of the carousel.all in all not allways a good experience for a international airport.

 

[SNOWMAN]

HI ALL
any body out there no if the new saltaire bar is open, or will it be open by monday the 10 of sept when we will flying out with jet 2 to malaga.
sm1

 

[Aviador]

Yes it's open and looks good.

I think the official opening of the terminal refurbishment is tomorrow.

 

[SNOWMAN]

Yes it's open and looks good.

I think the official opening of the terminal refurbishment is tomorrow.

thanks for the info on the saltair bar aviador we give it a try on mon 10.
sm1

 

[White Heather]

The official opening of the terminal tomorrow has been postponed apparently. It is to be re-arranged shortly. It would seem that a key person at the event had to cancel for some reason so its been put back until they are available.

 

[752]

Now this phase of the airport is complete, will there be any other work to the airport beginning?

 

[radar]

4m ppa could come around quite soon though, given the rate that new services are being announced. If Ryanair pulls something out of the hat for next summer, then who knows?

 

[tleeds]

4m ppa could come around quite soon though, given the rate that new services are being announced. If Ryanair pulls something out of the hat for next summer, then who knows?

If anything next year will be the teller...

Jet2 Expansion / New; Monarch, Thomson and BA services.. It's going to be one busy airport!

 

[Aviador]

comfortably accom 4mppa

Nice choice of words mode1. The airport is going to be extremely busy next summer, so busy I have my doubts about how well it will cope. If passenger figures were equal every month throughout the year it wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately the busy summers are a sharp contrast to the quiet winters we've seen in recent years and probably far more so now than ever before.

In general terms people have tightened their purse strings. Most people are still trying to get away at least once a year for a summer break. In contrast the number of people taking winter breaks is still decreasing. Just by looking at the winter Ski flight offering makes this clear.

The airport needs to try to shift this summer winter balance and this isn't going to be easy.The continuing debate about runway capabilities during low visibility procedures may become more of an issue if the airport is to balance it's winter summer ratio of flights.