Future Infrastructure Developments

[White Heather]

You're getting me wrong... I'm highly ambitious for Leeds and it's airport. But surely it's an embarrassment announcing this to Europe at an investment conference as news.

My point is that we should be going much further. Surely that's positive not negative.

Negative is accepting unambitious plans and celebrating them.

Weird that I'm the one argues for direct rail link yet you think we should settle for parkway as it'll do...

Why does wanting the best be portrayed as negative. If anything accepting the mediocre is negative. But feel free to think space for benches is an impressive achievement to entice European investment...

The fact is that you are expecting what is not deliverable, not affordable and not sustainable yet. It is like asking Leeds United to spend millions on players and gambling that with continued success they might get their money back. That didn't work and we know what the outcome was. Steady development is the best we can hope for. We would all like a new terminal, new extended runway, new taxiways, new apron extensions and God knows what else, but under Bridgepoint it won't happen as they are not a company that gambles their shareholders funds, and quite right too, but at least they are doing what we have been asking for, providing more seating that is not attached to eating/drinking outlets and they will also, at last, have a view out over the airfield, so should be light and airy. An extra 400 seats will make a big difference in the terminal at peak times. The current changes are costing in the area of £5m so not an insignificant sum - and on top of that they are undertaking a 2 year project to renew all airfield lighting with LED and that will also cost a significant amount. This is likely to be the last expansion within the existing terminal - with the next one being the new build extension. I think Leedslad that you just need to be realistic. Constant complaining about what isn't happening and belittling what is happening is just plain depressing. Don't forget that for starters, it costs in the region of £30m a year to simply operate LBA, before they start finding the funds for improvements.

 

[leedslad]

Sorry I think you're misunderstanding... My original comment was that it was embarrassing for the city to take the news to a European investment forum...

I stand by that and surely you can't think it's something the city should brag about (whether it's welcome/good news or not).

I don't disagree with what you say above, but seems it's easy to get shot down here...

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Perfect plan for the airport and for all the airlines. Make it more streamlined you'd hope. Did they mention however plans to improve the arrival doors where currently buses drop off arriving passengers? Also did the airport mention who will be driving these buses? At the moment they are airport owned, swissport driven and only trained and Jet2 are neglected when a swissport flight lands minutes AFTER a Jet2. Should hopefully decrease immigration times as a bus load is easier to process then constant flow.

Guessing Stand 5/6 and Airbridge 7/8 will use as current the arrival flows?

This plan on paper is going to work so much better then the current system (and should hopefully allow for the current arrival lanes to be turned into more departure space) however as i've highlighted above thats only one of the many problems that could occur.

Sorry to bring up this again WH but i don't think you answered first time round. It was in relation to the new arrivals process.

 

[White Heather]

Sorry to bring up this again WH but i don't think you answered first time round. It was in relation to the new arrivals process.

Sorry Sherburnflyer if I missed your question. No the airport didn't go into that detail, only that they were buying several more buses and planning to bus far more pax to the terminal, and closer to the immigration desks, so they must have some plan. This was re-iterated recently by Tony Hallwood whilst on BBC Radio York. I reported all I could at the time. They didn't say who would be driving the buses, but you would imagine with more buses available, some of the issues you describe will be reduced or hopefully removed. I cannot see the airport employing the drivers themselves, but you never know. They have proved before they are happy to take things 'in house' where they deem it a better option. If Swissport are neglecting Jet2, then there are processes in place for dealing with that - they has to be some form of Service Level Agreements in place. Perhaps the provision of more buses has come as a result of these failures in the first place?

Sorry I think you're misunderstanding... My original comment was that it was embarrassing for the city to take the news to a European investment forum...

I stand by that and surely you can't think it's something the city should brag about (whether it's welcome/good news or not).

I don't disagree with what you say above, but seems it's easy to get shot down here...

Sorry to you too Leedslad if I misinterpreted your comment, but perhaps you didn't make your meaning clear? It isn't a question of just being shot down - but it is a discussion forum and if you post comments that are perceived as negative, then it is always likely that someone who prefers to take a more positive view will counter your argument. I am often accused of the opposite, being too positive, and even in the past of being too supportive of the airport and Bridgepoint - I am not, but I am a realist and I listen to the experts, read the reports and then make a judgement. Even so, I expect to be contradicted and regularly I am. It is all in a friendly manner though and my comments to you were intended that way. Ultimately, we all want what is best for LBA and for Leeds and we all have different views - but my frustration is that the good things that happen are often overlooked and not even commented on, and we continue to demand what is simply not viable or affordable for an airport the size of LBA.

 

[lbaspotter]

Is anyone aware of any renders for the new development?

I have them somewhere, I'll try and find them and repost for you asap.

 

[lbaspotter]

Can't find the renders that i've seen somewhere else. But here's the plans from the planning application. I do know they are going to be using the Gray cladding so it will look like the rest of the building.

Planning Application can before here on the Leeds City Council site
https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/o...s.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=OBMORGJBFRP00

LOCATION PLAN:


EXISTING FLOOR PLANS:


PROPOSED FLOOR PLANS:


EXISTING ELEVATIONS:


PROPOSED ELEVATIONS:

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Sorry Sherburnflyer if I missed your question. No the airport didn't go into that detail, only that they were buying several more buses and planning to bus far more pax to the terminal, and closer to the immigration desks, so they must have some plan. This was re-iterated recently by Tony Hallwood whilst on BBC Radio York. I reported all I could at the time. They didn't say who would be driving the buses, but you would imagine with more buses available, some of the issues you describe will be reduced or hopefully removed. I cannot see the airport employing the drivers themselves, but you never know. They have proved before they are happy to take things 'in house' where they deem it a better option. If Swissport are neglecting Jet2, then there are processes in place for dealing with that - they has to be some form of Service Level Agreements in place. Perhaps the provision of more buses has come as a result of these failures in the first place?

Thank you for your response on this WH. LBA have done a good job of security so i would guess taking the buses in house would be more beneficial for all. That way there is zero favouritism and it is planned a lot better then present. If you could questioning how this would work at your next meeting would be a good insight.

Of course there is SLA, agreements, fines etc but it at present still doesn't stop them taking buses of a 757 from Jet2 to serve a Monarch A320 that landed after the 757. Suppose its the way it is i guess.

 

[White Heather]

An update from today's Consultative Committee meeting.

LANDSIDE

1 The area where the car hire desks were is now completed and has made a significant difference. New flooring is down, and a redundant fire escape has been removed to create a small discrete seating area behind Cafe Ritazza. Next, and imminent. is the removal of the existing Swissport desk, also opening up more space and due to opening up 3 window bays, adding more natural light too.

2 Security area alterations about to start to create a 7th X Ray Lane. This will also include the re-location of the boarding card readers and changes to the areas where pax remove and put back lap tops, belts shoes etc. One of the two body scanners will also be uprated so that both are state of the art.

3 Two brand new Alexander Enviro single deck buses, with the new LBA branding are now in use on the car park shuttle services. The old buses are retained for emergency cover only. 4 Car Park bus shelters re currently undergoing enlargement bringing them up to the same dimensions as the 5th shelter, which is already larger than the others.

4 On 13th March the 12 Hall A bag drop self service kiosks came into use. Initially they are in use by Flybe, and Ryanair will use them from next week. These enable self service bag drop/check in in a maximum of 65 seconds. The machine screen reads the on line boarding card presented and automatically displays the passengers own language. As a practice, one Ryanair queue of 80 pax were asked to go and use the new machines and the entire queue disappeared in 4 minutes. The machines will gradually be extended to other Hall A airlines and in the future it is intended to extend to Hall B (Jet2).

5 In connection with the item 4, all Hall A check in desks will, from next week, switch to being available for all airlines and all flights.

AIRSIDE

6 Saltaire Bar works are ongoing - the contractors are due on site to commence the fit-out. The completed area will roughly double the seating area for this summer (ready June) Next winter the whole of the existing bar area will be refreshed. There will be a new commercial outlet, operated by LBA, adjacent to the new seating area - on the other side of the wall from the 1st floor walkway at the top of the escalator from the security screening area. The type of outlet has not yet been decided by the airport's commercial team.

7 Works to extend the seating area on to the existing roof area are ongoing and are expected to finish some time in June. These works are extensive and have involved the strengthening of the building foundations to take the weight of the new steel work required. A temporary roof is being created below the current tin roof which will keep the terminal weather tight whilst the tin roof is removed. It is now stated that this new area will provide up to 500 new passenger seats, which will be of a new style. These will NOT be linked to eating or drinking outlets.

8 Three new ex London Transport Mercedes Benz bendy buses are now on the airport and will soon be painted into the airport's new branding colour scheme. There will be 6 buses available for bussing passengers to the terminal. Buses will be driven by Swissport drivers but it is expected that the additional capacity and requirement to use buses to separate arrivng pax from those departing will resolve any issues (as reported) re the sequence in which aircraft are attended.

9 Airfield lighting replacement works will continue overnight until the end of April - a month longer than originally planned, although the working hours available will be reduced due to the new schedules and clocks going forward. Thereafter the contractors will be back to continue the work in October.

10 Alongside the airfield lighting works, work has also been ongoing to replace damaged runway sections. It was stated that the LBA concrete runway is significantly advantageous over an asphalt runway as these sectional repairs can be done overnight. Sectional repairs of an asphalt runway is not possible and requires an extended runway closure. The concrete section runway was described as a significant asset to LBA.

11 From 27th March all departure gates will be capable of handling all airlines and flights, enhancing flexibility. All gates have also been re-numbered so that Gate 1 is the first that pax come to. Numbers will therefore be logical and gate numbers will increase as pax traverse the terminal from West to East.

12 LBA is considering options for the installation of a possible walk way from the car park/drop off area to the terminal. The problem is that such a walkway would traverse the bus lanes and taxi lanes, so would be intermittent. A solution is therefore not too easy to find with the current layout.

13 The new internal airport signage is nearing completion and looks excellent. Yellow lettering on a dark grey background and meets requirements for people who have sight problems.

 

[a300boy]

It is never enough but still very welcome.
A long time ago it was said that a new terminal was the best solution and tweeks to the present one futile, however the improvements made will certainly have a positive impact.

 

[White Heather]

A great deal is being done to enhance the experience for departing passengers. My hope is that when the next works are undertaken, they will enhance the experience for arriving passengers beyond the new de-planing process. The major weakness of LBA is the baggage re-claim area which is too small by a long way. A 757 and an A320 at the same time and it is packed and I am virtually certain that the queue at Immigration is often only there because it is used as a method of restricting the flow of passengers down into the baggage reclaim area. I would imagine that there is a maximum safe capacity in that area and the airport have to ensure that there are never more than that number in there - so they Immigration queue will 'slow down' until earlier flights have retrieved baggage and gone. The design of the terminal gives little scope to extend this area and I suspect it take the long awaited extension to take place before it can be improved.

 

[kevinbev]

I cant understand why there is no mention in the master plan to extend the terminal building out easterly over the bus shelter. It would lose some car parking places but the terminal could be extended to around stand 12, maybe not as far initially until capacity increases even more There would be much more seating upstairs with smaller cafes every few gates. The current bus shelter is a joke, all I can see in the master plan is a walk way with satellite gates, no mention of a moving walkway though I stand to be corrected. I got stuck behind a slow walking family down this walkway yesterday evening after arriving back at LBA when I just wanted to get going, yes there was a big queue at immigration so I still wouldn't have got out of the airport quickly. Also when we got near the terminal the Aer Lingus flight was boarding so everyone had to be stopped so passengers could cross from the other lane of the corridor. The immigration process should be improved with the new biometric gates hence expediting our exit. Suppose the master plan is just to get everyone's hopes up and what is actually implemented is very minimal.

 

[White Heather]

I cant understand why there is no mention in the master plan to extend the terminal building out easterly over the bus shelter. It would lose some car parking places but the terminal could be extended to around stand 12, maybe not as far initially until capacity increases even more There would be much more seating upstairs with smaller cafes every few gates. The current bus shelter is a joke, all I can see in the master plan is a walk way with satellite gates, no mention of a moving walkway though I stand to be corrected. I got stuck behind a slow walking family down this walkway yesterday evening after arriving back at LBA when I just wanted to get going, yes there was a big queue at immigration so I still wouldn't have got out of the airport quickly. Also when we got near the terminal the Aer Lingus flight was boarding so eacveryone had to be stopped so passengers could cross from the other lane of the corridor. The immigration process should be improved with the new biometric gates hence expediting our exit. QUOTE

Perhaps you should read my report on the airport consultative meeting from Thursday. You will see that from the very near future you will be put on one of the 3 newly acquired bendy buses (now 6 available) to go back to the terminal so will not get stuck behind slow movers in the future or have to wait whilst outbound flights load. I also think that describing a walkway as a joke and a bus shelter is harsh. Bus shelter or not it cost well into 7 figures and provides shelter that previously did not exist. A lot of people asked for cover and LBA listened and stumped up the cash to build one, yet it is constantly criticised. Once again I feel the need to remind folk that this is LBA, which currently has 3.6m pax. It isn't a major airport by any means and to expect moving walkways the length of the 'bus shelter', in either or both directions, is somewhat over optimistic. They cost a fortune to install and are generally unreliable. There are far more important things to install at LBA than moving walkways. The terminal extension you mention to the East of the current building is simply not required yet, so why would they consider it? There is already planning permission granted for an extension to the front of the terminal, filling in the crescent. That alone will provide a considerable amount of additional space and a terminal big enough for up to 7m pax and beyond. The foundations are already in place for this. Frankly, anything more than that extension needs a completely new terminal, built to modern standards, not yet another extension to the current building.

 

[Seasider]

Whilst to some the bus shelter as it's known is a joke and yes, not the ultimate solution. It is a bit harsh calling it a joke. Other airports use a similar set up.
Southend airport has one. And Dublin airport has a similar idea as well between it's terminals. In Auckland, New Zealand there is one leading into the Domestic terminal which is also quite a length similar the LBA. Before anyone jumps in stating LBA is exposed and at a high altitude above sea level. Well Dublin can get rough weather as can Auckland in the winter. To build an extention along the eastern end along the stands would be more tricky engineering due to the gradiant drop from the apron. This wouldn't be cheap. The airport appear to be able to still get more capacity from the existing footprint. 500 extra seats is pretty good going. I pointed out in a post sometime ago there is still the roof area to infill behind the control tower like what was done at the other end of the 1960s terminal for the foodcourt that contains Camden foods and Burger king.
I think those in charge will use existing areas first that can gain the airport space without the expense of land works.

The walkway in Auckland (between Domestic and International terminals) is longer and changes direction quite a few times, but the coloured markings on the floor are very easy to follow.

 

[Seasider]

We were there Nov 2016.

 

[lbaspotter]

New NOTAM for the planned overnight runway closures (covers this week only) has been issued. Working hours have been reduced to just 6 hours MON-FRI 00:00-06:00 (BST)

Further NOTAM now issued regards extension of the overnight runway worksrunning up until April 29th 2017

C1389/17: Leeds Bradford: Aerodrome closed
Q) EGTT/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5352N00140W005
AERODROME CLOSED DUE ESSENTIAL RWY MAINTENANCE
FROM: 03 Apr 2017 23:00 GMT (04 Apr 00:00 BST) TO: 29 Apr 2017 05:00 GMT (06:00 BST)
SCHEDULE: MON-FRI 2300-0500

 

[lbaspotter]

When I was passing by LBA this evening at around 7:30pm on way home from work I noticed that a portable Mini Tower Crane has been erected on site next to the terminal building, I'm guessing this must mean that the steel work and new roof for the departure lounge extension is to been installed over the Easter weekend!

NOTAM has also been issued see below, Oh if this is posted in wrong thread please feel free to move the NOTAM to where ever applicable.

C1827/17: Obstacle erected
Q) EGTT/QOBCE/IV/M/AE/000/008/5352N00139W001
CRANE OPERATING AT PSN 535209N 0013929W LEEDS/BRADFORD. HEIGHT 97FT
AGL 732.2FT AMSL
FROM: 11 Apr 2017 19:00 GMT (20:00 BST) TO: 14 Apr 2017 03:00 GMT (04:00 BST)
SCHEDULE: 1900-0300

 

[Aviador]

LBAspotter

Granted it's been that long since we had anything meaningful to post here in this thread people have resorted to using it to vent their frustrations after travelling through the terminal as a passenger.

As well as a Passenger and Frequent Flyer review thread for the airport we do actually also have a NOTAM thread but your post is very much on topic so there's really no need to move it.

Hopefully if the crane is in use over the next few days the thread will see a buzz of activity and get back on track which is discussing "Infrastructure Developments", that's building work whether it be in the planning stage or bricks and mortar.

 

[tleeds]

I'll try get onto this, I'm back in on Monday now though.

Swissport are now finalising the move over to the old OCS desk. This has been split into two so OCS still have the lower down desk next to the Information Desk in Check-In Hall A and the other quarter has been filled in so they have an enclosed office/seating area. Swissport have taken the other half.

I've been told it should take another couple of weeks to get everything cleared and all the stock removed into another room which has been renovated by the airport. This is down the "C" corridor and it was the old women's staff toilets which have been gutted and removed. It might take a bit longer to move across all of the computer networks and then move the airport Fire Alarm Monitor which is adjoined to this. I'm not sure whether this pole will just be left in and built into a column/beam. Once they get knocked down however, Check-In Hall A will have so much more light coming through with a full view of the airport forecourt.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Have to say passing through the airport recently Check In Hall A seemed to be cleared of most alteration material and there was little disruption for the travellor, you had a clear view across the short stay car park and the doors near to the security enterence were working, closed on our last visit.
The real area of disruption was the area by the old gates 1 to 6 and the forming of the walkways to the new gates 10 and 11.
Our flight for gate 11 called around 55 minutes before we boarded and families not happy no toilet facilites, drinks machines etc and only around a dozen chairs only ( for two gates). It may well be that they are planned to update the facilities and it may well have happened. The room was to small to contain a full 737 on our flight, no idea what happens with two flights.
Not sure if these gates are temporary or permanent, fly out in three weeks again so wil have a look round again and try to take pictures.
It very difficult to try to run an airport and enchance it, the staff were wonderful, but just give yourself a little bit more time to get to the gate.

 

[Britannia94]

Transporter the remote gates of 10 and 11 do have toilet facilities in there, they are just past gate 11 and are signposted. Granted I understand the frustration with the seating as there is only limited seats inside.