Future Infrastructure Developments

[2016 Bones]

Flew out of LBA early friday morning to Alicante on Jet2, first time since late last year and have been reading about the changes taking place. Don't know what the airport management have planned going forward, but the trek to Gate 10+ is rediculous. I am a pensioner & lucky to be quite able but my partner has a few problems & that trek was of no help. Glad Jet2 made up for the airports deficiencies with another great flight . Have another flight to Murcia later in the year, just hope its from a lower gate number!

 

[Aviador]

Hi Bones and welcome to Forums4airports.

Mode1 is spot on with his reply. It is actually a legal requirement for airports to provide assistance to passengers with reduced mobility but as Mode1 has said you are required to give them reasonable notice.

 

[Britannia94]

if you somehow forget to book assistance in advance you can always ask at check in on the day to see if they can accommodate you. It isn't always guaranteed if the assistance team can accept any on the day assistance customers but there is no harm in trying, after all they do say if you don't ask you don't get

 

[2016 Bones]

Never had a problem before, usually departed from gates 6-8 with a short walk down the gangway & across to the plane, & as was our luck it always seemed to be pouring down when we did lol. The issue over mobility is only recent, & to be honest wasn't expecting nor realised it was such a hike to gate 10. Like mentioned we have had long hikes before at other airports, Amsterdam for one & even Manchester to gates 32-34, but being a much larger airport they have moving walkways. But hey ho, see where we are in Sept when we use the facilities again.

 

[White Heather]

Gate 10 is, I think, only half way down the walkway, so you could have had a much longer walk than that. There are only 2 airbridges and although Jet2 do use them (my flight to Mahon was on the airbridge last month and my previous flight to Tenerife also), the odds are stacked against it. Best assume a walk as that is what you will get unless your flight is on a remote stand or beyond the walkway - in which case you will be bussed there. The assistance is there for those who need it.

 

[Britannia94]

Here's an idea of which gates are used for what:

Gate 1 & 2 are short walks downstairs to the aircraft.
Gate 3 & 4 are normally air bridges.
Gate 5 (next to gate 4 upstairs) is a walk down stairs into walkway but isn't a far walk
Gate 6 is primarily buses to remote stands
Gate 7 & 8 are walks out to aircraft via the walkway these can be a short walk or a long walk depending.
Gate 9 & 10 are the remote gates and with these there is usually a further walk after them out to the far walking stands.

Please bear in mind this is the norm but can be subject to change, it's just to give you an idea.

Hope this helps clarify things up and is of some interest to you all.

 

[White Heather]

Well even if in the future the terminal was extended down the eastern end along side the stands to create a pier with gates I couldn't see the airport putting in moving walkways. They cost a fortune.

And they regularly break down and cost a fortune to fix too.

 

[imagineif]

There are many infrastructure problems I agree with at LBA, however - walking distances are nothing at this airport compared to others and I agree with the above - moving walk ways are expensive lazy devices which break down constantly.

Since inbound remotes are now taken to the terminal by bus the walking distance is somewhat further decreased in that respect. I have had to board on the remote stands at LBA (even on crutches a few times) and it wasn't too bad. I've had to walk much further distances at Manchester, Bristol and Amsterdam.

Disabled/Elderly and non able bodied persons can request assistance and the rest just need to stop moaning and enjoy a little exercise. A 5 minute walk to and from the aircraft for 2 weeks in the sun is hardly a 3rd world issue is it.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Have to say we have been through the terminal every month since March and its great to see all the work going on and how far it has advanced in just 4 months.
We require assistance and since the opening of Gates 9 & 10 in March this seems to have put the assistance team under huge pressure, (there are steps on this route so even a partner/carer cant push to these two gates) but there does not seem to have been an increase in the assistance team.
It seems strange that you could walk on the flat to stand 11/12 down the corridor on the flat, but opening gates by these stands has steps on the route, hope only temporary.
Have to say we flew out from stand one in May, by the fire station and LBA seems to have some wonderful up to date kit, vital I accept.

 

[White Heather]

Have to say we have been through the terminal every month since March and its great to see all the work going on and how far it has advanced in just 4 months.
We require assistance and since the opening of Gates 9 & 10 in March this seems to have put the assistance team under huge pressure, (there are steps on this route so even a partner/carer cant push to these two gates) but there does not seem to have been an increase in the assistance team.
It seems strange that you could walk on the flat to stand 11/12 down the corridor on the flat, but opening gates by these stands has steps on the route, hope only temporary.I
Have to say we flew out from stand one in May, by the fire station and LBA seems to have some wonderful up to date kit, vital I accbet.

Tarn Spotter - LBA has been advertising for new staff on the assistance team on a regular, if not consistent basis since early in the year (around February). So they are trying. Indeed, as I was retiring in March I even considered applying myself, despite the inclusion within the job advert that applicants would need to walk up to 15 miles per day in all weathers. However, I fancied a break first and wasn't quite prepared for 4am starts. I was previously getting up at 5.15 most mornings and even that nearly killed me!

 

[Aviador]

Trust me when I say this Heather, your love of LBA would be severely tested doing those kind of shifts. I've no idea how I manged it for the best part of 15 years!

 

[B737]

The full side of the older two storey building has now been completely removed. The new Cargo shop is now being fitted out.View attachment 5553 View attachment 5554

 

[lbaspotter]

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that the much needed extension work to the departure Hall is been carried out but if am being totally honest, it's bloody ridiculous that this development work is been carried out in peak summer season.

Someone in LBA's management has to be accountable to have made a bad call on this one. The airport had planning permission in place months in advance, but didn't start work until March 2017. The contractors should have started on this major development way back in October/November last year meaning work would have been completed by now.

I dread to think of all the revenue the airport owners have missed out on, what with some of the bars and shops not been able to open up until now.

 

[White Heather]

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that the much needed extension work to the departure Hall is been carried out but if am being totally honest, it's bloody ridiculous that this development work is been carried out in peak summer season.

Someone in LBA's management has to be accountable to have made a bad call on this one. The airport had planning permission in place months in advance, but didn't start work until March 2017. The contractors should have started on this major development way back in October/November last year meaning work would have been completed by now.

I dread to think of all the revenue the airport owners have missed out on, what with some of the bars and shops not been able tmo open up until now.

LBAspotter - only when planning consent is given can the airport begin the process of going out to tender for the contractor. For a project of this size, that takes time, to allow for the tender documents to be drawn up and for contractors to assess the project, price it up and submit their tenders. They then have to be opened, examined, reviewed by the project board and in many cases, the contractors are interviewed to scrutinise every aspect of their bid. In this case that would have been vital as the architect and airport staff would have needed to assess how they would carry out the work whilst allowing the airport to operate. All of this takes months, not weeks - I know as it used to be my job. Initially, LBA were planning to wait until the end of the summer but eventually took the decision to get it done sooner rather than later. I am fairly sure they expected it to be completed by the end of June - but they have to go on what the contractor and architect say and it often happens that delays occur due to unforeseen issues or supply problems for vital kit. So don't be too hard on the airport staff.

 

[lbaspotter]

I know how planning works as I'm in the building trade myself and know how long these things take. What annoys me more is that the planning application for this part of the terminal development was actually approved quite a few months in advance. From what I understand it looks like the project was put on hold for reasons we will never know, this was even admitted by the airport on its own twitter account after I tweeted about the development getting the said planning approval.
Hence this is the reason "I" think they could have got the contract out to tender a lot quicker and had contractors on site a lot earlier than they did. But like you say "WhiteHeather" I could have possibly got it all wrong.

I would just also like to add that I'm very happy that the work is been done on this much needed development, I' just feel that it's been done at the wrong time of year and I suspect the will be others who will either agree and disagree with me.

 

[Aviador]

I don't think you are the first person to ask the question LBAspotter. I'm of the thinking the airport just needed to get on with it even if it does cause disruption. Looking at the images though, it doesn't look great but the old public area hasn't cordoned off with hoardings so that suggests the floor space hasn't been reduced to carry out the work.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Building works have to take place some time in my opinion. When the 'terminal fill in', eventually (*rolls eyes*), it will either start at the end of the summer season in the shoulder season into winter OR start in the winter months and roll into the peak summer. You'd hope with something that big, when it eventually goes ahead, they start it in the September before the following years summer season.

My main concern with this fill in is the lack of natural light on the ground floor. There was a big glass front that let a hell of a lot of light into the area where they are filling in. I'd hope that once they are done the light will return especially to the ground floor which will probably feel like a prison cell without any light. I've got a migraine thinking about it.

 

[White Heather]

LBAspotter, for a project of this size it is entirely predictable that there will be a period of at least 6 months after planning approval is given before anything happens. If you are in the building trade you will know that planning consent is just that. Approval to do the work. Thereafter, all the detailed design work has to be done by the Architects, Mechanical & Electrical consultants, and in this case, Structural Engineers - and those plans have to be approved by Building Control, Fire Officer, and LBA management before they go out to tender. Then there are a couple of months for that process also and once the contract is awarded, orders are to be placed - in this case for steel-work, roofing etc. and that has to be manufactured (unless available off the shelf) and deliverable. This all takes many months. The project was not shelved to my knowledge - it was simply moving through the process and to my knowledge, there was never any chance of it starting in October 16. I agree fully that doing it now wasn't ideal, but although it doesn't look pretty, the actual impact on the terminal and how it operates hasn't been great. It is more a case of public perception than actual physical disruption. Very much a case of no pain, no gain.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Having been through the terminal in March/April/May and June have to say the first work we noticed in March was the opening of gates 10 and 11 which moved at least one plane load of passengers out the main terminal by the creating of this new waiting area, easying the demand on seats etc. By June you could see the benefit of this move.
As one who does not wish to spend my money in the overpriced airport shops and additional seating and waiting areas my priority, the airport seemed to have this in mind.
I am sure the airport weighted up all the options when to start, but have to give them a ringing endorsement that they have managed the alterations well with the minimum disruption to passengers.
Since March we have had an improved move through the airport, Our June departure the least stressful. I would award them 9 out of 10.

 

[leedslad]

Just using the airport for the first time since the improvement works.

I'd seen the photos on here but was kind of hard to work out what was what. So for anyone that is in same position as me...

The toilets opposite the Premier Lounge have gone and this is now a new entrance to the Saltaire bar. It has its own mini bar and loads of seats by the terminal front windows. It loops round to the original Saltaire bar too. A huge increase in capacity and huge improvement.

Not sure where replacement loos are?

Then to the left of the down escalators by the lift there were always a few seats. The windows are all blanked out for the extension and there's some new stairs down to the left again making it much better and more spacious.

On separate note spotted s few non taxis parked in the taxi pick up/drop off. Is this just staff parking?