Future Infrastructure Developments

[User0001]

Hi W H
they've spent v little money compared to what they initially stated. We've had 1 extra fuel pod built (not where the masterplan shows it being built) & a cheap ' make do' bus shelter (not shown on the masterplan) plus a refit of the already cramped terminal.
If you paid a baker to make you some bread & then he came back & said the price of flour had gone up so he wouldn't do it, would you still expect your bread making? Of course you would!
If you cannot do the job then basically you are not fit for the job. No excuses. The council would have struggled to do less in the last 5/6 years.
Why W H has the bus shelter / fuel pod not been added to the current masterplan to make it reflect what has actually been built? It seems the masterplan is "just a guide" quoting another poster. The problem is the guide shows what could have been done not the make do & mend measures that have been done. Deliberately left on the website unaltered for years to positively spin to the reading Yorkshire public.

 

[User0001]

Where is the 2011 masterplan Bridgepoint? Will it be an accurate masterplan like bristol's, birmingham's, luton's etc or will it be more fictitious positive spin to the masses? We needed an enlarged terminal at the very least years ago just like the terminal plans that were quietly shuffled off the website without so much as a word. I don't want a bottomless pit of money spending I want an amount of money spending that enables you to make good your promises to the council. i.e. to do the job that you were brought here and won the right to do.

 

[User0001]

It's time you held your hands up W H and said "you were right LUFC PETE! It was nothing to do with planning issues or finding the right contractors(Leeds arena now built with the money) just as you said. They're tight & skint & not much better than the council."
It's time you gave 'em hell in the next committee meeting on all our behalfs.

 

[Aviador]

LUFC has a point. The masterplan was a guide but it is also supposed to be an accurate representation for locals to ensure plans aren't sprung on them without any prior knowledge. The exact date implementation isn't and was never going to be possible from the start but the details of what the airport plan to do in the future should be made clear. For LBA to brush everything off under the banner of "commercial in confidence" everytime questions are asked doesn't really wash when other airports have pressed ahead in accordance with their masterplans, albeit to a different timeline because of the recession.

Here's the opening page of the masterplan (Click to view larger image - viewable to registered users only)

source: http://www.leedsbradfordairport.co.uk

 

[User0001]

It's time you held your hands up W H and said "you were right LUFC PETE! It was nothing to do with planning issues or finding the right contractors(Leeds arena now built with the money) just as you said. They're tight & skint & not much better than the council."
It's time you gave 'them hell in the next committee meeting on all our behalfs.

Or you could do it yourself. I've sent you the email addresses in a PM.
Over to you Pete.

 

[rmac]

I have just returned from Rome Ciampino to Prestwick with Ryanair. I was amazed at the poor state of Ciampino, very little seating and what was there was the metal type, people sitting all over the place, poor bar and eating facilities, small 'duty free' with limited stocks, etc. Yet handles 4.5million yearly according to Wikipedia (!). So it makes LBA look spacious, modern and efficient. You could be lead to believe that LBA handles the 4.5m and CIA 3m. I think Jet2 are sensible in using Fumincio as I would avoid CIA if possible.

 

[cmj]

Given Ciampino is pretty much Ryanair, I wouldn't expect it to be anything other than the bare minimum. If you want to fly for peanuts what do yo expect? (which seems to sum up Ryanair pretty well). I doubt Ciampino makes much money from them in landing fees, so perhaps it's a bit of a surprise there isn't more of an effort to make money from things like food, drink etc.

 

[rmac]

Flight with Ryanair there and back was excellent and right on time, also full going out and virtually full coming back.

 

[lbaspotter]

As bad as this may sound to some people on here! It looks like it's a good job Bridgepoint Capital was the winning bidder for the Leeds/Bradford Airport from the 5 local district council's.
As it would seem that the other two orginial bidder's, Spanish owned Abertis which owns Belfast Int'l, Luton, Cardiff and Balfour Beatty owners of Exeter & Blackpool Airports are selling either out right or share stakes in there airports at this moment in time....

 

[stevolba]

I'll try keep this on topic as much as possible, but I recently spent 2 weeks working in pescara airport in Italy, basically the only movements where Ryanair, very small "regional" airport few seats in 2 separate areas, vending machines not cafe's, and no duty fee, think we need to be gratefull of what we have!

 

[radar]

The comparisons to Ryanair sheds are a bit pointless. These are small regional or secondary airports. LBA is the main airport for the fourth largest conurbation in the uk, and one of the largest geographical areas. It should be better than Ciampino.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Have to say as a long standing user of the airport, I am impressed by the currant set up. We arrived for our 7am Malaga flight on Friday 10th May, noted on the board that from 6am to 8.05am there was 17 flights leaving.
Plenty of seats available, we had no issues in finding seat around 5.30am.
Assume their could have been over 2000 passengers in the terminal, certainly you had no feel of a crowded airport, circa 2010. Does seem to have inspired the airlines to get the people to the gate and on board.
Flew out just before Easter and again last month, on both occasions plenty of space in the airport. WE never use the airport food/drink facilites and since last September, have found a seat without an issue and we are always in the early morning rush.
Just flown out of malaga, since last month they have removed at least 50% of the seating in zone 'B', they want you to spend all your time in T3 retail park, they hope removing the seats in zones B and C, you will only go to the gate at the last minute. Counted at gate 14, seat total 12, not good for us oldies.
Leeds may have issues, but lets get it in prospective.

 

[White Heather]

I would agree Tarn Spotter. When I flew to Arrecife on the 9th with Jet2, my flight was 0855 and I checked in at 0615, when the airport was very busy ahead of the early morning rush. I hadn't checked in on line so had to join the queue, but was checked in within 10 minutes. It took less than 5 minutes to get through the security screening zone, where all lanes were open and the staff were very friendly and efficient. From there upstairs into the impressive duty free area and then through to the other shops, bars, and cafes. I had no problem finding a seat outside any of the catering facilities, and the general atmosphere throughout the terminal was one of calm and plenty of space. From what I could see the eateries offered decent value for money. I then went downstairs for a look around and there was loads of space down there. So overall, despite a lot of flights leaving around that time, the terminal was coping fine and there were no bottlenecks at all.

It is a shame the experience wasn't quite as good when returning at midnight on the 23rd/24th. A good start arising from the unexpected use of the Gate 8 airbridge and virtually no delay at Immigration, was ruined by a 40 minute wait for luggage and both the Monarch and Jet2 Arrecife flights waiting together for their luggage, all of which was on the same belt, whilst the others sat their idle.

Overall though, a vast improvement.

 

[adam]

thats seems to be the general consensus departures brilliant, arrivals lacking. seems to be an area in need of big improvement. and like someone said previously your last memory of the airport is the arrivals process and thats whats most fresh in your mind when deciding your next holiday and where you fly from

 

[White Heather]

To be fair, you can probalby wait 40 minutes for luggage and many airports and last time I flew into MAN it was 55 minutes, but with all the other belts idle, it could have been so much faster that evening, with just 2 arrivals.

 

[Bigman]

I am with White Heather on this one. I have had some quite appalling experiences arriving at MAN over the years. Long walks..up and down stairs...long immigration queues and long waits for bags. LBA is a walk in the park compared to MAN. NCL wasn't brilliant either.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Would help if there was natural light in LBA baggage hall. With the gloom of the place, cramped situation, depression on returning home from holiday, a no win situation at the moment for the airport.
Slowness in bags arriving, multiple use of the same belt, just add to your frustration.

 

[Seasider]

I found a very quiet spot to sit when I passed through on Monday, no one else there and I could see across the airport.

 

[Aviador]

It puts things into perspective when you compare like for like threads on the Manchester airport forum where the talk is about construction starting on the building of an "airport city" where as here on the Leeds Bradford forum the discussion is about how many seats LBA can find to put in the departure lounge. There might be no comparison between the two airports but it just shows how far behind the Leeds airport has got.

 

[User0001]

Totally agree Aviador.

Likewise, I think it is pointless comparing luggage times between MAN and LBA too for 2 main reasons:

Firstly, MAN is obviously far busier than LBA, so, more work for the ramp guys. MAN is also bigger than LBA so the baggage has further to travel to reach the belts. Its the classic 'comparing apples and oranges' saying.

Secondly, why must everything be a 'comparison'.

Often, issues are shrugged off too easily by saying 'it happens worse at airport X so Airport Y is ok'.
Its not ok, it doesn't matter what issues another airport has, its about the issues at your airport and what they will do to rectify them.
Put it this way, as a completely random scenario (in other words Im not saying this does happen, its an example), if you complained to LBA in writing that your luggage took 2 hours to arrive, would you be satisfied if Tony Hallwood simply wrote back 'well, it takes 3 hours at MAN so quit your moaning', would you be satisfied with that? Would you simply say 'oh, that's fair enough, that's good to know and gets me my 2 hours back'.
No, you would be a bit peed off, it doesn't address your issue, yet seems to be the norm to use the 'meh, longer elsewhere' line on many forums.

Sorry for the rant, but its my 2 cents.