Airport Experience (Reviews & Opinions)

[Aviador]

Are you a passenger frequent flyer travelling through Leeds Bradford? Tell us what you think about Leeds Bradford and the services it provides.

Have you had problems with luggage, delays or cancellations at Leeds Bradford? Want to ask a question about the airport? Tell us about your experiences good or bad.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

Airport trip left me with terminal illness

As a regular reader of your paper, I would like to comment on the customer chaos I have experienced at Leeds Bradford Airport on a flight to Palma within the past two weeks.

A private taxi took me to the airport but had to drop me off in a car park, the walk to the terminal building, about 400 yards, was a nightmare journey over piles of rubble and unmade paths.

Once inside the terminal building, no problem, just 10 minutes to book in my luggage and get boarding cards. But then the chaos began.

We then had to join a queue about 400 yards long to get through Passport Control, which took approximately 50 minutes, the reason being we discovered when we got within sight of Passport Control, was that they could not cope with the volume of people – around 500 – as they only had two screening arches for all passengers to go through and all male passengers had to remove shoes and trouser belts to pass through.

The final straw came when the flight was delayed 50 minutes as the aircraft pulling truck broke down. So in my estimation, Leeds Bradford Airport is a disaster and my future flights will be from Newcastle or Manchester. These views were also expressed by many other irate passengers.

Source

Any thoughts on this fellow forumers?

 

[Bigman]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

Complete shite!!!!

The drop off area is only 100yds from the terminal front. 2 minutes walk. Wow, not a great distance is it???

400 yd queue!!!!! That would take you well into the staff car park and beyond by my reckoning.

Having recently queued for 50 minutes to get through Manchester immigration, I doubt this individual will find a better experience there. At least you don't have to walk 1/4 mile to get to your gate like you do in Manchester Terminal 1. Oh yes, and try waiting on a taxiway at Manchester for 30 minutes just to get i the queue to take off!!! That's real fun...NOT!!!!

 

[Pat]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

the moaning minni could have been someone from manchester or newcastle airport supporters club trying to rubbish lba in order to get passangers to fly out of their airports rather than leeds bradford - dont think it will work

 

[White Heather]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

This wasn't written by the same woman who packed her cat in her case then tried to blame LBA for it was it??

There is no doubt that LBA is struggling at the moment when the terminal is really busy but in my view it is still preferable to other airports. I don't know if the airport has put up any apology notices yet, but it might be an idea to help pacify these impatient, irate, moaners. I am sure they would have something to moan about wherever they went. No doubt the plane wasn't to their liking either.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

The new pavement linking the drop off area to the terminal has been open for a few weeks now. Bentleys have made a small temporary ramp to enable trolleys to reach the old surface near the terminal which is slightly uneven but all in all the route is now more than acceptable. The person obviously had a chip on their shoulder for some reason. Maybe they got out of the wrong side of the bed?

 

[rmac]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

I agree with most of the comments above regarding the terminal at Leeds and it shows that the big increase in passenger numbers over the last few years has overtaken the ability to increase the size of the building adequately. The change of ownership seems to be addressing this "problem". When I was last there it seemed to me that the land available from the present terminal eastwards lent itself to a new terminal with a few airbridges etc and capable of extending as the need arose and possibly designating this as the International terminal (A) whilst the existing terminal could handle mainly domestic and Irish traffic (B).
This would be expensive but I think the Yorkshire area needs an impressive new terminal to welcome, in the years to come, visitors from the US, Dubai, Pakistan, India, Europe and whereever. Still it is good to see that the Terminal as it is now is being enlarged and I hope they make a good job of it so that a statement is sent out to say Leeds, Bradford and Yorkshire have really "arrived" on the international scene.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

Gloomy reception at airport

HAVING just returned from holiday and read the exchange of views regarding the renaming of Leeds Bradford Airport, I wonder if any of the persons named would welcome the honour.

I have flown for some 40 years and passed through airports in many remote parts of the world and I have to say that Leeds Bradford at present comes near the bottom of the scale.

When we arrived last week, an airport bus left us to walk some distance in a cold wind and light rain, through airfield vehicles, trailers and various building materials to a small door which could be mistaken for an emergency exit in a rundown building.

Into a gloomy and shabby entrance way, we had to climb stairs (the escalator was not working), jostle along a corridor and into a small, gloomy immigration control and thence down stairs (the escalator not working) to baggage reclaim.

Outside, all seemed chaotic as passengers struggled through the February weather to find their taxi, bus or friend/relation who was collecting them.

Leaving the airport, one could see the black and white cabs, private hire cars and cars of friends/ relations tucked into side roads awaiting the call to battle their way into the limited waiting area. Not that the outward passage was a pleasure, but that's another story.

Source

Hmm!! Any thoughts?

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

I feel the main concern here are the escalators and I wonder if had they been working would this person have complained and felt it necessary to write to a newspaper? I understand where both of these escalators are and I know that they haven't appeared to be working for a while to be fair. I don't know if there is a particular problem with the escalators or whether this is just a cost saving exercise while the airport is quiet? It must be said, if I take my car for it's MOT and the lights aren't working then it would fail. I feel the same must be said in these circumstances, either get the escalators working or remove them. I have to say though that generally speaking I don't feel LBA is any different from other airports and to be honest, the travelators weren't working at Manchester the last time I flew from there, but it is extremely annoying when things don't work.

 

[Bigman]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

I doubt this is a recent story. Dredged up to slate the airport once again I suspect. When did the black and white taxis disappear??? I rest my case.

 

[Seasider]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

My wife and I came back from Girona last Sun (8th) and we had to do a couple of holds due to inclement weather and evetually parked on stand 10. We had to walk from there to the arrivals hall via Immigration, sorry border control. The wind was a bit parky, but I have had to walk at lot further at other International airports, Amsterdam for example, and when we arrived at Border Control, 4 people on duty quickly cleared the 100+ passengers. No bags to pick up so we were straight out to the Car Park coach. No problems.
I had similar pleasant passage through the airport when I went to Geneva last September. So from my point of view, I can't understand what some people are complaining about,

 

[White Heather]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

I agree with Bigman - this is an old complaint and I had noticed too that there was a reference to black and white cabs, which have not served the airport for over a year now.

The fact is that some people just love a good old complaint and will take every opportunity to do so. Read the Evening Post and you will find the same names complaining in the letters column, about all sorts of different issues. I think they just get a kick out of having their complaint letters in the paper and the knowledge that if they complain to the organisation involved, people run around more often than not, investigating and sending letters of apology or explanation.

On the plus side, these issues only tend to re-inforce the fact that the airport is badly in need of a re-design and investment.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

From: Ms I Render, Smithy Brook Lane, Thornhill, Dewsbury.

I WOULD like to recount a recent experience at our very own Leeds Bradford Airport.

Our flight, TCS 652L (Thomas Cook) arrived in Tenerife to collect us two hours late because of "runway problems" at Leeds.

The captain apologised and said that he has informed Leeds of our impending arrival so we should soon be on our respective onward journeys.

We landed. Then we were left sitting on the plane for half-an-hour because there were no steps and no bus. Our two-hour delay became two-and-a-half hours.

We then approached a moving staircase, but it wasn't moving. No staff, no explanation, no nothing.

We now approached passport control. Were we, very tired, frustrated, angry people passed through with a nod? Oh, no, far from it.

But hey, cheer up. The long time at passport control would reduce the time we had to wait for our luggage.

But, was our luggage merrily going round and round awaiting our eager hands? Don't be silly. This is Leeds Bradford International Airport. We had 20 minutes to wait for first sight of our luggage.

Was there any explanation or apology? Any "International" employee to greet us? No.

To rub salt into a very inflamed wound, the family and friends awaiting us had extra pounds to pay for parking because of the delays.

Enough said. Manchester Airport, here we come.

Another glowing report.... :nea:

Sounds like these people have nothing else to do with their spare time other than write these sort of silly complaint letters to papers, sad really! The bit that made me laugh was the bit about waiting 20 minutes for baggage, I'd like to see them lift 180 peoples suitcases off an aircraft and onto a carousel in less than 20 minutes.

 

[yorkshire]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

20mins thats nowt, i had to wait an hour at Manchester last December!!

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

These two letters have appeared in the Yorkshire Post Newspaper in response to the previous compliant about LBA by Ms I Render of Smithy Brook Lane, Thornhill, Dewsbury.

In search of happy landings

From: Terry Parkinson, Tredgold Close, Leeds.

I, too, had a similar airport experience to the one described by Ms I Render (Yorkshire Post, April 6).

Our plane touched down almost an hour ahead of schedule but we were delayed by nearly two hours before the appearance of the steps. The baggage carousel took a further hour to spring into action.

The shuttle bus back to our car park then took the best part of a further hour to appear. When it did, a gruff Mancunian accent advised us to put our, rather heavy, cases "up there where I want them, not down there where you want them".

Mancunian accent did I say? Yes, this all occurred at Manchester Airport, not Leeds Bradford.

I have flown from the latter many times and barely experienced a single problem

Ms Render, the answer to your problems does not lie on the wrong side of the Pennines.

From: Margaret Scott, Woodside Avenue, Wrenthorpe, Wakefield.

MS Render should not be too harsh on Leed Bradford Aiport following her delayed flight from Tenerife. It could happen anywhere.

Recently, we arrived 15 minutes early at East Midlands Airport, but there was a long delay getting off the plane because there were only three buses available to take the 350-plus passengers on the long journey to the airport building.

Because we were let off the plane before a bus arrived, we were forced to wait almost 10 minutes in the early morning drizzle.

When we got to the airport building, there was a lengthy queue to go through passport control because there was only one officer on duty.

Never mind, we thought, at least our bags will be waiting. No so. Having landed at 5.30am, we did not get our luggage until after 7am, and one item had been damaged in transit, which meant filling out a complaint form.

Anyone who chooses to travel by air can never expect it all to happen as they would wish; all sorts of things can go wrong, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

 

[backtrack]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

From: Ms I Render, Smithy Brook Lane, Thornhill, Dewsbury.

I WOULD like to recount a recent experience at our very own Leeds Bradford Airport.

Our flight, TCS 652L (Thomas Cook) arrived in Tenerife to collect us two hours late because of "runway problems" at Leeds.

The captain apologised and said that he has informed Leeds of our impending arrival so we should soon be on our respective onward journeys.

We landed. Then we were left sitting on the plane for half-an-hour because there were no steps and no bus. Our two-hour delay became two-and-a-half hours.

We then approached a moving staircase, but it wasn't moving. No staff, no explanation, no nothing.

We now approached passport control. Were we, very tired, frustrated, angry people passed through with a nod? Oh, no, far from it.

But hey, cheer up. The long time at passport control would reduce the time we had to wait for our luggage.

But, was our luggage merrily going round and round awaiting our eager hands? Don't be silly. This is Leeds Bradford International Airport. We had 20 minutes to wait for first sight of our luggage.

Was there any explanation or apology? Any "International" employee to greet us? No.

To rub salt into a very inflamed wound, the family and friends awaiting us had extra pounds to pay for parking because of the delays.

Enough said. Manchester Airport, here we come.

Another glowing report.... :nea:

Sounds like these people have nothing else to do with their spare time other than write these sort of silly complaint letters to papers, sad really! The bit that made me laugh was the bit about waiting 20 minutes for baggage, I'd like to see them lift 180 peoples suitcases off an aircraft and onto a carousel in less than 20 minutes.

This letter is rather dissapointing to read, she seems so picky but fails to even get the flight code correct. Since when did Thomas Cook change the TCX code to TCS? (Typo maybe?)

And in terms of buses, TCX flights rarely go on a bussing stand (at LBA thats 12 onwards.) TCX pay to use the airbridges and nearly ten times out of ten they always use the airbridge, unless they are operating a positioner outbound flight.

And yes 180 bags in 20 minutes is a great result, generally you can allow up to half an hour to unload a Boeing 737, and thats a -300, not Ryanairs -800's!!

 

[stewief1]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

Don't get me wrong - i am a big supporter of LBA and its workforce. I suspect Ms Render is exercising her right to free speech, which would perhaps be better received by the airport management instead of local papers. It is important for companies (LBA) to get feedback from its clients (Ms Render) to hopefully establish if client 'standards' are being met - i guess in the aviation industry these standards are very differently measure to those in the health industry in which i work. Some times the only way to get companies and industries to sit up and take note is to 'go public' with complaints and concerns. This should only be done if standards are not being met on a regular basis, following it being highlighted to the company. Ms Render is one angry punter who's patience was clearly tested.

 

[White Heather]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

It is my intention at the next consultative meeting to ask a general question of the airport directors if they are aware of the issues over the failure of Servisair to deal with aircraft promptly on some occasions. I got the impression reading the complaint from Ms Render that they had already been stuck on the aircraft for 30 minutes on the ground, then queued through customs and then waited a further 20 minutes for the luggage. Overall therefore that adds up to almost an hour after landing which is not acceptable.

However, if she thinks that the grass will be greener on t'other side of Pennines good luck to her. Last time I flew from MAN I waited for an hour for my luggage and it was after midnight and on the outbound of the same holiday in Tenerife we waited an hour and a quarter for the luggage at 3 in the morning. Apparently all the luggage guys knocked off for a break around that time and every carousel in the airport was stationary for 30 minutes!

 

[Aviador]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

To be fair White Heather, that letter was from way back in April. I know that any letter of complaint should be looked at and taken seriously but you have to look at the bigger picture. Any large organisation will recieve many letters of complaints over the course of any given year.

For information, the escalator the lady mentioned in that letter is still out of order. I was told that it was switched off for Health & Safety reasons. Supposedly it has been recognised that if the magnetic lock doors on the first floor are locked this could possibly cause an accident if a large number of people are still arriving to the first floor via the escalator. I don't know if that is the real reason but it does sound a valid reason.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers

Trouble is with passenger comments is that they are very subjective. Some people have high expectations, often when they have paid the lowest fares, and others are more realistic in their appraisals.

I sometimes look at passenger websites such as Skytrax and the below posted comments about LBA from that site are typical of what I mean.

The first castigates LBA and awards one star (I am surprised they were that generous in view of what they said) and the second awards the full five stars.

I glance at other airport reports reveals the same wide divergence of views.

[textarea]In the past LBA had all the virtues of a small airport, for which the odd limitation was an acceptable trade-off. Now it's just another miserable big airport in miniature - all of the bad bits, with none of the good bits.

As other posters have noted the drop-off experience is ghastly and the £1 baggage trolley charge is crass.

The former long stay car parking has suddenly been chopped in two. They made the half that's nearest the terminal into short stay. This bit is naturally deserted, since LBA has almost zero business/short haul traffic. So you now walk miles across this empty car park before reaching the long stay somewhere near Horsforth. From here, your long walk uphill back to the terminal is compounded by all the old entry doors being permanently locked since they now placed the main entrance at the far end of the terminal. Once inside, of course they make you double back, since security is back in the direction you came from. A good work out for such a tiny airport. Baggage handling can be lame.

On my inbound flight, when the bags emerged on the carousel they were from the wrong flight. Pax noted this, staff did nothing. So staff were alerted who immediately went on the defensive and refused to help, "we don't know any more than you do" etc. So we all stood and watched the same bags go round for maybe 20 minutes with no-one taking anything off. Because no bags were claimed, there was no room to load any more of the right bags. So they just kept going round and round. Staff refused to take them off, bizarrely insisting "please remove your bag so wecan make more space". Hey, they're the wrong bags, we kept telling them. "Don't get shirty with me it's not our fault" etc.

Meantime the other side of the curtain, 4 baggage handlers sat around doing nothing with full carts that they could not load - stalemate. Eventually enterprising pax started pulling off the wrong bags manually to make the odd bit of space. At which point ground staff suddenly decide to confuse everyone by announcing "if your bag has not arrived, please come and fill in a form". So now more mayhem as the pax try to ascertain, "did they not even load the bags at all?" Reply - "we don't know any more than you etc"

Meantime the odd correct bag suddenly starts appearing, one at a time, in the gaps created by the enterprising pax. An hour later, eventually everyone got their bag, one by one. By the way, this was the only inbound flight in an otherwise deserted baggage hall. It really defies belief. Well done guys, you messed up the nice little airport that was LBA.[/textarea]

Excellent check in - literally two minutes. Food hall ok, although limited choice. Security was quick and departure hall was clean and not overly busy - although it can be very busy Friday/Saturday. Arrival was quick - there was a queue at immigration but all desks were open and we queued for no more than five minutes. The baggage reclaim area was a breeze and no queue for baggage. I used the short stay car park - whilst its fairly expensive it is in front of the terminal and very convenient.

http://www.airlinequality.com/Airports/ ... um/lba.htm​