Using Leeds Bradford Airport Questions & Reviews

[michael]

Interesting that the suitcase question is no longer required, it certainly was when we checked in at Manchester 18 months ago to fly Virgin to the States and it most certainly was when we checked back in at Orlando for the homeward flight.

Just as an aside my wife & daughter flew to the States on United this summer and I was in the queue with them to check in to assist with suitcases, the pre- check in guy who was stationed half way down the check in queue actually asked me to stand aside because I wasn't flying away from earshot of questions he was asking about the baggage. I was though allowed to re-join them once he'd finished his questioning.

 

[imagineif]

Sounds a little overzealous on his part. There is no secret regarding the security questions asked at check in - that information can easily be found by anybody. I know that flights to Tel Aviv have different security procedures and you would certainly be asked to leave the que if not travelling as every passenger is subject to additional profiling.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Surprised a question no longer required to be said. My experience is that i and my partner have both been asked on our recent trip Leeds to Rome.
My partner in Leeds I in Rome were both asked to identify our bags and that we had packed them, certainly happened for both of us in Ibiza on our last flights.
I doubt if one of us is not asked every trip and we only fly european nowadays and I am 70 so not sure I present a threat to anyone.
From memory after to ask to identify is my bag, the follow up question is did I pack it.
The question has been asked of both hold and cabin luggage.

 

[Aviador]

Just a bit of clarification is needed here. The question is no longer required at check-in but it is still required at security if your belongings are hand searched.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Aviador: The question was posed in both Leeds and Rome (FCO) when checking in hold luggage, is this because we have already booked in on line and just handing the cases over?
We often only have one hold case between two passengers, maybe this throws a spanner in the works, always want to know whos case it is (impossible to answer because holds clothes of both of us) and who has packed.
Because we take a whole load of medial equipment in our cabin luggage, espcially liquids well above the permitted quantity, we always get a full examination of our hand luggage after going through x-ray, even though we clearly state and take out where possible liquids especially those in large quantities, last time at Leeds the guy searching the cabin luggage, wanted me to take one of the liquids even when it had a poison symbol on the bottle. I accept he has not the medical knowledge to read all the attached paperwork, but I told him impossible to take and then he wanted to withhold, we had to call the supervisor to proceed.
Overseas basically have no issues at all, malaga has a resident person who is called to the security line and checks the paperwork, in Rome when we showed what we would be passing through, moved to a seperate line, the girl just checked our paperwork and smiled and offered to help us pack it all back together again.

 

[Seasider]

Arrived back yesterday from MAH. On outbound, straight through bag drop and security (everything open), no problems in finding a seat. Boarded on time arrived MAH early, cabin crew friendly and efficient.
On inbound, 15mins for bag drop, straight thro' security, departed on time arrived early. Crew again were friendly and efficient. The only problem was that after passing through Border Control (all 6 desks open) we went into baggage reclaim to wait 15 mins for our bags to start coming through. Some people may think that was quick but we parked on stand 6 and were no other flight to arrive for either a hour before or after.
Didn't change the overall feeling that it was great to fly from LBA.

 

[armadillomaster]

Flew 20th Sept LBA to MJV (Murcia)

To my excitement i read on here that Jet2 had subbed in the Corendon 738. Then we got to the airport and we were told we would fly on the sub.

The queues for security were quite large but didn't take longer than 30 Mins to get through. Plenty of places to eat and drink. Burger king being quite popular.

I think we have a good variety for a smaller airport.

For the record Murcia San Javier is the best airport i have been to.

small, neat and well kept. Hassle free as well.

On the way back we waited 20 mins for the baggage, can't complain really.

Overall 9/10.

It's a long walk through that bus stop style walkway....

 

[Moo2009]

Re: Leeds Bradford - General Thread

My Experianxe of LBA

Just my view on using LBA 16/1/15

Returned on LS224 landed 45 mins late due to strong winds over the atlantic pilot explained everything, well done jet2, cabin crew were really good

We taxied and parked on stand 23, 3 busses were waiting to take us to the terminal, the bus I was in was freezing and no heating on, not a problem to me as we were only on 5 mins, I heard one passenger moaning that they were having a tour of the airfield

15 mins to Q at passport control only 3 desks open

Got to baggage hall and luggage was on belt

Was in the car 45 mins after touch down

All in all not a bad experience

 

[Aviador]

We had a recent trip to Murcia flying from LBA with Jet2.com. Here's my review of LBA. I have tried to be as honest as possible.


Drop Off
We caught a SJK taxi to LBA and used the free drop off facility to test it out. Travelling with the family we found it difficult to keep the kids in check and wheel the cases to the terminal. The area looked very undefined and we felt passengers who were not familiar with LBA would find it confusing to get to the terminal. We also felt there was lack of luggage trolley option for those wishing to pay for a trolley.

The presentation of this facility was poor. Overall rating of this facility was 3/10

Hall B Check-in
Check-in was smooth and quick and the staff were polite and friendly. The check-in hall wasn't overly busy.

The presentation of this facility was good. Overall rating of this facility was 8/10

Transit from Hall B Check-in to security

The terminal landside wasn't very busy but it was looking dirty, tired and warn. We all agreed the new "snake" leading to security at the rear of check-in hall A was like a maze and not something you would expect at an airport. We felt it would be extremely confusing for foreign visitors and annoying for business passengers in particular.

The presentation of this facility was poor. 2/10

Transit through Security

Security was moderately busy but we didn't have to queue for any great length of time. We did feel there was insufficient space and it felt hot and stuffy. We felt the security staff were polite, friendly and professional.

The presentation of this area was complicated. 3/10

Airside facilities

The airside facilities were very busy, hot and sticky. The tiled floor "circulation area" looked tired with many tiles broken. Probably caused by such a large number of people using such a narrow walkway? We felt the choice of retail units was reasonably good for an airport of it's size. We felt the number of available seats in the departure lounge was still far too low for the number of flights departing. One of the lifts to the main ground floor gate areas was broken. We boarded using the new walkway. The walkway serves it's purpose well in that it keeps you dry but we still felt it was the wrong kind of facility for an airport. We felt it would send the wrong impression to our international visitors.

The overall presentation of the airside facility was good. 7/10

Arrival back into the UK.

We parked on stand number 10 so we had a short walk to the terminal using the walkway. We climbed the stairway close to the stand 8 airbridge. The stairways were very dirty and scruffy to the point that I was embarrassed to be supporting the growth of Leeds Bradford Airport. The walkway to immigration is far too narrow now with the new glass walls from the gate 9/10 areas. The flooring was bubbling up most of the way down. This does not send the right impression to our international visitors! Immigration was busy but we cleared without any delay. Baggage reclaim was quick and not overly busy.

We were very disappointed with our arrival into Leeds Bradford Airport which was undoubtedly our worst experience at the airport. We used arrow taxis from the front of the terminal. The taxi booking office looks tired and not something you would expect at an international airport. We had to wait for a good ten minutes for our taxi to arrive but the delay wasn't too bad. The taxi got stuck at the automatic barrier for a couple of minutes for whatever reason.

Overall presentation of the arrivals facility very poor. 2/10

If anything Leeds Bradford airport is a victim of it's own success. It has a good range of flights and destinations but the terminal is completely inadequate and desperately needing a major overhaul and expansion if it is to continue to grow.

Our overall rating for LBA was a disappointing 5/10

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Aviador: I have to say you must be very hard to please if you can only give the airport 5/10. You can totally avoid the zig zag, we have on every trip since in place, just walk to the front by the exchange booth.
again 3/10 to use the free drop off, obviously its not going to be in a good location as free, the airport wants the £3, to enable you to walk to the door. Looking at the layout map it was obvious to be never to use this drop off area as we have walking issues.
I just feel that if your giving leeds 50% your going to mark many many other airports at zero.
The warmth in the security area etc, would give airports like malaga a zero as usually the air con switched off, leeds is wonderfully cool in comparison.
The tiles etc and flooring were fine a few weeks back, will look again when we fly out in 10 days.
I have visited Rome, Ibiza, LHR, geneva, malaga, Valencia, Seville, manchester airports in the last year, I would give Leeds higher mark then all these.
For zig zag you need to go to Ibiza, quiter in volume in May and the zig zag is longer then from Jet2 hall to security, it must be 800 yards long and 100 yards deep and you have to walk every yard and we were the only ones in the departure hall..
I could go on about all the other airports relating against your comments e.g. malaga temperature, Rome over an hour from landing to the gate and then another 90 minutes for cases, geneva dont start me on the drop off, manchester the security was an absolute nightmere, we nearly turn round and missed the flight, our grandchioldren were in tears, two hours on the return for our bags.
Leeds for me is fabulous compared to others in Europe.

 

[Seasider]

I know that I was travelling on my own, but when I went through the airport 3 weeks back at 8am, I thought it was a dream.
I parked off-site and bussed in, short walk to Check-in Hall A. Short walk to security and straight through (flying BA) but there was hardly a queue. Through "duty free" and down to my usual spot where I can see out across the apron.
Coming back we were bussed to domestic arrivals and then outside where my bus was waiting to take me back to the car.
I must be very lucky (or travel at quiet times) as I have never had a problem at LBA.

Or, am I easy to please? (people who know me wouldn't agree with the last statement.

 

[Aviador]

I recognise everyone's opinion will be different. I decided to break my comments down so you could see how we rated each location. I felt it would be unfair to give just an overall rating without any justification as to how I came to that conclusion.

I too have had some bad experiences in other airports. LBA is good in comparison but that doesn't mean LBA can't do better. It doesn't take much to keep the place clean for example yet we found LBA to appear quite dirty in comparison to many other airport we have used.

We flew to MJV and although the terminal is small with fewer flights, we found our transit through the terminal to be exceptionally smooth and it's facilities were second to none. I'll write about that airport over the next couple of days in the worldwide section.

View media item 3596Murcia Airport (SJV)

 

[jfy1999]

Which raises the question, why is the new airport at Corvera being prepared if Murcia San Javier is such an excellent facility?

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Spain like Greece got on the E.U. gravy train. We may well see a left wing government in Spain in the elections at the end of this year.
Local papers ask the same questions.
No one knows.

 

[Aviador]

We have airports in the UK that have developed with money from Europe. It's irrelevant and besides the point anyhow.

 

[Seasider]

Which raises the question, why is the new airport at Corvera being prepared if Murcia San Javier is such an excellent facility?

Good question!

 

[Aviador]

Which raises the question, why is the new airport at Corvera being prepared if Murcia San Javier is such an excellent facility?

Good question!

I'm not 100% up on the politics involved with the two airports. What I do know is MJV has a relatively short runway (similar to LBA and BRS) at around 2300m. The airport is primarily a military facility with limited ability to expand to compete with neighbouring Alicante airport.

The new airport at Covera has a runway length of around 3000m which is considered as a "full length" runway with access to the Autovia Murcia. It is situated only 17 miles away from the San Javier airport, it has sufficient land surrounding the airport to expand passenger and cargo facilities.

I have added my review of MJV. If anybody is interested in reading it, it's here

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Re: Leeds Bradford - General Thread

I am writing concerning my recent experience of using LBA. Departures was, once again, pretty good and it is clear that all work that took place a couple of years ago has contributed to a consistently better performance in this department despite looking very ragged and tired in places.

However.

Yet again, (I have written about this numerous times) the arrivals experience was an absolute disgrace.

I have never got angry or fallen out with anyone in an airport before but the appalling performance of the airport tipped me over the edge this time. The queue for immigration (45 minutes) was completely unacceptable and the taxi concession a total joke. How the hell LBA can allow a company like arrow to happily force customers to wait 45 minutes for a taxi (despite there not being a large queue) and then charge them so much is beyond me. If Arrow cannot provide enough cars to deal with passenger numbers, or provide friendly and helpful staff who don't see passengers as an inconvenience, they need to be thrown off the contract and others allowed back in.

I spoke of the issues to a number of people after my trip. All of them said they had had similar experiences and that they were unsurprised that it as so bad.

It is SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH that paying customers are getting such a diabolical service, nor is it good enough that people EXPECT to get such diabolical service.

I have zero faith that the current owners or management team can improve what is fast becoming the biggest stain on our great county. If a football team had performed this badly, their manager would have been sacked years ago and if they want to expand the services they currently offer and increase passenger numbers, IMMEDIATE improvements and/or a total replacement of the management team is required.

 

[lbaspotter]

Re: Leeds Bradford - General Thread

Hope you sent you complain to Arrow Taxi's and not just the airport operating company. As do you realise that if you had walked to the pickup and drop off area you could have ordered your own preferred taxi company whilst you was in that 45 minute cue to immigration instead of waiting around, and you would have saved money and time in the process..

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Re: Leeds Bradford - General Thread

What a disappointing response LBASpotter. What you are suggesting is that, instead of expecting and demanding a better service from LBA, I should use the time I have being inconvenienced to find a service other than the one provided by the airport because it isn't good enough.

It is precisely that sort of pitiful and contemptuous attitude that has led to the arrivals problems that LBA faces. It is not just a one off. Each of the last four occasions I have arrived into LBA, there has been some form of atrocious service. Each time I have complained. Each time I have had a pathetic, limp wristed, corporate response.

But fine, I take your point on board. It is my fault for expecting better. Next time I am experiencing awful service from LBA, I will use the time constructively to find a way to limit the effects of said awful service.

Problem solved.