Leeds Bradford - General Thread

[lbaspotter]

Hi

I,ve just found this interesting artcial on the buisness desk and website which shows the airports financials figures for last year 2010 which have just been released.

Source: http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/261733-volcano-hits-airport-figures.html?

Volcano hits airport figures

LEEDS Bradford International Airport saw its pre-tax losses grow to more than £10m as it was hit by disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano.

However, despite the problems the airport recorded a 5.3% increase in turnover to £21m as passenger numbers grew by 13.5%.

Without the 65,000 passengers lost as a result of the volcanic cloud which stopped flights in Europe in April and May last year, the company said revenue would have grown 7.2%.

The £10m loss for the year to the end of March, compared to £4.7m the previous year, included £3m of exceptional restructuring costs.

The first full year of operations by two Ryanair aircraft based at the airport in addtion to a new flight from easyJet and more Amsterdam services from KLM helped overall passenger numbers grow by 10.9% to 2.8m.

Leeds Bradford recently announced plans to spend £11m on a major upgrade of the airport's terminal facilities that will include a bigger departure lounge and a better variety of shops and bars.

Chief executive John Parkin has said the airport wants to grow passenger numbers to 5m and that shareholders Bridgepoint have earmarked further funds for investment.

Nobody was available at the airport to comment.

 

[Galaxy]

Galaxy what is the name of the programme so I can Sky plus it?

cheers

As far as I know the program title is 'World's Greatest' and this episode will have the subtitle of 'Take offs and landings' but I'm not 100% certain that it won't change between now and then...

 

[tleeds]

Contrasting stories to what we have been told here, compared to that of 'funding shortages' preventing the Passenger walkway being built..!

 

[White Heather]

The turnover might be up, along with passenger numbers, but the loss is up too Tom. I have not been able to say anything about the figures we were shown at the last meeting as they had not been published then. Now they have been and are in the public domain, but they are not making any profit at the present time and that is before the £11m expenditure on the terminal etc. Although there will be some who pour scorn on it, the loss of car parking customers to the nearby off airport car parks, has also hit profits, bearing in mind that 30% of all airport income comes from parking fees. The airport itself costs £29m per year to run and at the moment the income is insufficient to post a profit, particularly when dilapidations are taken into account.

However, Bridgepoint obviously feel that the £11m investment will result in increased profits through more passengers, more income from retail rents, more parking etc, so whatever we all think of them as an organisation, lets hope the plan works and that it quickly leads to further investment.

 

[lbia]

It makes you wonder how much the airport was loosing under council ownership, considering the high labour force that was culled at privatisation.

It really does make you think, the airport can't even make a profit despite the trolley, car park, plastic bag charges etc. The saving grace is that in theory with the extra space, more retail income should be generated.

 

[lbia]

Just to add, pretty shocking to think LBA's annual turnover is the same as the revenue collected by Jet2 every two weeks. I always used to think Jet2 relied on LBA to survive but really it's the other way round!

I'd love to know the airport revenue split from aeronautical income and commercial income.

 

[White Heather]

The airport was, I think, profitable when the council sold it - the arrival of Jet2 brought with it a huge increase in flights, passengers, income etc, but the airport development expenditure was relatively low in the early part of this century, Constructions such as check in hall 2 for Jet2 are pretty cheap and cheerful and only ever intended as short term. I think that is why the councils saw it as the perfect time to sell and make money when the airport was on the up and the future looking rosy. Things have gone downhill since, and some airports have suffered badly. At least LBA is still holding its own, when most other regional airports seem to be swimming against the tide.

As for income split, around 30% comes from aeronautical sources, 30% from parking, 30% from retail and the rest from other sources such as rents etc. As was pointed out forcibly, if LBA loses 10% of its expected parking income, it has to find that 10% from somewhere else, which gives a clue as to why passengers are now paying £2 kiss and fly fee from roughly the same time that the off site car parks won their appeal against planning consent, instantly wiping out a sizeable chunk of income. The daft thing is too that LBA are having to encourage passengers to use public transport as part of the planning requirements, but in reality it is very much to their advantage if passengers arrive by car!

 

[Moo2009]

Merry Christmas to all the forum members

 

[masere]

I'll second that Moo!

 

[Bhowani]

Another 2 letters moaning about LBIA in Wednesdays Yorkshire Post. Both highlight the fact that passengers being dropped off get wet and get charged for the £2 thrill!. They obviously were not in the country when Glasgow got bombed by a person who tried to drive through the doors of the airport building. One correspondent raves about Ringway - do they really think that we would get planning permission for a block like the old Terminal One at MAN where you drive in?
I shall be travelling by hopper 'bus (subsidised by LBA) up there in January to catch my flight and if I get wet, so be it. Viva LBA and A Happy New Year to all !

 

[Aviador]

Just to add, pretty shocking to think LBA's annual turnover is the same as the revenue collected by Jet2 every two weeks. I always used to think Jet2 relied on LBA to survive but really it's the other way round!

I'd love to know the airport revenue split from aeronautical income and commercial income.

Perhaps the airport has got a raw deal with Jet2 if the airline is able to reep the rewards of using LBA and it's catchment but the airport isn't?

On the otherhand it is vital the airport can increase it's percentage earnings from it's retail offering. It will need to pursuade more airlines to opperate through the winter months if it is to maintain enough passenger throughput to enable this to happen.

 

[User0001]

Hi,

think i've upset a few people on the forum. I think I have managed to get across my concerns about LBIA and hopefully I've stirred up a bit of debate?

At the end of the day we all want the best for the airport but we have a wide array of views and opinions on it. I will not be posting any more of my strongly held views but will continue to read the posts regularly. Thanks to all the posters. It's a great forum. :good:

ps Thanks White Heather for all you've done in support of the airport MOT. :good:

 

[Aviador]

Take a chill pill, we all have differing views and the world would be a dull place if everybody was the same. I for one enjoy reading your posts and I am sure others do too.

I am not going to beg you to carry on posting, each to their own. People come and go but I do hope you can bite the bullet and carry on posting.

 

[Aviador]

The problem Leeds Bradford will always have is it will always be the poorer underdog of Manchester airport. Passengers will always compare Leeds Bradford with Manchester airport and Leeds Bradford will always be fighting an uphill struggle to claw back passengers from across the Pennines.

We have to be realistic as to what is achievable. There isn't a bottomless pit of money to be thrown at it. Money isn't forthcoming from landing fees any more. The airport needs to improve it's retail offering to gain a bigger percentage share of income from this area. This can only be achieved by increasing the number of flights in the winter months. Currently there aren't enough passengers using the airport through the winter to sustain many more additional retail units so it's a vicious circle.

 

[White Heather]

LUFC Pete, I have not always agreed with you on the subject of the terminal development or Bridgepoint, but you are not alone - there are others who share your views and disagree with mine, and I don't have a problem with that. As Aviador says, the forum would be dull if everyone agreed on everything. There are times when we need to agree to disagree. I have not been upset by your posts, despite the fact that we are never going to agree on that particular issue. I wish that what you want was viable - but it isn't. I suspect we would both say the same about Uncle Ken Bates opening his wallet and buying some decent players down at ER.

I agree with Aviador in that I hope you continue to make your posts on the forum. For now, Happy New Year to you (and all other forum members) and at least you can start the new year knowing that yet again LUFC managed a last gasp winner against our neighbours from the dark side of the Pennines. Hopefully a turning point although I am not convinced. MOT

 

[pss53]

One thing that really annoys me about LBA is there's no FREE sit and wait area for returning passengers. Amount of times I go to pick up family and get chased away by security guards is disgusting...

I recognize there is a threat with all terrorist actions etc. but LBA are using it as a cash cow...

As far as I'm aware every other airport has a place people can wait for free, even if it's a small walk away from the airport... Surly this should be a suggestion to anyone who works @ LBA on here...

 

[White Heather]

Hi pss53, this is an issue that has been discussed many times before on this forum,

Firstly, you need to understand that LBA does provide free parking in the long stay car park, which is a short walk from the terminal, and you can get a car park mini bus back to the terminal.

Yes you have to pay £2 to go in the drop off zone, and yes if you try to avoid it by parking in the road you will be moved on. Most airports are going down that route now and it is likely that before too long, it will be the same at them all.

It may seem like the airport are ripping us passengers off - and we have become used to airports being a place we can just turn up to and leave without paying - but the fact is that with the arrival of low cost flights, and airlines who pay minimal landing fees (eg Ryanair, Easyjet and Jet2), airports now rely on the money made from retail and parking as much as they do from aviation itself. At LBA, it costs £29m per year to run the airport and 30% of their income comes from parking. Not too long ago, two off site parking companies, who had been trading without planning permission, won an appeal against the refusal of Leeds Council to grant them permission. They are now trading legally and syphoning off a lot of car park income that would otherwise have gone to LBA. The loss of a slice of their future income meant LBA had to find another way of replacing that income, and very quickly the parking fee increased from £1 to £2 in the drop off zone. LBA of course is an airport that relies heavily on low cost airlines, so its income from aviation is not as great as airports such as Manchester or Birmingham, who have premium airlines, paying higher fees.

Its a case of swings and roundabouts - we save money on the air fares, but have to pay £2 each time we go in the drop off zone. Overall, we are far better off that a few years ago, and as I have pointed out regularly, £2 is far less than the combined bus fares for a family or the taxi fare. Personally, I have no problem at all paying it, so long as the airport is developed into one befitting Leeds. If I don't want to pay it, I go in the long stay area for free. Perhaps you were not aware of it, but there are signs (it is in the car park on the left as you enter the airport).

 

[pss53]

Ah I see, apologies I didn't know free parking was available in the long stay areas, i'll go down there from now on...

 

[Seasider]

I think that it is good that there are other off airport car parks otherwise the airport would be able to charge what they want. I always used to use the Airport Car Park until a few years ago when I found I could save up to 30% parking off airport and the shuttle service was better than the airport and quicker (more often).

 

[Jordan-34092]

MP calls for action over Leeds Bradford laser attacks


An MP has demanded answers from the Government about efforts to tackle dangerous laser pen attacks at Leeds Bradford Airport, after new figures revealed high numbers of incidents are continuing, the Telegraph & Argus reports. In 2010, there were almost 100 incidents involving planes taking off and landing at the airport, with some pilots reporting being dazzled and distracted. The figures are set to be similar for 2011, with 80 laser pen attacks recorded up to the beginning of November.

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland said he was concerned about the lack of progress in reducing attacks at the airport. He said. ‘I received assurances from Theresa Villiers MP earlier in the year that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is doing all it can to prevent attacks at Leeds Bradford Airport, including the setting up of a working group on the issue. I will therefore be writing again, highlighting the fact that figures have remained the same and asking what further the department will be doing to tackle the problem and if they will come forward with a plan to address the issue.'

A spokesman for the CAA told the newspaper that the problems at Leeds Bradford were reflected across the country and hit out at the people who are shining the laser pens at planes. He said: ‘Nationally we are not yet seeing any let-up in laser attacks on aircraft. The people who are carrying out these attacks are either still ignorant of the dangers high-powered lasers present to the safe operation of an aircraft, or they simply do not care.'

'Pointing a laser at a plane or helicopter at any time could result in the pilot losing control of the aircraft, endangering the lives of all onboard and also people on the ground. We urge members of the public to report all sightings of green lasers, particularly in the vicinity of an airport, to the police immediately.’

Source