Leeds Bradford - General Thread

[lbaspotter]

Well i have had a look on Jet2's website and they haven't uploaded them yet. The travel agents next door to my work are advertising flights from MAN with Luthansa Via Frankfurt and Emirates Via Dubai. I know the Dubai one is very popular, a colleague of mine flew to Mecca this way, he flew out to Dubai spent 2 days in Dubai before going to Jeddah where he was there for Mecca and he then spend another 4 days in Dubai before coming back to the UK.

Just like to point out that the Hajj services are classed as dedicated specialist charters so they don't show up on either the Jet2.com or Jet2Holidays websites.

This is because the Leeds & Manchester flights are normally only bookable through Bradford based Sky-Fly Connections Ltd. Meanwhile the East Midlands flights are only bookable through Birmingham based PAK Travels Ltd.

 

[tleeds]

Some websites are showing flights back to the UK on the 31st of October also, so I wonder if Jet2 will also be doing this..?

I remember last year when my family went to Spain at October half term some Hajj flights were still operating.. It seems each year they are coinciding closer and closer together..

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi all
tomorrow (thurs) should be the day when (bmi) regional anounce there route changes and new routes,(if its not been put back again) it would very nice if they gave us a aberdeen service that met the oil rig shuttle services for the rig workers.
sm1

 

[tleeds]

Hmm yeah, looks to be one to keep an eye on!

 

[White Heather]

It would be very nice if they gave us Frankfurt, and Copenhagen and Paris and.........well you get the picture, but I can't see it as long as they are using Embraers which in my view are the wrong type of aircraft for the current market conditions.

Anyway, on the subject of Fire Cover (again) according to todays YEP, the proposed alternative site for a new fire station to replace Cookridge and Moortown is on the Ring Road at Weetwood. Its further from the airport, but assuming fire appliances go down the Ring Road to Horsforth, up Low Lane and then via Brownberrie Lane, they should reach LBA in 10 minutes. Thats not going to be much longer than they take from Cookridge, although, if the timing is wrong and there is queuing traffic on the Ring Road and through Horsforth, you can probably double that time.

I guess we can now look forward to having a derelict fire station at the top of Tinshill Lane. That will be nice - not. I can remember it being built! What a waste.

 

[Bigman]

So much for the BMI and FlyBe announcement rumours then.

 

[wawkrk]

Manchester Airport woos wider catchment area including Leeds.

http://www.e-tid.com/manchester-woos-wi ... rea/48189/

 

[lbaspotter]

Manchester Airport woos wider catchment area including Leeds.

http://www.e-tid.com/manchester-woos-wi ... rea/48189/

So they are back up to there old tricks again I see! Well I've got to admit that Manchester Airport have some bloody cheek doing that over here in Leeds of all places,

I hope Leeds/Bradford Airport's management and marketing team know whats happening over here tomorrow and fight back. After all it's in the best interests of the airport to do something to get the local travel trade on there side...

 

[Aviador]

I can't see them being any more successful than they already are. There's no point in preaching to the already converted. In reality, LBA only serves a very small percentage of it's own catchment. Passengers using LBA are the 'die hard's' and they're unlikely to be persuaded to change allegiance. That's my view anyway.

 

[Jordan-34092]

I agree with Mode1 they can sod off, when we went through MAN last year we all felt overwhelmed and the staff were not upto standards, least with LBA they look after there passengers.

 

[airforced]

After experiencing the absolutely horrendous situation of checking in at Terminal 1 (Jet2 I hasten to add) and then joining a seemingly endless queue to go though security a couple of Christmases ago it wouldn't matter how much marketing MAG did as I wouldn't willingly go through MAN again, especially during the morning rush.

Good luck MAG but I'm staying firmly at this side of the hill.

 

[cmj]

I'm not sure what they can do to 'raise awareness' of Manchester airport - it's not like people don't know it's there. It's also got a much wider range of destinations and airlines than Leeds.

While I use LBA where I can even if it means flying via AMS rather than direct, I also use Manchester airport when that's the best option for me. In fact I'm heading out from there in a few weeks (no late afternoon KLM flights from LBA at the weekend), but flying back into Leeds.

As to queues - Leeds can be as bad at times, and up until this year the terminal was rather tired. Last time I went via Manchester I found the security pretty quick.

 

[wawkrk]

LBA has never promoted itself very strongly with travel agents.
I remember a long time ago we went to book some holidays to Malta. The hotel was already decided so the agent did her business looking at all options and informed us, departing from Manchester at blah blah blah.
I said no, we live in Leeds and want to fly from LBA. She said sorry, there are no flights to Malta from Leeds. I said yes there are, she again said no. I told her where to look and she was surprised , she had not heard about it. Then she said, anyway,it's much better to fly from Manchester. I would not be surprised if the situation is the same today.

Leeds City council hates our airport, travel agents don't promote it. BBC Look North love to put the airport down and promote Sheffield and DSA non stop,Voiciferous anti airport one man bands have more influence than the 3m users. Is there anyone in Leeds with any clout who is proud to stand up and promote our city and it's airport.

 

[White Heather]

Agreed wawkrk. Travel Agents have always leaned towards MAN, as there are an excess of seats available from there and they are directed to send passengers to MAN wherever possible. I know this as travel agents have told me that they have to do this, even though they would prefer to market LBA as their local airport. This has been a particular problem with the agents that are owned by the major tour operators. I too have gone into agents and been told that there are no flights from LBA, when in fact there were. Often they were operated by the rival tour operator so rather than be honest and book passengers to fly with them from LBA they have tried to direct them to their own flights from MAN. All the marketing in the world by LBA would not stop that. The only way to stop that is for LBA to have many more seats available, and that is not going to happen - period.

LBA do market themselves more now than at any time I can recall in the past and its obvious that recently they have been quite successful in doing so. The fact that MAN are coming over here trying to get passengers from Leeds shows that their cage has been rattled and they realise that they cannot rest on their laurels. They clearly see the threat from LBA as significant and growing. What I would love to see is LBA going out and marketing themselves agressively in areas such as North Lancashire - the likes of Blackburn, Burnley, Colne, Preston - areas that traditionally use MAN but which have reasonable access to LBA via the A59. There's a lot of people in those areas that can access LBA easily. It would be good to see LBA playing MAN at their own game! A few adverts for LBA and our operators on their bus shelters would go down well too. Come to think of it, what happened to the Jet2 ads on our buses and shelters for this summer? I don't recally seeing any since last winter?

 

[pug]

Nice feature in routes online.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/36/the ... yorkshire/

 

[Jordan-34092]

for those who may be interested.

[textarea]Story of how Leeds Bradford Airport took off is published

The history of Yorkshire’s largest airport comes under the spotlight in a newly-released book.

Leeds-Bradford Airport Through Time traces the story from its early days as Yeadon Aerodrome in the 1930s, through the war years and to the present day.

Regular flights began from the airport in 1935, with a service to Newcastle, Edinburgh and London.

The airfield was used as a shadow factory during the war, and constructed almost 700 Lancaster bombers as well as almost 4,500 Avro Ansons.


Civil flights began again in 1974, and by 1978, regional airport status was granted on condition the runways were extended. The work on this began in 1982 and the new airport opened in 1984, with Wardair flying transatlantic to Canada.

Now in its ninth decade, the airport has continued to grow, with new terminal buildings and hangars.

Leeds-Bradford Airport Through Time is written by Alan Phillips, who was formerly in the RAF and was involved in acquiring exhibits for the RAF Museum in Hendon.

He is a member of the Airfield Research Group and has written several books on aviation.

In his latest tome, Mr Phillips said Yeadon aerodrome was planned from the outset for commercial flying with space for expansion, with 35 acres being acquired for an all-round landing strip and associated buildings.

“Even then some councillors doubted their decisions, as the area needed considerable work done to level the ground and install proper drainage. Being situated on a hill, the area was also prone to bad weather, which continued to plague the airport,” he said.

“Therefore, during the past 80 years or so, the airport has grown from a grassy uneven landing ground to an ultra-modern international airport. With proper investment and support from its owners, the councillors and local inhabitants, the airport will have a beneficial future.”

Leeds-Bradford Airport Though Time is published by Amberley and costs £14.99.[/textarea]

Source

 

[White Heather]

As I have already posted elsewhere, this piece contains an obvious error - civil flying did not commence again in 1974! I suspect it should say 1954.

 

[Bigman]

Off topic here and probably only slightly relevant, but still a bit of a downer. 2 out of the 4 travel agents on Yeadon High Street have closed in the last week, namely Thomsons and Thomas Cook. At least we still have Co-op and Althams.

 

[masere]

The last time I went into a travel agents was 2002 to book a holiday to the US. Since then I've booked every holiday or trip online. Considering the costs of the shops and staff I predict that some time in the near future - maybe 20, 30 years - travel agents shops will cease to exist, with them moving online.

 

[Bigman]

Popped into Althams the other Saturday and it was packed. There are still a lot of people who are not web-wise and would rather go into a shop and have someone else do all the donkey work.

Like you say though, what it will be like 20 years down the line is a different matter.

I think it is ironic though that just as we get a good Thomson's presence back at LBA they chop the local shop.