Leeds Bradford - General Thread

[oldendays]

White Heather. I haven't flown from Leeds Bradford for nine years but I am an airport employee and I totally agree with your comments regarding the terminal. It has had it and should have been replaced years ago by a new, bigger (easily expandable) building where you said, on the car park site. I've been saying this for years so we appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet. One snag, apart from the cost, is ATC. A new tower would be needed and I really don't know where on the airfield would be a suitable site. It might be possible to retain and refurbish the existing tower and demolish the current terminal around it but I guess that would be more expensive than building a new tower. Personally, I think it would be a sad day if the existing tower had to go. Apart from the secondary glazing on the top and the addition of the glazed radar room in 1984, it's about the only part of the airport that hasn't changed over the years. As control towers go, it is quite distinctive.

 

[White Heather]

Thanks Aviador, I did enjoy Tenerife, despite some rather iffy weather. Oldendays, thanks for your comments. The more I see of the terminal the more I think it is really just an inadequte hotch potch of add-ons. I don't know how staff even find their way around it. Quite simply, the building has insufficient depth for a modern terminal. The overpowering feeling in there is one of being cramped, especially when it is busy. There really isn't the space, for example, to build a baggage reclaim area that is anywhere near big enough for the flights we now have. Two flights in there and it is packed and uncomfortable. Three is hopeless. I suspect that they rely on the queue at border control to limit the numbers in baggage re-claim. Although there are the plans to extend the present terminal, I honestly think that is also inadequate and does too little. A new terminal on the lower level of the car park would not only provide a facility to take the airport forward but provide an opportunity to greatly enhance the apron at the NW end - also badly needed. A few more stands at the SE end plus what could be built on the site of the current terminal would probably give LBA in excess of 30 stands.

The lie of the land is ideal for a split level terminal - arrivals downstairs, departures on the upper level. The tower is something of an icon but to me doesn't look up to the present day standards. Having visited it on several occasions and walked up those very steep steps, I don't see that it meets todays H&S standards either, so for me, a new one is required. The modern towers are much higher and give a better overall view of the airfield, although i can't help but think that at LBA if it is too high, the ATC won't see much except low cloud on many occasions!

I just hope that Bridgepoint have realised that they have underestimated what is required and realise now that the terminal is a lost cause. I am not holding my breath though.

 

[oldendays]

I suppose any new ATC tower would need to be at least as high as the present incumbent but not so high as to be in the clouds when it descends (ground movement radar please !) and ideally to the east of the current site to allow improved visuals over the east and south east area of the airfield. That would put it in our preferred site for a new terminal. Two birds, one stone.

 

[radar]

The south side would be a better place for an (entirely hypothetical!) new tower, north-facing towers are more ideal in the northern hemisphere.

 

[Aviador]

White Heather

I agree with everything you have said 100%, as I believe mostly everybody else on here will too. I think the important thing here is we all recognise Bridgepoint or whoever may take on the airport in the future has a mammoth task ahead to achieve what is required of them. The Yeadon site is not perfect and we all know this, but it is still the best location to achieve increased air services for the region and it will still be cheaper to achieve what is required at the Yeadon site than building a completely new airport somewhere else.

 

[JakeS]

I agree with what's been said regarding a new terminal completely and posted this elsewhere a while ago:

If money was no object and multimillions were invested my new LBA terminal pipe dream would run parallel from stand 9 to 18 in a similar design to Cork's terminal. The two teir elevations where car parks and stands are would be perfect for a lower arrivals hall (bellow stand level) and 1st floor departure hall (at stand level). Thus from a planning permission perspective the terminal wouldn't look particularly tall as it utilises the shape of the land. You could even have the potential for an airbridge for most stands. Granted car parking would suffer during the build but when the current terminal be demolished this land would be turned into car parking and original stand space be retained. One can dream.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Some of us have discussed before on Forums4Airports how many similarities (many giving rise to physical challenges) exist between LBA and Bristol Airport (BRS).

Terminal design could be another. BRS's new terminal completed in 2000, and since extended, is built into the side of a hill so that the landside level profile presents a two storey building whereas the airside level presents a single storey one, albeit a mezzanine floor does effectively give two levels above the landside ground floor.

The Departures check-in is on the ground floor but after that all other Departures facilities and procedures are on the first and mezzanine floors.

Arrivals go down stairs or lifts to the ground floor where all Arrivals facilities and procedures are situated.

This is broadly what some posters are suggesting for LBA.

BRS is part through a £150 million terminal/infrastructure expansion.

http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-u ... our-future

 

[oldendays]

Thanks for the link Yokel. Just the sort of thing Leeds Bradford needs.

 

[rmac]

Thanks Yokel. Bristol must be similar to Edinburgh. Regarding LBA I had wondered if the new owners would plan for a new terminal as suggested in previous posts, ie using the space down from Stand 8/9. If built out over the existing car park it would lend itself to having a section undercover for buses taxis etc and a ramp up to a new departures entrance and arrivals exit.
Maybe some of or all of the existing terminal could be turned over for Domestic flights and adapted as needed with the possibility of the 'new terminal' being extended further eastwards as funds were available. A multi-storey car park would be useful at the back of the 'new ' terminal if built, such as at Aberdeen.

 

[Aviador]

This rather irritating comment appeared in the Doncaster Star. The annoying thing is, it might turn out to be true if LBA continues to stagnate.

The city region’s airport just turned 10 years old, and with the opening of the Sheffield-Doncaster link road in January next year, Doncaster-Sheffield Airport is looking to soar past Leeds-Bradford within just five years.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/what-s-on/star ... -1-7340459

 

[lbaspotter]

This rather irritating comment appeared in the Doncaster Star. The annoying thing is, it might turn out to be true if LBA continues to stagnate.

You must be winding yourself up over nothing Aviador. I wouldn't say annoying, as that is just not going to happen at DSA, even though they got a load of money from Europe and past coalition Government to build an airport and that new link road. Just a local paper bigging up the place .

Just you wait for when the now funded A65-A658 link road building starts.

 

[Aviador]

You're right. Let's hope the Leeds Ring Road dualing goes ahead at the same time to improve things even further.

 

[Nordmann]

Re: [JUST JOINED US ?] Introduce yourself here...

Hi everyone, moving back to Yorkshire after 25 years abroad and already so disappointed by the business service from LBA...well quite simply there isn't any...
Which business destinations would be the most popular from LBA...Copenhagen? Leipzig? Vienna? :s_dunno ??? What does everyone think?

 

[Aviador]

Re: [JUST JOINED US ?] Introduce yourself here...

Hi everyone, moving back to Yorkshire after 25 years abroad and already so disappointed by the business service from LBA...well quite simply there isn't any...
Which business destinations would be the most popular from LBA...Copenhagen? Leipzig? Vienna? :s_dunno ??? What does everyone think?

Welcome to Forums4airports Nordmann! I've moved your post into the LBA General thread given you've posted an LBA related question.

It's a difficult question. I would say out of the destinations you've suggested, I would say Vienna. Copenhagen has been tried unsuccessfully, not necessarily because the route wont work from Leeds, probably more likely the airline and their flight times and price structure.

 

[jfy1999]

Scandinavian destinations traditionally perform poorly from the UK. BHX and MAN have seen significant cuts in recent years.
But Vienna is also a strange one too as Manchester has only just got Austrian flights there. I don't know if Easyjet go to Vienna but if it is an ideal business route then more UK airports should have it.
Instead Austrian seem to be content just to fly to Innsbruck from the regions.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Scandinavian destinations traditionally perform poorly from the UK. BHX and MAN have seen significant cuts in recent years.
But Vienna is also a strange one too as Manchester has only just got Austrian flights there. I don't know if Easyjet go to Vienna but if it is an ideal business route then more UK airports should have it.
Instead Austrian seem to be content just to fly to Innsbruck from the regions.

easyJet's only UK route to Vienna at the moment is from Gatwick. However, from the coming autumn they will also operate to Vienna from Manchester, Luton and Bristol.

 

[jason1-11]

Re: [JUST JOINED US ?] Introduce yourself here...

Hi everyone, moving back to Yorkshire after 25 years abroad and already so disappointed by the business service from LBA...well quite simply there isn't any...
Which business destinations would be the most popular from LBA...Copenhagen? Leipzig? Vienna? :s_dunno ??? What does everyone think?

We are the UK’s 3rd largest city depending how you calculate the numbers / area covered etc, but have only 2 business friendly international routes: Amsterdam and Dublin. Pretty shocking really.

Required urgently: Paris with an AF code share, Frankfurt with and LH code share, Brussels and Copenhagen at decent times, but with minimal investment, can’t see any of them happening in the short term. Prove me wrong LBA!

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Truthfully for business travel LBA has always been impossible to use until my retirement 3 years ago.
Looking to today there is an improvement as I could do the States via Dublin, when in the past I did Manchester - Shannon and then New York. My daughter can now leave LBA Monday morning and be working Monday afternoon in New York.
We know have the LHR link to open up all the BA routes round the world, which were not available, until a couple of years ago.
You have as stated Amsterdam and Paris are existing hubs.
I always found Frankfurt to be a great hub, whether it can be a route as such from LBA not sure. madrid again for me a great hub for South America and also a city break could be possible and Dubai for a Asia and Hong Kong hub and holiday destination, certainly I know a great many West Yorkshire folk who now go via Dubai to Asia now our LBa direct link halted.

 

[jfy1999]

Leeds Bradford-General Thread

Required urgently: Paris with an AF code share, Frankfurt with and LH code share, Brussels and Copenhagen at decent times, but with minimal investment, can’t see any of them happening in the short term. Prove me wrong LBA!

Are those routes that Jet2 could look into? Do Jet2 fly to Paris?

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Its pointless Jet2 operating these routes, as previously stated, they need to have the onward carriers flight code to attract connecting pax.