Leeds Bradford - General Thread

[lbaspotter]

We have decided to go to Austria on holiday this year-staying near Salzburg. We need flight only, so I was thinking about Friedrichshafen, but does anyone know if its possible to book flight only to Friedrichshafen or Innsbruck for that matter? Otherwise its going to be Manchester im afraid!

Think you can book flight only on the weekly Austrian Airlines Leeds - Innsbruck charter service via Inghams Hoildays. It might be worth contacting them as if I remember correctly you'll need to book over the phone as flight only option is not available on there website...

Not sure about the Leeds - Friedrichshafen flight. Again it might be worth contacting the charter company involved Omega Holidays...

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Thanks lbaspotter. I wiil give Inghams a try. I spoke to Omega Holidays about Friedichshafen but they said they only had one flight (in july) this year!

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Inghams wont sell seats on the Austrian Aitlines flights. Looks like i will have to go to Manchester.

 

[Seasider]

They want to sell the whole package so will not sell flight only. They are a holiday company and as such do not normally sell seat only.

 

[Aviador]

First ever Career Recruitment Fair at Leeds Bradford® Airport takes off!

Tuesday 16th February 2016: Leeds Bradford Airport will be hosting a Career Recruitment Fair on
Saturday 12th March to showcase the range of job opportunities on offer at the airport in 2016.
The airport will be teaming up with over 12 business partners providing prospective candidates the
chance to find out more about the different roles available and the skills and qualifications required.
Around 2,500 people are employed at Leeds Bradford Airport, which handles over 3.4 million
passengers per annum, but with planned traffic growth additional staff will be required across the airport
in 2016.This career recruitment fair will therefore provide a one stop shop for anyone interested in
working at LBA.

Major companies exhibiting will be Jet2.com alongside the airport’s handling agent, Swissport. The
airport itself will be looking for new employees in security, retail and customer service whilst a number
of commercial partners including SSP, Superdrug, Flightcare, car hire providers and World Duty Free
will be searching for sales, administration and catering staff.

Additional roles on offer will cover passenger services, cabin crew, ticket desk staff, waiters, drivers,
food, beverage and retail assistants. In addition to temporary roles a number of fixed term seasonal
contracts commencing in April until the end of October 2016 will be available.

Tatjana Walker, Leeds Bradford Airport's Head of Passenger Services said:
"As one of the largest employers in the region Leeds Bradford Airport is reaching for the skies and
looking for the stars of the future. We are expecting significant interest in the Career Recruitment Fair
and we look forward to welcoming job seekers to join us to talk to companies and find out more about
the opportunities available at the airport in 2016."

The Career Recruitment Fair will be held at Leeds Bradford Airport in the main Terminal building
on Saturday 12th March 2016, from 10:00 until 14:00. Free parking for duration of the fair will be offered
on the day to all of those who attend within our Free One Hour Car Parking Zone.

To find out more and to register your attendance, please visit leedsbradfordairport.co.uk/recruitment

Official Press Release

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi all
have been told that the airport could start the footings for the terminal extension soon,this work if it starts will just be to keep the planing application from lapsing,it was first applied for in 2008.
regards
sm1 :drinks:

 

[lbaspotter]

hi all
have been told that the airport could start the footings for the terminal extension soon,this work if it starts will just be to keep the planing application from lapsing,it was first applied for in 2008.
regards
sm1 :drinks:

Snowman1 I actully I think the work you mention above has already started as building contractors have been on site over the winter. Saw a post that a piling rig was seen on site drilling and some Concrete may have already been poured.

 

[White Heather]

It has already been done. I confirmed that last week. Planning approval is now secure as they have effectively started the extension. Now we just need them to build the bit above ground!

 

[lbaspotter]

the long awaited Leeds-Bradford Airport Masterplan has been published and now available to view on the airports website here:

http://www.leedsbradfordairport.co.uk/a ... aign=march

 

[JakeS]

the long awaited Leeds-Bradford Airport Masterplan has been published and now available to view on the airports website here:

http://www.leedsbradfordairport.co.uk/a ... aign=march

Beat me to it. :s_thumbsup

 

[White Heather]

The Masterplan was launched at 1pm. I have set up a separate thread for the Masterplan and the inevitable discussions surrounding it.

 

[Aviador]

Leeds Bradford Airport has been named the best in the UK for on-time flights. It's something we should probably be shouting about given the airport gets such bad press for being "up in the clouds".

 

[White Heather]

It is the 2nd time in a row that LBA has won this award, against a backdrop of worsening performance at most airports. I guess we should note however that the two awards cover 2015, Quarters 2 and 3 - when LBA weather is at its kindest. It will be interesting to see how it fares for quarter 4 of 2015 and quarter 1 of 2016. I must make a note to watch out for the next press release, which would be a hat=trick of successes. And if we get the award again for the 4th quarter, despite all the weather, it will truly be amazing!

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi all
just noticed norwegian are to start man to malaga/alicante/faro this summer,headline fares in
at £39-99p,yet more competition on the sun routes out of man.
sm1

 

[scottrhino]

Hi Snowman

Thanks for the info. I can't help thinking with all that is happening at Manchester it will eventually choke itself and we will benefit. I might be slightly naive but from all accounts very few stands are free, planes often sit on the tarmac for push back or to have a stand made available. Like the other week with the de icing they weren't able to cope.

Hopefully, if the masterplan is to be believed, then we can get some extra stands but also fill the midday gaps we might benefit. Certainly the experience of flying needs to be a happy one so with the M62 often congested, the airport packed to capacity and waiting times etc people will realise that perhaps the Leeds experience isn't that bad.

I had to pick my wife up from the Easyjet Basle flight a few weeks ago. Not many arrivals but yet it took 40 minutes to disembark and a further 20 minutes for the luggage. I'd be home having a cuppa if it was available from Leeds!!

 

[User001]

Slightly off topic but want to respond to the above post...

Just intrigued as to how you think MAN will choke itself?

There is a stand issue currently in terms of based units, however There is more than ample capacity outside of the peaks, and that's exactly what Norwegian have done with the 3 new routes from Manchester.

There will be 6-8 more stands available this summer as the last of the apron currently under the staff west car park are being made available for aircraft again. This will alleviate some issues in the stand capacity part.

You say waits of 1 hour is an issue that will put people off? Firstly MAN is an airport of 23m pax, while LBA is about 3.5m. when MAN is dealing with nearly 8 times the volume of LBA, it's pretty unreasonable to expect no or little queueing. If queues put you off an airport, I suggest you never visit the USA. It's not uncommon to wait up to 3 hours just to get through security. I've experienced that level of queuing at Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas and JFK to name a few. 1 hour is not bad in my opinion, not on 23m pax volume.

Lastly, you point out that the LBA master plan could add some stands and seem to imply that those stands could give LBA an advantage, but I suppose the £1billion expansion of MAN that will eventually add circa 25-30 stands once completed fully just escaped your mind?

All of these issues on waiting, age of airport, stands are about to be dealt with in a drastic and huge way. For those complaining that MAN sucks up a lot of air travel from the northern regions now, I can tell you, with brand new facilities, new stands, new security areas, extra perks like US PBC, and that £1billion investment to pay off, you ain't seen nothing yet.

 

[scottrhino]

Thanks for your feedback on my post User 001

I have said before on this forum that some people are better informed than me on some matters. I am fully aware that there are large facility improvements at Manchester ongoing and for sure they are going to have a much larger customer base than we will ever have.

My point on waiting was on a very quiet Sunday evening. I have also been at Manchester and waited for 2/3 hours to get through security in the morning and I have also been to the states so I am aware of their delays. If Manchester is 8x larger then surely the facilties are 8x larger meaning they run just as efficiently at Manchester as they do Leeds.

For sure there are going to be delays at larger establishments but I was merely pointing out that some people may prefer a less hassle approach and fly from Leeds. That then said we have the opportunity to exploit this by providing more services. It could also be argued that with so many airlines operating against each other on certain routes out of Manchester they either walk away or could see Leeds as an attractive option.

Look I am not here to agree/disagree with you I merely posted the fact that with all the expansion and the fact that airlines will fill these stands leaves the airport filled to capacity. That won't be next year or the year after possibly but at some point, like Heathrow, it will reach its natural peak and perhaps, only a perhaps, LBIA might benefit accordingly. This isn't fact it's just my viewpoint which we are all entitled to put an opinion forward.

 

[User001]

I do see your point that sometimes smaller is better in terms of ease of use.

For security, yes, the search areas are bigger to accommodate more passengers, the issue is, it doesn't automatically mean security area is 8 times bigger, and also, you can plan for certain things, but, it can be the passengers themselves that slow things down.

Outbound, the majority of delays are caused by people only removing coats, things from bags and other items once they get to the trays, instead of planning ahead by taking off coats etc in the queue. Not saying there is a right or wrong way to do it, but, it does slow things down.

In terms of individual delays, obviously it's subjective and can only be assessed knowing all the information, but, hand on heart, the longest it has taken me from off runway to outside arrivals is 2.5 hours, and that was a pure one off and we had arrived behind the EK A380, 3 Thomas Cook A321/B757, a Lufthansa A321, 3 Jet2 and a Swiss A320. With so many non-EU nationals, queues were going to happen and I knew nothing could have been done better.

Best time was 11 minutes from off runway to outside T3 on a domestic, so, shows its all swings and roundabouts.

The thing to always ask, if LBA was the airport handling 23m currently, would it be the pleasant experience it is now? I very much doubt it, as the rule of thumb means that more passengers=more aircraft=more things likely to go wrong.

Is Manchester perfect? Not by a long shot. Is Leeds perfect? I doubt it is. However, you have to judge what is best for you as a traveller, and if waiting times are an issue, then the larger airports in general are best avoided, as it doesn't matter how much you invest in queue busting infrastructure, it will only work as well as the passengers going through it.

I'm not here to say that MAN is the infinitely better airport, just answer/cross examine some of the ideas put forward. Leeds does a fine job serving its local area, and like most airports across the UK, has its issues but overall, we would all like our local airport to be the best, it's natural and it's what stimulates good debate.

 

[scottrhino]

All a bit depressing at the moment with airline news at lbia. MAN and BHX have news daily on either new routes, increased frequency or aircraft upgrades.

I know the winter schedule is increasing but if you consider the tourism, headquarters for large companies, industries and overseas students to name but a few surely we can muster some German and Scandinavian routes.

If you ignore Eastern Europeans returning from their homeland I just wonder what percentage of UK vs Overseas Visitors pass through LBIA.

MAN announced an increase in flights to Copenhagen and aircraft size again.....surely with the right airline we could see a CRJ on the route. Even Humberside has managed that today!!!!!

 

[GolfFox]

It does seem odd that the European business market appears to be largely ignored. The SAS Copenhagen flight was timed - it appears - to attract Danish leisure travelers but was useless for business travelers in either direction. Although 'point to point' services can be valuable to some destinations, the ones most likely to succeed to my mind are the ones offering connections. If the SAS flight had been a twice daily with worldwide onward connections through Copenhagen I'll wager it would have had more of a chance of success. The 'old' Sabena Brussels service was a classic example which I used many times and was very well supported. The current KLM & BA services to the world via Amsterdam and LHR are others.
The problem we seem at to have at LBA is that airlines are expanding their capacity for business travelers at Manchester to meet demand and probably see no reason to speculate on new services from the other side of the Pennines. As long as the punters are prepared to travel to Manchester from east of the Pennines I can see why they don't. It must be difficult for smaller airlines without code share/connection facilities to open business routes to many destinations on a 'point to point' basis