Airport Consultative Committee [Questions & Responses]

[Aviador]

I would like to include myself in thanking you for the excellent update. It would appear the airport is very keen to answer all the questions people have asked on here which is much appreciated even if the answers aren't necessarily what everybody wants to hear.

Would you mind placing any future responses from the Committee in the Consultative Committee Thread so people can use it as a reference?

I would also like to share seasons greetings and wish everybody a nice Christmas and a happy New Year!

 

[a300boy]

The problem for me is there is no intention or plan for Lbia to be developed to the status of airfield I hoped it might achieve. I cannot argue the problems we have are difficult to fix but it would seem we are now going to have to make the most of what we have at least during the present tenure. Not unreasonable but disappointing nevertheless, maybe the improved train link to Manchester is what we will all have to get used to and accept.

 

[tleeds]

I've been away from the forum for quite some time now but intend to use it more often.

White Heather, once again a great write-up, and effectively gave me my update in one post of what has been going on.

Re the buses, didn't the airport say that a York bus route was never going to work not so long ago?? I suppose now, like you said, with SAS arriving that changes everything, and I suppose a lot has changed massively for the airport over the last 18months-2years!

 

[Moo2009]

Any updates from the match meeting?

 

[Aviador]

Match or March?

 

[White Heather]

[Questions & Responses]

Here is an update from yesterday's Consultative Committee meeting.

Passenger figures have shown only small increases in April and May and will be more or less flat this year - described as a year of consolidation. A further increase in passengers is forecast for 2015 although the reasons for that forecast were not disclosed. The main reason for the figures being flat is the loss of the Flybe Southampton route and going forward, the loss of the PIA route. A slight reduction this year by Ryanair has been offset by an increase from Monarch. There has been a 6% increase in package tour passengers due to high booked loads on Thomson flights.

Further airside developments/improvements to take place over the winter, in readiness for Summer 2015. I suspect that this may include actions to resolve the issues relating to the steps and escalator on arriving at the terminal, but that is a guess.

Confirmed SAS Copenhagen route to continue through winter, with better, mid afternoon flights, significantly increasing connectivity throughout Northern Europe and Scandinavia.

Confirmed Monarch operating to Barcelona twice weekly from February 15 and Las Palmas from November 14 - but this replaces Larnaca which was not a success last winter. Also confirmed Ryanair are pulling the Malta flight this winter. They have not indicated whether it will return for the summer. However, Riga will be back and the intention is to ensure it becomes a year round route.

LBA are currently working with an un-named airline regarding the imminent introduction of a new winter route.

LBA expect new business and leisure routes for summer 2015

Contrary to rumour, Jet2 have made no final decision on the routes that are not yet on sale, ie: La Rochelle, Toulouse and Olbia. (Some may recall Olbia was late going on sale last year but it did in the end and we ended up with our own flight instead of a shared flight with EDI).

LBA, and various stakeholders are working hard behind the scenes to get PIA back to LBA and if they won't come, another airline to replace them. The PIA operation was confirmed to be suspended and the airline have indicated that in the future, they may well return. No reasons given why the 777 didn't appear as promised or why PIA didn't use it rather than suspending the route. It was confirmed that passenger numbers were up 20% and yields up by a two digit percentage in the past year, so at the time the route was ended, it was at its most successful for the airline. Ironic.

New York - remains a target route for the business users, but it would definitely be a US carrier and currently they are generally not into expansion into smaller regional airports. This may change. Toronto also a target, and this would be a Canadian carrier. This was described as more likely to happen than New York in the next few years. It was also confirmed that Zoom were to operate LBA to Toronto in 2009 if they hadn't gone bust first. It would have been Bridgepoint's 2nd new route following their takeover of LBA

Masterplan - ongoing. NB: The Government White Paper of 2003 (I think) said the Masterplan should be revised every 7 - 10 years. LBA's was produced in 2005-6. The revised Masterplan will be completed this year. However, Bridgepoint are giving nothing away as to what will be in it or when it might happen. What is clear is that they will only spend large amounts on infrastructure when the time comes when it is needed.

As posted elsewhere, they have spent £0.75 million on a new car park with 500 more spaces. These became available to LBA for use today. Also, the small midi buses used on the car park shuttles are to be replaced by a fleet of 11m long standard sized buses. New routes to be introduced with buses not operating into parking areas - they will operate on access roads, with new bus shelters provided and gaps to enable passengers to easily access the bus shelters. Shuttle buses will be more frequent and have considerably greater capacity. Passengers using them will be dropped off right at the kerbside outside the terminal.

Relating to specific questions about aircraft stands - yesterdays meeting was taken by Tony Hallwood for the first time. His responses were identical to those previously given by John Parkin. Suggestions that the airport is being held back by a lack of parking stands are incorrect and a fallacy. No airline has indicated a wish to base more aircraft at LBA with the result that there are insufficient stands. If that happens, the stands will be built, quickly. They are not about to lose business over it, but equally they are not about to spend millions in the hope that someone will then opt to use them.

LBA are to introduce a meet and greet car park service, enabling customers to be met at the terminal, drop off their car there and their car will then be parked for them. Airport staff parking is to move to dedicated areas and will not be within the public car park areas from this month.

A new track keeping system has been introduced at significant cost, which enables LBA to accurately monitor off track departures and show exactly where they flew. This is a great success and track keeping is now the best on record, with no complaints.

During the Tour de France, arrivals and departures may operate unusual flight paths to avoid coming into proximity with various helicopters and fixed wing aircraft following the Tour.

That's all. Don't shoot the messenger please. I am posting what was said by the Operations Director, and I cannot tell you any more than this.

 

[SNOWMAN]

hi white heather
thanks for take the time to put out what went on at the meeting and please keep on posting the info I for one have missed your reports.
regards
sm1 :yahoo:

 

[Moo2009]

Hi Heather

Thank you for the update

 

[752]

Excellent update White Heather!

It does sound quite positive which is encouraging!

'LBA are currently working with an un-named airline regarding the imminent introduction of a new winter route.'

Any guesses of who this could be and where?

Easyjet?
SAS?

 

[White Heather]

My guess would be Easyjet, but he gave no clues at all. I don't think it will be SAS as last time they said they would not be pursuing any other routes with them until Copenhagen was established.

 

[lbaspotter]

Could be the Turkish based charter/scheduled airline Pegasus or even Turkish Airlines themselves!

We know it was recently reported that Pegasus were looking at operating an Istanbul service into a Northern UK Airport. Leeds/Bradford was said to be in contention along with both Manchester and Liverpool Airports earlier this year. Maybe the airport management have made Pegasus an offer they can't refuse which the other 2 competing airports can't match....

Even better would be if the Airport management have been able to do deal with Turkish Airlines. A well timed 3/4 weekly Boeing 737 service would seriously open up a whole load more worldwide connections via there Istanbul hub. They are also another Star Alliance partner (along with SAS) and I understand it has a codeshare agreement with PIA. So in theory could offer a one-stop service to Pakistan without the risk of PIA having to use a large wide bodied Boeing 777 aircraft.

 

[White Heather]

You could be right - I hope so. However, they did say 'winter route' and Istanbul would be all year round. At the previous meeting I mentioned Pegasus to LBA as it was shortly after that statement you refer to and they looked surprised, so either they had not been in contact with the airline or they were trying to avoid having to comment. They must have seen what we saw anyway, but Bridgepoint are very good at keeping 'Commercial in Confidence' very confidential. So I guess we will all have to wait and see.

 

[White Heather]

For anyone interested, I attended the latest Airport Consultative Committee meeting yesterday (11th September). The meeting was taken by the new Airport Operations Director, Simon Whitby, who has just joined LBA 5 weeks ago, having spent the last 30 years working at East Midlands Airport.

Unfortunately, in terms of information provided, the meeting was disappointing and I learned very little that I didn't already know.

One interesting point was relative to the Masterplan - there was an acknowledgement that this seemed to be taking forever and all we ever got was an update, but with no detail. It was stated that the problem is that the next Masterplan is to include all future access developments to the airport. LBA are therefore in constant discussion with the local authorities, Leeds City Council in particular, regarding what they have in mind with regard to road developments to the airport. Obviously, the potential rail links are also under discussion - both the provision of a parkway station on the Harrogate line, and the tram train option, which it has to be said is looking like something for the distant future. So, although there is much work going on with regard to the Masterplan behind the scenes within LBA, the draft will not be published until the airport, council, Metro etc are all agreed on the way forward and are singing off the same hymn sheet. There are known dates for specific responses and it was confirmed that the draft should be ready for publishing by the end of this year, at which point it will go out for public consultation. It was stressed however that LBA are currently waiting for responses from the council(s) and to a degree, progress is out of their hands at the moment.

On the subject of passenger numbers, it was confirmed that LBA are, over the current year, running at around 1.8% behind last year. I made the point that the majority of other airports were reporting significant increases in passengers this year, although admittedly on the back of decline in recent years, but I asked if this was something that worried LBA management. Simon Whitby appeared un-concerned and made a statement that he was quite confident that by the end of the fiscal year, LBA passengers would be higher than last year. Make of that what you will.

It was confirmed that the 1 hour free parking in the long stay car park area, not far from the terminal, is now open, signposted and available for use. Nobody has any grounds to moan about the £2 drop off charge now if they are able bodied as there is a free alternative nearby which is a very short walk to the terminal - or there is the bus.

I asked about the damage to the Runway 14 ILS antenna and when it would be operational. The new kit is ordered but there is a 6 week manufacture period then shipping from Germany. The kit being installed is aluminium, rather than fibre optic, and gives better performance and is also more adaptable. Apparently this would make it more 'do-able' to move the touch down point on 14 back towards the threshold, although this would mean a change to the glideslope to maintain clearance over the chevin. I then asked about the likelihood of them doing something similar at the 32 end to prevent aircraft landing on the downslope. The response, whilst not confirming that anything was planned, was more positive than I expected, and it was confirmed to be 'something they would like to do'. However, it was also confirmed that it would be very expensive. I did however, get the impression that there may be signs that LBA are more receptive to the advantages of making such changes than in the past. It will be interesting to see if there is anything in the Masterplan relating to this, because clearly any change in glideslopes would require consultation. The 14 ILS is expected to be installed and ready for air testing in November and once that is done, will be operational within 24 hours. However, they were hopeful that this schedule will be brought forward and they are very much aware of the impact that a non operational ILS could have on LBA as the weather conditions deteriorate.

After the meeting, a number of us were taken on a tour of the airfield, using one of the airport's airside Optare coaches. It was extremely interesting to see the airfield from 'out there' and to see just how wide that runway actually is! The tour took in the full length of the runway, Multiflight apron, and the newest apron area used mainly by Jet2. After that we were taken to the tower, for a presentation in the radar room and the tower itself, then to security where we were given a presentation on the scanning equipment. It was also confirmed that LBA has now been instructed to install one body scanner in the near future. During the tour we passed through the main terminal area and it was virtually empty at that time (5pm). That in itself highlights the problem that LBA faces - some very high peaks in traffic when the terminal struggles and some very deep troughs, where every passenger could happily lay down across 4 seats without leaving anyone standing.

Sorry there isn't anything more, but as we know, LBA will not spill the beans over anything that is Commercial in Confidence, so despite the question being asked, there was nothing forthcoming on the future of Monarch operations from LBA, or anything else relating to route development, other than the 'old' news relating to Aer Lingus and Flybe.

 

[Aviador]

Thank you for your detailed and informative reply White Heather.

It's good to hear the airport is at least warming to the idea of moving the threshold. Rome wasn't built in a day so I would never expect to see anything happen quickly with this but at least they are acknowledging the possibility of dealing with it at a future date.

 

[lbaspotter]

As always thankyou for the update White Heather. Your time and effort as always is very much appreciated by myself and I bet for others on here too.

 

[Aviador]

Hi White Heather,

I seem to recall reading one of your posts saying the long awaited masterplan was expected to be release during November. Do you know if this is still the case?

 

[White Heather]

I don't know Aviador sorry. It wouldn't surprise me if it has slipped back to the new year now, as progress is now dependent upon the council too. At least we know that when it does appear, what is in it, will be supported by the council and not opposed. All the negotiations with the council have certainly slowed it up though. There is a Consultative Meeting next month so hopefully there will be an update then.

All very frustrating. Lets hope its worth the wait!

 

[lbaspotter]

Hope you don't mind me asking White Heather, how did the Airport Consultative Meeting go last week?

Were there any new updates regarding the Airports long awaited revised Masterplan or the recent results from the government review regarding the surface transport links, Also any updates as to why these second hand per-fabricated cabins have been acquired on the cheap.

Thanks in advance....

 

[White Heather]

Hi lbaspotter, no I don't mind you asking at all. How did the meeting go? Well, it went out the window actually, as it was cancelled. I received a letter from the chair confirming it had been cancelled - no reason given - and re-scheduled to January. It did say in the letter that at that revised meeting, there would be a presentation re the Masterplan, so I am not sure if it has been postponed to enable this to be drafted or for another reason. I will, of course, provide a full update after the meeting which is now around the middle of January if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[White Heather]

Despite the snow and freezing fog, the Consulative Committee meeting went ahead on Tuesday, although it has to be said that very little was provided by LBA that we didn't already know. There was a good debate over the surface access strategy (road link from A65 and rail link options), but very little else.

The bad news is that once again, nothing was provided other than a brief update on the Masterplan. The gist of this was that the draft is at an advanced stage and with Leeds City Council. You may remember I did mention on here that the intention was that this time, the Masterplan would be seen as a document that both LBA and leeds City Council are signed up to. Because of this, its preparation may take longer, but it should be time well spent as it may well avoid planning issues further down the line.

The good news is that LBA advised that they intend to call an extraordinary Consultative Meeting towards the end of February at which they will present the draft Masterplan and take us through the proposals. That will be the start of the required public consultation process. I will of course provide what information I can after that meeting - assuming that there is no embargo placed on the details - which is a possibility until the draft is officially released.