Just a brief report on today's on line meeting of the Airport Consultative Committee. As you would expect, there was not a great deal to report other than the information provided below with regard to the terminal development, and the usual complaints from Menston that despite all the data showing aircraft overhead to be following the Preferential Noise Routes, they actually don't. The instruments apparently are all wrong and don't actually show aircraft where they really are. This is a complaint that has been going on for literally years, and nothing the airport do or say seems to convince the complainants otherwise.
The new CEO, Vincent Hodder, made his first appearance at the Committee and advised he is keen to continue to participate. Time will tell - we have heard that before, but he came across well. He sees his role at LBA as facilitator of a long term improvement in the airport, and a key part of that is Project Sky, which to you and me is the new terminal building.
With regard to the terminal, LBA Plans Panel have delegated responsibility to the Planning Department for negotiating with LBA the revisions to some of the Section 106 requirements outlined during the Plans Panel meeting on the 11th. LBA will be shortly engaging with the Planning Department but are first awaiting the signed off minutes from the meeting of the 11th, (due tomorrow) which should clarify some of the requirements. It was stated that there was some confusion as to what, exactly, was required, and it was clear that some of the panel misunderstood certain issues - eg. It was stated that the airport are planting 454 trees as part of the scheme and this was not enough. However, LBA are intending to plant 25,000 trees, not 454, so it may well be that the request to increase the tree planting may turn out to be unnecessary.
Somewhat typical of LCC however is that one of the requirements mentioned is that LBA must complete the construction of a cycle path to the terminal at the same time as the terminal is built. Some of you probably thought I was joking when I mentioned a cycle path!!
It was confirmed again that there is no right of appeal against the approval. The only action that can be taken is a Judicial Review which has to show that the decision was flawed technically and had not considered key factors. It was stated that the planning approval had been subjected to rigorous checks from a legal standpoint to ensure it did stand up to a legal challenge and it did cover all the key environmental issues likely to form the basis of such a challenge. It was also confirmed that the decision complied with all local and national aviation policies.
In response to a question as to when the revised operational hours come into force, it was confirmed that at present, this will happen when the airport has 'substantially commenced construction' of the terminal. However, some questions had been asked about this by Plans Panel members , who suggested potentially delaying it until the terminal was built so LBA are waiting to see what is in the minutes - and it was conceded that the situation may be something that needs to be discussed with the Planning Officer going forward.
Passenger numbers - for the year to date, April to January - are down 92% on last year. The best quarter in 2020 was the 2nd, which saw passenger numbers reach 19% of the 2019 figure. December showed a marked improvement, with some weeks carrying more passengers than last year but the Covid situation soon put a stop to that, with currently just 3 scheduled flights per week (Aer Lingus/Stobart to Belfast City). KLM re-commencing flights to AMS has been deferred again after the Dutch Government extended the ban on UK flights to 15th March 2021 at the earliest.
In response to a question - LBA expects Brexit to not impact on flights or growth at LBA. The long term future was described as bright. The one plus of Brexit for LBA is that more passengers are now able to buy goods duty free than previously so once the terminal is in use and the duty free shop is open again, it could well be selling more goods than before.
Air traffic movements this year have reduced substantially as expected and night time movements are down 85% on 2019-20 over the same period. Of these 77% operated on runway 32 and all were within the noise quota limits. Despite that, several of the committee members at the Menston end claimed it was 'impossible' to hold a conversation due to aircraft overflying the village. A request was made that the preferred runway was changed so that more flights departed over Leeds instead of Menston/Burley in Wharfedale and a denial that the runway use was in any way based on wind direction etc. Just as well I had put the mute on my laptop!!
