CAA Provisional Statistics Update

[Flyer]

I'm new to all this and I had written a rather long post but I managed to delete it before I managed to submit it and I cannot be bothered to write it all again. So to summarize we flew from the airport a couple of Sunday's ago and our experience was shocking. The departure lounge was nothing short of a disgrace. Bodies were sprawled everywhere on the floor with a distinct lack of seating, horrendous conditions I never want to experience again! I have personally experienced better in third world countries. LBA is no longer an option for us it's over to Manchester next time.

 

[White Heather]

I am not disputing the fact that LBA is in a bad state and that the departure lounge is a joke. I have flown from there and sat in there for hours on end waiting for a delayed flight, so I know only too well.

However, lets be realistic. Ryanair did not come to LBA just because Mr Parkin wrote them a nice letter. They came to LBA because there is a ready market for them here and that is because LBA does not adequately serve the catchment area and there is so much leakage to MAN, EMA etc. Ryanair don't care what the passenger experience is, so couldn't care less if their passengers are packed in like sardines. Jet2 won't be that bothered either. They are interested in profit and as long as they are making one, they will be happy. Yes, Ryanair may up sticks and leave in the future - they won't be the first and they won't be the last. It happens. It just did to MAN! Bear in mind though that Ryanair already have a big presence at LPL and going into MAN they will have to compete with various other low cost carriers. At LBA they only have Jet2 to contend with. Do you really think they would have left MAN if they were truly happy with their performance?

There has been nothing confirmed that a 3rd aircraft will be based at LBA either. That, is an assumption. They can operate the additional flights by using aircraft based at other European bases, as they already do on some LBA routes. Give the airport directors some credit - they are well aware that if there are no stands, then there is no room for additional aircraft. If Ryanair want a 3rd based aircraft then the airport will have to sort it won't they?

As for the terminal and Bridgepoint - you seem to have overlooked that Bridgepoint did a fantastic job of developing Birmingham into what it is now before they sold it. Their intention will be to do something similar at LBA, but on a smaller scale. You seem very negative about them, but to be fair, they only took over the airport about 3 years ago, and in that time they have done quite a bit outside, some of it a requirement of the Government, and they have successfully fought for and obtained planning consent for the terminal, which has already cost them a lot of money. The arrival of Ryanair is probably the trigger for Bridgepoint going ahead with the terminal and if they hadn't arrived, it would not have happened in the near future since the passsenger numbers were going back down. The issues at LBA are of the previous owners making, not Bridgepoint. The council did very little with the airport, even when Jet2 arrived and it was clear that the terminal was not going to cope. Instead, they decided to sell up and make a fast buck, yet you blame Bridgepoint? Sorry guys, but you are barking up the wrong tree completely. Blame the councils who ran the place for 40 years and did almost nothing and who are not exactly helping Bridgepoint now either, seeking to force them to do what the council should have done years ago. That includes parallel taxiways.

If passengers want the airport to be developed and become an an
airport to be proud of, then they are going to have to support it and use it until the terminal is developed - ie 'no pain no gain'. If they do what Flyer intends, then it will remain a third rate, overcrowded and inadequate airport.

Personally I have fought for years for this airport's future and find the speed with which some people slate the airport and its new owners very disappointing, although typical of what has held it back for so many years. Not long ago every one on here was screaming for more airlines and more routes, and now we have them they are turning on the airport for not being able to cope. how quickly do you think a terminal can be built??? They only got planning consent late last year!!

Well, you guys have had your rant, and now I have had mine.

 

[Aviador]

I can kind of see this from both sides. The management ie. Bridgepoint might not be to blame for all the delays in developing the terminal. The development of the airport was held up by the council with a long drawn out process of selling the airport.

Since then we have had the recession but since the takeover the terminal has had virtually no money spent on it whatsoever. Valuable seating areas appear to have been removed in the departure lounge to provide retail space. As a private company they have to make the difficult decision to either provide seats that don't make any money or provide retail areas that do make money. As a business the latter will nearly always be chosen over passenger comforts that don't make them any money.

For the people on here that have always supported the development of the airport, it is deeply frustrating when virtually nothing is released to the press with regards to the development of the terminal. I don't understand why they need to be so secretive especially now they have planning permission for the development. The management could have used the overcrowded summer season to their advantage and displayed huge plans of how the terminal and it's departure lounge will look in the not too distant future. At least that way passengers like 'Flyer' and many others that airport staff deal with on a daily basis would know that the "no pain no gain" is for not too much longer, after all passengers are paying customers.

 

[White Heather]

I agree Aviador - I can see no reason why they do not display the proposals, although any display will take up space and they already display their basic plans on the web site. There is no valid reason for secrecy and I can only assume that the vagueness about the terminal is because they don't have a definite start date yet. As someone who works in project management, including building projects, I can only re-iterate that it takes a long time to go from planning consent to actually starting on site, as there is a huge amount of planning to do, plus other design works for sewage systems etc. Consent has to be obtained from such as the Environment Agency for those designs too, and the logistics of doing a terminal expansion whilst remaining open to the public can be a nightmare. They simply have to get it all right before starting on site, otherwise any 'pain' currently experienced will be nothing compared to how it will be once the works start.

 

[yorkshire]

Flyer... still use the airport but e-mail Mr Parkin or the airport telling them how you feel, if enough passengers do this they may see this as a priority.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats for June 2010

Stats published today show that LBA handled 309,782 passengers in June, an increase of 10.1% on June 2009. Atms were up 9.5% over June 2009.

The rolling 12-month total to end of June 2010 is 2,557,939, down 3.7% on a year ago.

 

[Bigman]

DSA and LPL were also up, but MAN and NCL both down.

 

[Seasider]

Glad to see this thread has got back to its proper intent - to update passenger figures. To try and balance the above comments about overcrowding, can members read my own experience this week on "Infrastructure" and "Border & Immigrational control"threads.

 

[User0001]

Worth pointing out that the passenger numbers this June are about in line with where they were in June 2006 and June 2007. In otherwords, Ryanair's arrival has not brought unprecedented passenger numbers, they have just returned the airport to levels seen when Jet2 had a few more flights and bmi were operating the LHR service.

 

[White Heather]

True, but against a background where virtuallly every other airport is running with considerably less pasengers than either 2006 or 2007 and LBA is one of the only airports in the UK so show significant growth overall against last year, which when you consider the flights we have lost over the past couple of years, is encouraging to say the least.

 

[Seasider]

July pax figures - 347938 up 10% whilst rolling year is down less than 2%.
Hopefully, with another 10% increase in August, rolling year will be going into the positive.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Splendid figures and it is particularly pleasing that atms are up by only 7.1% which indicates that loads are up on July 2009.

 

[White Heather]

Anyone seen any figures for August yet please?

 

[Aviador]

Anyone seen any figures for August yet please?

The CAA website appears to be down at the moment so the figures aren't available.

 

[Aviador]

The site's back up and running but the LBA figures still aren't there.

 

[eastcoaster]

Hopefully they will appear either on or after Tuesday along with all the other missing airfields.

 

[Aviador]

The Yorkshire Post has come to the rescue...

[textarea]Passengers numbers soar at Leeds Bradford

Leeds Bradford airport has increased passengers by more than 10 per cent to 350,000, according to figures out today.

It has become the fastest growing top 15 airport in the UK according to Civil Aviation Authority research published by the airport.

Leeds Bradford grew passengers by 11 per cent year-on-year for the month of July, up to 352,175 people.

It comes during a strong year for the airport, during which Ryanair opened there in March with two aircraft and the launch of 21 routes.

Jet2, which is based at the airport, has also expanded its routes with services to Bergerac, Corfu and Tunisia. New destinations for 2011 include Madeira and Bodrum and New York will also be reintroduced for Winter 10.

The airport also said there had been strong demand for its domestic schedule, including Flybe services to Southampton, Belfast City, Exeter, Aberdeen and London Gatwick.

Tony Hallwood, commercial and aviation development director, said: "LBA is very pleased to be one of the UK's fastest growing airports and bucking the national trend.

"Our growth to 76 destinations in 2010 and continued expansion by our airline partners means that we can look forward to 2011 with confidence."

Work is due to begin on a £28m expansion and improvement of its outdated terminal next spring

Source[/textarea]

 

[Bigman]

Still not on the CAA website though!!!

 

[Bigman]

Hang on, they are a month behind. Besides which, we are 16th in the table!!!

 

[White Heather]

Maybe with these figures, we just climbed a place?