'Right thing to do': Leeds Bradford Airport defends push for night flights amid community concerns

Leeds Bradford Airport’s chief executive has argued that revising night-flight restrictions are the “right thing to do” as campaigners continue to challenge the plans.

LBA is seeking to increase annual passenger numbers from around 4.5 million currently to 7 million by 2030 with an ongoing £100m expansion programme at the site.

It has submitted an application to Leeds City Council to change a series of current conditions on the airport as part of this, including increasing what are considered to be day-time flying hours by 90 minutes and swapping a cap on night-time flight numbers for a noise-linked quota system.

Documents submitted with the application suggest there will be an 11 per cent increase in flights from the airport by 2030. It says daily summer air traffic movements are due to increase from 161 this year to 179 in 2030, with winter movements rising from 88 to 98.

LBA chief executive officer Vincent Hodder said that even if the application is rejected, the airport still intends to reach seven million passengers a year by 2030 within current rules.

Mr Hodder said: “The application is comparing two different scenarios: one scenario, which is where we grow using the existing night noise rules, and the other where we can grow with a new set of rules that encourage people to use quieter aircraft.

"We're going to get there anyway, it's just a question of how we do it now. Growing with based aircraft, which requires a change to the night rules, has a greater positive economic impact on the region than growing by inbound aircraft who are flying in during the day, but the aircraft don't live here at the airport.

“We don't get the pilots, the cabin crew, the engineers, the maintenance facilities, all of the other pieces that go along with that. From a pure airport perspective, we can do either. But from a West Yorkshire perspective, as a region we're better off if we're actually basing the aircraft here and the key beneficiary of that is Jet2, who are a Leeds-based airline.

“They really want to grow and invest in West Yorkshire because this is where they're from, and are currently prevented from doing so by a set of arcane rules written 32 years ago. This is the right thing for us to be doing.”

He added that LBA surveys suggest the majority of local residents are supportive of its plans and “want to be able to access more flights at lower price”.

The Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA), which is opposing the airport’s plans, has publicly claimed LBA wants to increase night-time flights by 75 per cent and newly-classified daytime flights between 6am and 7am and 11pm and 11.30pm by 80 per cent.

Mr Hodder said the “misleading” figures do not reflect what has been set out in the planning documents.

But GALBA said it stood by its figures and “the real impact” of the planned changes would not hit until after 2030, given the proposed quota allows for considerably more flights than is currently proposed for that year.

The group said: “The 80 per cent figure is about what LBA could achieve, not in 2030, but in the future. LBA does not address this. By limiting the assessment to 2030 in two different scenarios, they do not show the true potential impact.”

A spokesperson added: “If LBA can reach seven million passengers per year without approval, then any economic claims apply equally without the proposed change in restrictions – but with less noise.”