Leeds Bradford Airport to expand next year

Over the past year many airports have had to make cut backs after carriers have pulled frequency of flights or routes altogether because of a lack of Brits flying this year. However, Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) are set to be the only one to expand for 2010 as they have had a host of new routes set to begin next year. John Parkin, the boss at LBIA, told a business group this week that they expect to improve by double digit numbers in 2010 and increase their number of direct flight up to 120 per day.

Much of LBIA growth is down to budget carriers like Flybe and Ryanair who have planned for plenty of new flights from the airport next year. Ryanair said earlier this year they were pulling out of Manchester because of high landing fees. LBIA offered them a great deal so they have chosen them to conduct their flights with instead for the north This has spurred the owner’s Bridgeport to announce plans for their new terminal to begin work early next year. The two-storey terminal project will take five years to complete at a cost of around £70 million and increase the capacity by more than double to five million passengers a year.

There is still more to come from LBIA in the future to as they look to put a light railway in place which will give better transport links to the surrounding cities. As well as this they hope to re-establish a connection with London’s Heathrow Airport, but say that all depends on a slot becoming free in the near future.