An empowered Leeds Bradford Airport is essential for Yorkshire and we must back it in full - Mark Casci

Leeds and Bradford Municipal Aerodrome. Yeadon Aerodrome. Leeds Bradford International Airport.
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These are a selection of the names by which the airport based between the cities of Bradford and Leeds has been known since 1931.

When I moved to Leeds in 1999 as a fresh-faced youngster with a head full of dreams, it was the latter name by which the airport was known.

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However, over the years the word “international” was quietly dropped with Leeds Bradford Airport now its official title.

How the new terminal will look.How the new terminal will look.
How the new terminal will look.

The word now has significant meaning for the transport hub as it gears up for what I believe will be one of the most crucial chapters for both the airport and the region.

The Leeds City Region is the fourth largest in the UK. However, Leeds Bradford Airport is the 15th largest airport in the country.

The city is attracting some of the highest levels of foreign director investment. However, the vast majority of business visitors travelling by air to the city arrive in Manchester, not Leeds.

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Attempts to bring a wider range of routes to the airport that better reflect traditional business travel have been made by successive chief executives and boards over the years but to little avail.

CEO Hywel ReesCEO Hywel Rees
CEO Hywel Rees

The current CEO at the airport, Hywel Rees, may well prove to the boldest leader the airport has had for some time.

Mr Rees, a veteran of successful airports around the world, has decided that the airport’s problem lies with its dilapidated terminal which dates back to the 1960s and is not fit for modern air travel.

He wants to demolish it and construct a new 34,000 sq ft terminal, at a cost of £150m.

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As well as creating a far better customer experience the new terminal will at last provide the major carriers with a proposition that matches other significant airports.

The terminal as is.The terminal as is.
The terminal as is.

Mr Rees’ plan is so convincing that the airport’s owner AMP Capital has agreed to fund the plan out of its own pocket.

However, with the plans now before officials at Leeds City Council, there are still further significant groups of people that need convincing.

Backing improved air connectivity may seem ridiculous in the current climate but any city or nation that is not planning for a future post Covid-19 is one that will be hideously left behind.

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While the propensity of business people to travel by plane for work-related matters may be refined, it will not be eradicated.

The environmental argument is one that I have enormous sympathy for and if there is one thing that the current health crisis has taught us is that looking after the health of both ourselves and our environment is of critical importance. However, blocking the revamp of the airport on environmental grounds would be short-sighted and not even come close to solving the problem.

Air travel currently accounts for 2 per cent of emissions globally. Failure to empower the airport will not reduce this. Furthermore, the terminal would be among the greenest in Europe with a BREEAM excellent rating for sustainability. Then there is accessibility.

Currently your options for getting to Leeds Bradford Airport lie exclusively via road, and not a great road at that. The new terminal would be situated far closer to the proposed Parkway Station on the Leeds/Harrogate/York route and open it up to rail passengers. At last you could be in the city centre via just a short rail journey.

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And let us not forget, of course, that this is not the only bold plan in the region. Doncaster Sheffield Airport is pressing ahead with its aerotropolis plan which would massively expand its operations.

Having the two airports empowered to this degree would create healthy competition and at last make Yorkshire, so long poorly served when it comes to air travel, among the best in the nation.

If the Leeds City Region wants to be an international destination for culture and commerce then it needs an international airport to match.

This is by far the best shot it is likely to get at achieving this for generations. To let it slip away would be a disservice to the region and its children.

Let us not make that mistake and back it in full.