Leeds Bradford Airport: Disgruntled residents on what nights are like under flight paths

Leeds Bradford Airport was recently accused of exceeding the limit on night flights by airport campaigners Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA). A heatwave swept across the country during the summer, but Kirkstall resident Victoria Smith has said she was regularly unable to open her windows at night.

She explained: “Over this last summer, we have had to unfortunately keep our windows closed pretty much every night. It's awful because we can't sleep. On warm days and nights in the summer, we want to have our windows open and we can't.”

Regarding GALBA’s accusation, a spokesperson for LBA said: “We work closely with Leeds City Council on all matters relating to the airport’s planning consent and will liaise with them on any issues raised in respect of how that consent is implemented. We take our responsibilities on operating flights seriously and will continue to report on them in an open and transparent way.”

Victoria has encountered various people who have questioned why people living under flight paths do not simply just move. She said: “People have said if we don't like living under the flight path, we should move. It's not really very practical. Some of our neighbours have lived there for 35/40 years.

“One of my neighbours is 86, lives alone and is having her life disrupted by these night flights. You can't expect someone like that to just be able to click their fingers and move house. It's not fair and having somebody else exposed to that noise is not fair either. It has affected me, my husband and our neighbours tremendously, and it's not fair. Something needs to be done about it.”

Judith Cain has lived under a flight path for around three to four years and has also experienced difficulty sleeping. She said: “I have written to the airport complaining, particularly about a few nights in the summer. They're very low and extremely noisy.

"It's just difficult to sleep when there are flights going so low over your house at night. The airport asked me for specific flights and dates and they said none of the flights were not approved. You have to accept that there's going to be flights but I think they should be spreading the flight paths around more.”

Night flights have not just made people in Leeds disgruntled, but also caused discontent beyond the boundaries of the city. John Lomas of Bingley said: “People like travelling but nobody likes noisy aeroplanes. The problem is that it's kind of endless, it kicks off quite early, particularly this last summer. I'm glad GALBA are on to the exceeding of limits. I live in a modern double-glazed house and the noise from a jet engine penetrates straight through that. If they wanted to, LBA could develop more departure routes.”

In response to the resident comments, an LBA spokesperson said: “LBA is operating well within its environmental and noise permits for flights. Flights to and from LBA have increased since the resumption of international travel following a dramatic reduction during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the current total number of flights at LBA is still less than pre-pandemic levels.”