Leeds Bradford Airport accused of breaching night flight cap for second summer in a row
A campaign group says they've exceeded the limit of 2,920
Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has been accused of breaching its summer season night flight quota for the second consecutive year.
The airport surpassed its 2,920 flight limit for the British Summer Time (BST) period on Thursday, the campaign group Group for Action on Leeds Bradford (GALBA) Airport claimed.
LBA has denied this, saying under its interpretation of planning conditions it has not exceeded the limit.
The airport apologised back in June after a lengthy investigation by Leeds City Council found it had run 747 too many night-time flights between March and October in 2022.
That led to the local authority issuing a breach of condition notice, effectively serving a warning of further punishment should the offence be repeat.
GALBA, which has fought previous plans to expand the airport on noise disturbance and environmental grounds, said it now expected the council to prosecute LBA.
The group’s chair, Chris Foren, said: “In June, Vincent Hodder, the airport’s boss, said ‘we have put in place all the controls and reports necessary to make sure these errors will never happen again.’
“Well, these ‘errors’ have happened again. It shows that you just can’t trust LBA.
“The council has already warned the airport that a failure to comply with the breach of condition notice is a criminal offence that is liable to prosecution through the courts.”
The news comes against a backdrop of heightened tension between GALBA and the airport in recent weeks, as LBA has applied for a series of certificates of lawful development through the planning system.
The airport says this is to seek clarity over the night-flight rules and to determine whether or not certain types of aircraft count towards the quota or not.
Campaigners and local councillors claim if the certificates are approved this could lead to “unlimited” night-time flying, a suggestion LBA has strongly denied.
Responding to GALBA’s claims the night flights quota has been breached this summer, Mr Hodder, who is the airport’s CEO, said: “We are currently following a process to clarify the correct interpretation of planning conditions governing night time flights at LBA with Leeds City Council.
“This is exactly why LBA has submitted Certificates of Lawfulness for Existing Use or Development to the Council, to establish what is lawful.
“From our interpretation of the planning conditions, which are nearly 30 years old, we expect that flights subject to night restrictions this summer will total less than 2,920.”
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The council’s monitoring of Leeds Bradford Airport’s night-time flight numbers for the 2023 summer season is an ongoing process that will continue until the end of British Summer Time in late October.
“We are therefore not in a position to comment at this stage.”