Originally Posted by
Amelia Earhart
Is the poor facilities at LDY hampering route development?
The staff are friendly and do their best but the terminal is incredibly cramped. A lot of people don't treat it as a "real" airport. Many people immediately think of BFS or BHD first when planning a journey.
Would a larger more pleasant terminal attract better passenger numbers and consequently lead to route development and retention?
The current airport building is really only big enough to host the arrivals. The terminal needs expanded for a new departures area. The original building was never designed for 737s.
I doubt it is, whilst its not ideal it is only recently where there has been flights overlapping and they are still being punctual. The reason many people jump to BFS or BHD isn't because of the facilities. Its because there is genuinely no choice. I read in the Masterplan that the terminal can cope with 2 B738s and something along the lines of a ATR72 at the one time. IIRC they also expanded departures since then. The Airport just needs to prove to the locals that they're trying for regional connectivity that will lower the reliance on BFS/BHD.
Unrelated but I remember Clive Coleman saying (on the Mark Patterson show) there will be a positive announcement by the end of the year regarding routes. Hopefully it comes through.