I found this on another Forum. I thought you may all like to read.
31 Dec 2008
OFFICIALS at Leeds Bradford International Airport are in advanced
discussions with an international airline over a new direct route to Frankfurt, the
heart of Germany's financial and legal services industry.
Tony Hallwood, the airport's commercial and aviation development director,
said he hopes the service will begin in 2009 and will "deliver increased
linkage between Yorkshire and the economic powerhouse of the European Union".
In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, he said: "Frankfurt is the top of
the list. It's the centre of Germany's legal and financial services sectors.
Of course, Leeds follows London in terms of servicing both those sectors."
Mr Hallwood said he hopes the route would lead to increasing numbers of
tourists visiting Yorkshire from the affluent hinterland around Frankfurt, one of
the largest conurbations in Europe.
He added: "We are very, very hopeful we should have further news in the
early part of 2009 and we are very confident we will start the service at some
stage during the year."
He said regional business leaders, including the Confederation of British
Industry, the Institute of Directors, Marketing Leeds, various chambers of
commerce and the tourist board had given their support to the route, believing it
will add to the city's "international connectivity".
Frankfurt airport is the largest airport by passenger traffic in Germany,
the third largest in Europe and the eighth largest worldwide. It is reputed to
serve the greatest number of international destinations of any airport in the
world.
Mr Hallwood also said he hopes to add new routes to Eastern Europe, in
particular Hungary and Poland. He added: "Talking to the business community we
need to have a much higher profile in these parts of Europe."
He said he hopes to extend services from Leeds Bradford to Scandinavia,
building on BMI's existing direct flight to Copenhagen. This would deliver
business opportunities; help to boost tourist numbers as many Scandinavians visit
York each year; and "halt leakage" to Manchester airport.
He added: "We want to encourage people to spend longer in Yorkshire and stay
one or two more nights in hotels and visit even more places."
Leeds Bradford currently has 76 scheduled and charter destinations. It
introduced 12 new routes in 2008 and announced a further six that will start in
2009. The airport lost four routes in 2008 – to Cork, Shannon, Hamburg and
Inverness.
Next year, Mr Hallwood plans to extend services to Madrid and Milan to
become year round and also replicate a success he enjoyed while working at Bristol
airport: the introduction of a direct scheduled flight to the United States.
He said 2009 will see the "stepping up of discussions" with US airlines with
the aim of introducing a regular service from Leeds Bradford to New York
"within three or four years".
Mr Hallwood would also like to see new routes to the Middle East for
business and leisure passengers to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere and for onward
flights to Australia, Australasia and the Far East.
MORE MONEY
The private equity firm that bought Leeds Bradford International Airport is
reinvesting profits from the airport, according to one of the airport's
directors.
Tony Hallwood said Bridgepoint Capital, which bought the airport in 2007 for
£145m, did not release figures but he told the Yorkshire Post: "All the
profits are being reinvested."
Bridgepoint has promised to invest £70m in the airport, including £28m to
develop the terminal.