State of LBIA
Completely agree Piltdown Man. The Yorkshire councils did a lot more for the airport when they owned it and they did next to nothing! The owners have deliberately left a completely meaningless masterplan on their website for the local population to be misled by, as absolutely none of it has actually happened.
The local plane spotters forum blame the innaction on the recession but the truth is the owners just cannot do the job at hand which they won the right to do. Are we really meant to believe that there is no need to spend any money yet when 3 aircraft park on the taxiways overnight? At least the council admitted they didn't have enough money to do the infrastructure upgrade that has been needed for 40 years.
The public should be informed every 5 years for exact and real plans for their local airport according to recent governmental order - that was due in 2011 but we are still waiting to be informed of accurate and real plans as we rapidly approach 2015. I personally feel very let down and it is of no surprise to me at all that passenger numbers are in decline as perversely the economy is gaining momentum.
Manchester airport (that has spend money on its infrastructure) is surging ahead again taking Yorkshire passengers just like it did in the 1980s. It is absolutely nothing to do with the recession it is to do with the ability of the airport owners to do the job at hand.
It is a very simple principle: Spend money on the airport and it will be attractive to passengers and airlines alike and passenger numbers will rise. Wait for passengers and airlines to come to a old, cramped, dilapidated and historically underfunded airport and they will not turn up. Not only that but the passengers and airlines already onboard will start to leave for airports that have spent the money.
Come back council all is forgiven........