LBIAs potential
I am realistic about LBIA. It will never ever be a rival to Manchester airport for so many reasons as posters have described - its location within West Yorks., its height above sea level and associated weather, its runway orientation and current length and yes space is very tight etc etc. It will be a capped airport in terms of passenger throughput. What that cap will be as aviation progresses is not definite. It is a long long way from maximum passenger throughput though and the government agree with that and have backed the airport to expand, even if expansion is problematic.
Virtually the only positive of LBIA over all other airports in the North of England is its central location within the North. West Yorkshire and Leeds are at the crossroads of all the heavily urbanised cities and this is my point. If the airport can be connected properly to Leeds city railway station, which by the time of HS2 or before will be the busiest railway station in Britain (outside of London) and if the road networks can be linked to LBIA from the M62/M1 interchange area a lot better than they presently are then the airport will become much more attractive to millions of potential customers who at present don't even give the airport a second thought because of the annoyance in getting there compared to Manchester.
LBIA really is the prime example of catch 22. 'we cant build a road or rail link because you haven't got enough passengers to make it pay'. But I say you make the airport easily accessible within West Yorks. and millions of people from Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Doncaster, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Hull, Blackburn as well as booming West Yorkshire will have a simple almost equally short trip to get there. Obviously private owners of rival airports do not want this to happen.
The railway link from the Harrogate line would not require a tunnel just a cutting and is more than possible and that is why it has been chosen but it should be done now not in the medium to long term whatever that means.