Originally Posted by
LEEDS APPROACH
A BA A319 and a citation spent approximately 15-20 minutes in the hold this morning. Not exactly sure why although I'll have a stab at too slippery a runway.
It's not right good is it? It will certainly not have been overlooked by BA.
When is the SAS Copenhagen advert going to be replaced? - seems a tad odd to be advertising an airline and route that operates from a competing airport. Actually potentially taking passengers away from KLM.
You know what they say though - "desperate times call for desperate measures..."
I would like to reply to a PM I had a few days ago that was in connection with the post I made (above) regarding holding aircraft at LBA.
I am certainly not criticizing the staff of LBA who work so hard to keep things operating - in fact it is completely the opposite. They are probably the hardest working staff of any airport in Britain. The point I am trying to make is that you are having to work so hard because of the poor circumstances of the airport. Of course if you have an airport nearly 700 feet above sea level it is going to be prone to icing, snow, gales and low cloud etc and yes safety will always be number 1 priority. This is why politicians should go out of their way to ensure that airports are developed in the best locations with suitably long enough runways that point into the prevailing wind. An airport developed on flat land at Church Fenton would not be prone to Icing, crosswinds and snowed in runways anywhere near as much as LBA and hence planes would not have to hold as much or divert to other airports as much. If a passenger is held above the airport or frequently diverted to other airports he or she will be more inclined to book the next flight from an airport where this is less likely to happen. What you might see as a minor irritant could be seen by many passengers as an airport that all too frequently is not able to do its job (ie landing and departing its passengers on time). Leeds and Yorkshire needs an airport that is best placed to efficiently and effectively do its job of moving passengers on schedule. I believe an airport developed at Church Fenton would be infinitely better at doing this than the airport at Yeadon.
"Holding at LBIA Could I ask if you work at the Airport?
The team at Leeds, worked incredibly hard this morning, and safety is everyone's number 1 priority. If Aircraft are held for a while in order to ensure safety, I see this as a minor irritant.
Regards."