Originally Posted by
LAX_LHR
Leeds Approach,
You're not getting it are you?
You keep saying 'the evidence is overwhelming', which, you claim includes logically and economically.
Please can you point me to this 'overwhelming economic evidence' that you so lovingly elude to, as so far, you keep spouting 'population, population, population'.
How much will it cost to develop CF? How much will it cost to compensate bridgepoint? How much to develop the transport links? What is the propensity to fly level in the 1 hour catchment? What is the yield potential of flights? How much are you going to charge airlines to re-coup the construction and compensation costs? How do you expect airlines to match the 'lower bulk prices' of MAN with the fees?
These are just some of the many, many questions that you need to answer before anyone remotely takes you seriously, yet, you seem to be avoiding the question with 'but, but, but, the population, please will SOMEONE THINK OF THE POPULATION'.
I think it's you that doesn't get it. Your only legitimate argument is the cost of it. It would be at the centre of the whole of Yorkshire and IF LBA was to be politically withdrawn it would be the airport of choice for virtually all of the Yorkshire population. It would be easier to get to from all points of the compass. The stats show that outside of Leeds city region virtually nobody uses LBA- in that regard it is similar to NCL - It cannot pull passengers from other regions (only certain routes can be done because the catchment is very finite). If an airport was established at Church Fenton it would not only be the airport of choice for the whole of Yorkshire but it would also pull passengers from heavily populated neighbouring regions from all directions (exactly what MAN does). LBA will never be able to do this because of its inaccessible location. Even if it had a motorway and rail link to it - in aviation terms it is probably the worst civil airport in Britain. Ask a pilot.
You talk about compensating the owners of LBA but who compensated EMA when finningley was developed? - Nobody. If you put a better product in a better place market forces will ensure that it is a success. It is quicker to get to tadcaster from Sheffield, Middlesbrough, hull, Doncaster, Huddersfield, wakefield, Barnsley, York, Southern and Eastern Leeds, The entire county of North Yorkshire, the entire county of South Yorkshire, the entire county of East Yorkshire, Southern Bradford, Kirklees etc than it is to get to LBA. This can be proven very easily on a pc. CF is also on 2 of the countries most major railway lines and is planned to be on HS2. Which railway line is LBA on?
The propensity to fly is irrelevant as they will be the same people who are flying from LBA plus millions more. The yield will be higher because the demand will be higher. Airlines will not have to factor in frequent diversion costs into their ticket prices and as finningley has shown despite being a brand new airport it still offers knock down deals for airlines to base. The difference is CF would pull from all of Yorkshire and not just Doncaster and Rotherham. The evidence is there- you just have to have a knowledge of demographics, catchment areas, motorway and rail routes. Accessibility is key as the RYR bigwig said last week. It is true.
You talk about who will pay for CF but what about the 40+ years that Yorkshire has lost millions of pounds each year because of LBA's real and perceived inaccessibility? People outside of Leeds and Bradford are just not interested in the slog to get there and a poxy mile long link road will change very little. This will continue for another 50 years. Billions of pounds helping to prop up a neighbouring regions economy. I am afraid my friend it is you that just cannot see that LBA is not serving the Yorkshire population properly or perhaps you can?