Originally Posted by
pwalhx
You make some very good points - I don't it's that Yorkshire people don't want an efficient airport - I think it is that they don't care. They have grown up with LBA's offering and MAN over the hill and just come to accept that's the way it is.
And apart from yourself are quite happy with that option.
Ok - changing people's opinions on getting a new airport for Yorkshire will be tough. I give you that.
They are not aviation experts and therefore do not realise LBA is totally inadequate.
No, they perceive it to be perfectly adequate to their needs.
They put up with being diverted and the struggle to get to the airport and assume other destinations are not possible. I give you that.
People in Yorkshire will only realise what they and this county has been missing when a suitable airport is provided.
They already have perfectly suitable airports available and are happy with it, you just don't like the idea that the larger airport is in Manchester.
You say that as a Halifax resident - would you say the same in Hull, York or Grimsby? I love MAN airport but there is no reason why a similar airport could not be developed with easy access for the 5.3 million people who live East of the pennines. It would be a massive boost to the economy this side of the pennines and create 1000s of jobs.
Another issue is that almost half Yorkshires population live in West Yorkshire, not far from LBA, so they wont be asking for another airport if they think it will be further away - that's why CF's location is critically important to the project working.
there is no political will for this project, their is no clamour for this airport, there is no need for this airport and that is why no one is asking for it.
Perhaps not but the airport would be profitable and take millions of Yorkshire journeys off road and rail and create 1000s of jobs and keep billions of pounds of wealth in the Yorkshire region. Much more than finningley and Yeadon will ever be able to do in their locations.
Those politicians who thought finningley would be an airport for the whole of Yorkshire should have stuck to politics. The whole project revolves around two poorly placed low potential airports becoming one ideally placed airport with huge potential.
But for your project to get off the ground you need these ill informed politicians and they won't get their fingers burnt a second time you are right on that. So this argument is now predicated on closing Yeadon and Finningley, not a snowballs chance of that happening so you would have three airports fighting for the same traffic and you know what Yeadon would win. I work in logistics so I don't profess to be an avaiation expert merely I work in an avaiation related industry and have worked at LHR, LBA and MAN so I will bow to your more expert knowledge if you indeed are in the aviation industry.
I'm not so sure Yeadon would win. CF is going to be an airfield. Could they get in a flybe esque airline to do a CDG? Links air to the IOM? I think people might be shocked even without a link road. I'd love to see.
Do you live in Halifax? Even from Halifax, the far west of region, getting to CF (with an A road from the A1 in time) would be so much quicker and easier than Yeadon or MAN and there wouldn't be the need to go over the top of the pennines (important in winter).
Yes I live in Halifax and over the last few years have flown from LBA, MAN, LPL and EMA whichever was the most suitable to my needs at the time. I had many years driving Halifax to Yeadon so I know the difficulties. I also drive regularly to MAN and I think you are over egging the difficulties, apart from a few occasions I cannot see CF being advantageous, you presume everyone will drive but I tend to use the train to MAN.
Which is quicker train to MAN from Halifax or train to CF station(even before an airport)? Like I say you might be shocked with the ease of getting there even now and so will millions more when they start to use it.
Newcastle is a purely North Eastern airport and pulls very few passengers from Yorkshire. Most people heading to DXB / EWR will go to MAN because of the train and motorway connection. If flights to New York / Dubai were started from CF they would be able to pull from the North East though. CF could pull passengers from all points of the compass to add to the passengers from Yorkshire and the Humber just like MAN does. Leeds is at the crossroads of the urban North. There are so many political obstacles to overcome for CF to be a success but if they were overcome CF would be a money making success for Yorkshire for years to come in exactly the same way MAN is now.
As has been asked are you sure NCL doesn't pull pax from the North of the region, I am no expert in Airline Yields but would EK for example want to fly from NCL, MAN and CF I am not convinced more likely they have the North covered as they are.
NCL pulls very few people as a ratio of total amount from outside of the traditional NE region (Newcastle, sunderland and m'boro). EK do have the North covered but an airport at CF would be more attractive because it would have greater demand. I would not rule out though all three airports being served - but NCL would be most at risk.