Reply to cumbrianboy - southend thread
Leeds Approach …
If you think that there should only be one airport in Yorkshire, then I actually think DSA should be the primary airport for Yorkshire, it's got a 3,000m runway, a new motorway spur which opens in less than a year meaning direct uncontested access to the UK's main motorway, a train track that runs less then 1.5 miles from the airport that just needs a platform, and a major national rail gateway 3 miles away (Doncaster is a major junction and on the London - Scotland line). It's not on a hill, doesn't suffer crosswinds, is rarely fogged out, has a ton of room for expansion and a CAT III ILS.
The downside for DSA is that Leeds has a stronger economy than sheffield, and that is what supports a lot of the business traffic, but according to Google, DSA is only 55 mins away by road and a relatively congestion free journey (Can take longer to get to LBA sometimes) then I don't see that as a major problem … and when the M18 link road opens that will shave 15-20 mins off the journey time meaning it is likely just as quick ...
The only reason it is not the primary airport is that Leeds was open before hand, but as much as you won't like this Leeds Approach, LBA is in the wrong place and a nightmare airport …
I agree with all of that. Yeadon is far from ideal but it has over 2 million people right on its doorstep. Despite all the benefits that DSA has it will never be able to shut Yeadon (because of its location) and therefore its catchment will always be a small enclave between EMA and LBA and to some extent HUY. The only viable answer is to replace both airports with an airport that has DSA's aviation characteristics and yet is much closer and more accessible to the thriving Leeds City region as well as all other parts of Yorkshire.