Look on the bright side, SASfox. Surely continued expansion by Jet2 is better for LBA and the local community than a varied programme of here taoday, gone tomorrow charter carriers (stand by for flamethrowers...:} ).

on about AEU by any chance??

Not quite sure what you're asking, but AEU, apart from a short series operating LBA-BOH-BJL and the odd LBW-CMF flight this winter have left LBA, and are focussing operations at their main base at LGW, with a reduced base at MAN. Flying is moving away from the relatively low profit charter flying, and more into our very profiable niche scheduled flying out of Gatwick.

Spotted this on the newswire today. Not a confirmed bidder at this stage, but showing an interest. Arguably the biggest name to come to light so far. Involved in the UK with LTN, CWL and BFS and in the US with Orlando/Sanford.
682

MADRID (AFX) - Abertis Infraestructuras SA is considering bidding for Leeds Bradford International airport, which was put up for sale in November with a starting bid of around 150 mln stg, El Economista reported, citing a company spokesperson.

150 million? At least the price is geeting sensible (as a Leeds council tax payer these things take on an added significance;) ). Plus they seem to have a string of 'similar' airports.

Maybe the West Yorks councils could turn things on their head and bid for PMI, AGP etc.....

Banjul
 

Anyone know how the first Banjul went this week? What was the pax split between LBA and BOH?

New Year Honours in full
Published: 30 December 2006
The Independent

This one looks like one of yours??
OBE Cairns, Anthony James, Dep Chair, Leeds Bradford Internat Airport. For serv Civil Aviation and to the commty in West Yorkshire.

Leeds City Council have penciled in Weds 4th April as the date their Executive Board will vote on their prefered and reserve bidders for the airport sale.
682

Well done Mr. Cairns :D

Or the already chosen one:E

Reported on the Exeter thread that it has been sold for £60m - how does this tie in with the expected price for LBA?

Good to see the LBA website is up to date as usual.
On the day it has been announced that flights to Bristol will resume, LBA announce the disruption of flights.

Hi

Well I’ve just noticed that the 2006 Passenger figures have been released on the LBIA website. Just look on the news section on the airport's website for a full press release. I wont post the link.

Anyway it looks as though the airport handled just under 2.8 million passengers. Which is up 7% on 2005. Airlines and Operators are now operating up to 65 direct destinations and off them 18 where newly launched in 2006.

So what do you guys think! Will LBIA hit the magic 3 million mark this year??

Nice one LBA.
So you saw my posting regarding Bristol and changed the date from the 8th to the 7th. Since when did admin work on Sundays?

It really is all coming together now and i am quite giddy when i think about all the changes that are coming!

Re: website updates.. hopefully more investment in the internet presence of lbia when under new ownership. The website is very useless, despite a number of new designes yearly it remains dated and amature looking and ever noticed how certain flights dispapeer off the flight info every day!!

The end of makeshift units, tempoary structures, tacky make-shift council style shortcuts. Replacing one facility to make room for a new one.... (2004 closing down a childrens play area and replacing it with prayer room)... hmmmmm! A duty free shop / s worth the visit.. further extension of the terminal along the main ramp... a further airbridge for stand 9 at the very least..?

Its not going to happen overnight but so much to look forward. we have put time and money and remained patient with our local airport. Its about time to give leeds the airport it deserves... and that doesnt mean building a new one elsewere!

Jet2 has done alot for LBA but people.. the mark of a good/real airport is variety.. multiple frequency and carriers on routes.. lets hope with new ownership we will attract airlines back aswell as welcome new ones.. cos those silver/red jets are pretty.. but who wants to watch the same thing all day! We likes choice!!!

Happy new year.. Heres to 2007.. LBA year :):} :) :}

:\ Its also worth mentioning to those who are abit behind on LBA news.. Jet2 will become a self-handling airline operation at LBA from March this year.

This will mean that Penuille Servisair will no longer be used for Check-in, Boarding, Dispatch and most aircraft services. Baggage services are provided by the LBA company for all airlines at LBA and this will remain so for jet2. However the sale of the airport may see changes in this area.

This announcement will mean job cuts for the large Penuille Servisair workforce at LBA. Hopefully these people will find new roles at Jet2 handling or in a new job..

As a former Servisair employee.. I have to say Jet2's success at LBA is partly to the dedication of servisair staff from 2003 to present..some there from Jet2 day one up to now still. Ontime if not early dispatch ,... always the priority and behind the brand 100%.

Good luck to all servisair staff, especially those at checkin.. dispatch and ramp! Not the pen pushers.. the people that made it happen you!

Copenhagen announced, daily flight with bmi Regional, starting 26th March, intro fares from £66 return:

BD491 Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen depart 1000, arrive 1255 (Mon to Fri)
BD491 Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen depart 0705, arrive 1000 (Sat, Sun)
BD492 Copenhagen-Leeds Bradford depart 1325, arrive 1425 (Mon to Fri)
BD492 Copenhagen-Leeds Bradford depart 1030, arrive 1130 (Sat, Sun)

Lets hope this one actualy starts!

Third time lucky perhaps...

Have they managed to secure a SAS codeshare on it this time?

Any ideas on likely bidders?

Hall leads bid to buy LBA
 

As quoted in the TTG - 12-01-07
Former Yorkshire Electricity chief exec Sir Graham Hall is spearheading a bid by Bridgepoint Capital to buy Leeds/Bradford airport.
Hall confirmed he was leading Bridgepoint's bid, which is likely to be one of up to four that will be shortlisted to aquire the airport today.
Hall declined to comment on Bridgepoint's proposals but identified the expansion of Europes routes, capital investment and retail development as the three main areas of opportunity at the airport.
While the initial asking price for Leeds/Bradford was thought to have been about £40m (TTG Oct 20th 2006), the sale last week of Exeter International airport to Regional and City Airports for £60m is likely to have bumped up bids considerably.
The final price for Leeds/Bradford has already been tipped as high as £100m.
The airport is estimated to have handled about 2.9 million passengers last year.
Hall and Bridgepoint are likely to be up against some stiff competition from other UK airport groups and venture capital companies, though it is thought that an interested US bidder has already dropped out.
Hall said his experience running a private sector company and chairing regional development bodies, Yorkshire forward and Northern Way would stand him in good stead as a strong local candidate to run the airport.
Leeds and Bradford city councils, which own 80% of the airport are to begin the bidding process today (Friday) and will be keen to seal a deal by April before council elections take place.
Interesting stuff then, if you want to check out Bridgepoint follow the link.
www.bridgepoint-capital.com/default.asp?sID=1101378498812

Well it looks like bmi regional are going to comfirm tomorrow that they are going to axe there 3 times daily LBA-Paris Cdg route on Saturday February 25th according to several post on the bmi threads.

So I wonder if Jet2 will go twice daily (Thats if they can get the Slots) or if another airline may look at the route. Especially with Tommo's dropping their DSA-Orly flight as off the end off the winter season as well?

For anyone who cares, Infratil are now in the frame for LBA.

A late entry to the party, but an entry nonetheless.

See article below from today's Yorkshire Post
Contrary to previous reports on here, no shortlist was drawn up by the councils last Friday nor indeed will the councils be drawing up the shortlist. E&Y will select the shortlist and the Council's will then vote on a 1st and 2nd choice bidder from this list. As previously reported, the exec group in Leeds are expecting to do this during their meeting on 4th April. Report states up to a dozen initial bidders
1) Infratil
2) Balfour
3) MAR
4) Bridgepoint
5) Abertis??
Wonder who the others are - likely to be not much cop if a private equity firm with no prior experience of running airports is "a favourite" to make the final list.
682

THE privatisation of Leeds Bradford Airport will take a major step forward this month when a shortlist of bidders is drawn up.
Potential buyers had to submit indicative bids by last Thursday and now experts from accountancy firm Ernst & Young, which is handling the sale of the local authority-owned airport, will draw up a shortlist of around three or four.
That is likely to be completed by the end of January with a preferred buyer announced by early April.
The sale of the airport at Yeadon by the five West Yorkshire councils which own it was announced late last year and is likely to reap each windfalls of millions of pounds.
Up to a dozen organisations are thought to have submitted indicative bids with offers for the airport likely to be well above £100m.
Favourites to be on the shortlist include a private equity bid being spearheaded by former Yorkshire Forward chairman Sir Graham Hall and a consortium involving construction giant Balfour Beatty which bought Exeter Airport for £60m earlier this month.
Industry experts believe that the airport is likely to attract worldwide interest and estimates suggest that it will fetch a price of between £100m and £140m.
Sources close to a number of the bidders have said that they expect the final figure to be around £120m.
The airport, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and had almost 2.8m passengers fly through it last year, is owned by Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees councils, with Leeds and Bradford each owning 40 per cent.
Groups which have declared an interest include Regional and City Airports, part of Balfour Beatty's specialist airport investment and development group.
The ambitious group is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty Capital, the group's investment arm. It already owns Exeter Airport, and London City Airport and is keen to expand its portfolio.
The group is being advised by Rod Hoare, the transport industry veteran who is the former chairman of the Heathrow Express and chief executive of Metronet, which runs part of the London Underground system.
Another bidder is private equity group Bridgepoint Capital whose bid is being led by Sir Graham Hall, former chief executive of Yorkshire Electricity and the former non-executive chairman of regional development agencies Yorkshire Forward and The Northern Way.
Bridgepoint is being advised by merchant bank N M Rothschild, led by its Leeds-based managing director David Forbes.
Richard Tollis, aviation partner with Ernst & Young, is heading the team handling the sale on behalf of the local authorities.
His team dealt with the £750m purchase of London City Airport last year as well as airports in Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; and the sale of Newcastle Airport.
When the sale of Leeds Bradford was announced in December, Mr Tollis said it was likely to attract a great deal of interest. "Prices have been very buoyant in this market. We are already seeing strong interest because this may be the last opportunity to acquire a privatising regional airport in the UK."
It is thought unlikely that Manchester Airports Group – which is local authority-owned and operates Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports – would be among the bidders for Leeds Bradford.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ViewA...icleID=1973689.

......The group is being advised by Rod Hoare, the transport industry veteran who is the former chairman of the Heathrow Express and chief executive of Metronet, which runs part of the London Underground system......

Well that's reason enough not to sell it to Balfours!

Interesting to see that none of the rumoured parties are included in this list;
Jet2
BAA
Believe it or not Group4.
Any body want to add to the list !!:8

Depends whether there are really a dozen bidders as the press have speculated. The only ones we know about are the 4 who have chosen to make it public that they have bid. Potentially up to 8 other bidders who are keeping quiet at this stage.

Would be surprised to see anything other than airport operators or private equity groups in that list to be honest. Remember, even at £120m, the buyer is getting the airport on the cheap relative to the likes of BRS, NCL etc which were both sold for much more when at similar passenger volumes. That has to be a reflection of the work required in the next couple of years - runway resurfacing alone has been quoted at £17m - and I suspect both the buyers and sellers are viewing this as £120m to buy + £50m to renovate. Spend £170m, grow the passenger volumes, spread the risk on the route network and airline portfolio, lean on the local councils to pull their fingers out their behinds viz road improvements and one could easily have an asset worth £300m+ in a few years. If it were me I wouldn't even entertain a bid from anyone who wasn't thinking along these lines and couldn't demonstrate some proven track record in airport management.

My sentiments entirely. The councils have to sell the airport to someone who is willing to invest.

Some interesting numbers in the OFT's paper on airport competition. Using data from the CAA passenger survery of 2005 it concludes that the overall number of passengers generated by the Yorkshire & Humberside region was 10million. Of the 10 million

45% (4.5m) used Manchester
25% (2.5m) used Leeds/Bradford
07% (0.7m) used "Midlands" airports
05% (0.5m) used Heathrow
04% (0.4m) used Stansted
04% (0.4m) used Humberside
03% (0.3m) used Liverpool

which leaves 7-8% or 0.7m / 0.8m at "other" airports. Not clear when the survery was done and therefore whether DSA is included in the other pot or not.

I would say the split seems to fit with my own anecdotal experience of speaking to friends and family, with the exception of LPL which has always seemed to get plenty of business from this part of the world. Maybe the recent rapid growth of Ryanair over there pre-dates the survery.

Nonetheless, the size of the prize for LBA if the right bidder can be found and if the right investments are be made, is clear. Couple of big 'ifs' there, but 6-7m pax going out of the region is not to be sniffed at.

682

Looks like the opportunities the stats in the previous post have not gone unnoticed by those considering a bid. This from today's Yorkshire Post
(can we take it that the YP business editor's fascination with the Graham Hall bid is simply because he doesn't know anything about the other bidders. He was touting this as one of the favourites only last week, which seems remarkable if international airport groups are in the running)
682

Airport price 'more than £120m'Winning bid will be at high end of scale as panel draws up shortlist
Exclusive
David Parkin Business Editor
LEEDS Bradford Airport is likely to fetch substantially more than the £120m experts were predicting it would be worth when it is privatised later this year.
A shortlist of up to five bidders was drawn up yesterday by a panel representing the five West Yorkshire local authorities which own the airport.
And indicative bids already submitted by the groups which want to buy the Yeadon operation suggest that it will take a bid at the high end of the scale to secure its purchase. A total of 65 expressions of interest were received from groups interested in buying the airport and around a dozen submitted indicative bids earlier this month.
Those interested in buying the airport include international operators, other airport groups, private equity groups and infrastructure operators.
Among those known to be keen to purchase Leeds Bradford are a private equity bid being spearheaded by former Yorkshire Forward chairman Sir Graham Hall and a consortium involving construction giant Balfour Beatty which bought Exeter Airport for £60m earlier this month. Richard Tollis, the aviation partner at accountancy firm Ernst & Young, who is leading the team handling the sale of Leeds Bradford for its local authority owners, said: "I really do think we have got some very positive development proposals and that we are going to be able to secure a very attractive price."
The airport, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and had almost 2.8m passengers fly through it last year, is owned by Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees councils, with Leeds and Bradford each owning 40 per cent.
The selected bidders will have until the end of February to submit their final offers and then a preferred and reserve bidder will be announced by early April.
Final bids will be subject to an "upward only ratchet" so can only be increased once they are made.
Those close to the bidding process say that the price secured for the airport is likely to be around £150m.
The relative wealth of those living in the airport's catchment area is seen as a key attraction.
Bidders will also have to outline their plans to develop the airport's services.
Groups which have declared an interest include Regional and City Airports, part of Balfour Beatty's specialist airport investment and development group.
The ambitious group is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty Capital, the group's investment arm. It already owns Exeter Airport, and London City Airport and is keen to expand its portfolio.
The group is being advised by Rod Hoare, the transport industry veteran who is the former chairman of the Heathrow Express and chief executive of Metronet, which runs part of the London Underground system.
Another bidder is private equity group Bridgepoint Capital whose bid is being led by Sir Graham Hall, former chief executive of Yorkshire Electricity and the former non-executive chairman of regional development agencies Yorkshire Forward and The Northern Way.
Bridgepoint is being advised by merchant bank N M Rothschild, led by its Leeds-based managing director David Forbes, and law firm Addleshaw Goddard.
It is thought unlikely that Manchester Airports Group, which is local authority-owned and operates Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports, would be among the bidders for Leeds Bradford.
[email protected]
23 January 2007

The possibility of a sucessful bid by Balfour Beatty is fascinating. Their expertise in both the construction and railway industry conjour up the very real possibilty of early airport terminal and runway extensions/taxiway enhancements.

Added to this with smart lobbying of local and national government (Both Leeds and Bradford Councils will have some funds avaialble following the airport sale and Westminster still "owes" Leeds big style after pulling the plug on supertram) for imaginative funding, the creation of an electrified rail-link between Guiseley and Horsforth would not only serve the Airport from the Leeds, Harrogate/York, Bradford, Skipton areas and beyond, but also offer an extremely attractive peak-time commuter link (entirely within the West Yorkshire Metro area) doing much to alleviate the severe congestion in the established and rapidly growing North West Leeds dormitory corridor of Aireborough & Horsforth.

Far too sensible - haven't you heard of this Global Warming malarky? This isn't the time to be investing in efficient public transport solutions!;)

Yeah I was probably dreaming - we are 175 miles north of Watford after all!

LBA has got to be THE worst runway in the UK. How they've not come under pressure from airlines that use LBA to get something done about it is beyond me, but of course this can only be accomplished by pilot reports to their Companies. In my view its condition is worth an ASR.

For what reasons? Please could you elaborate.

Who said it was the runway's fault? Could have been the a/c

bobleeds - Whilst the runway was unlikely to be the cause of this particular incident, its condition is absolutely shocking. There are literally hundreds of repaired 'potholes' of varying standards in the concrete, and even taxying along it is a most uncomfortable experience. In the late '90s commercial activity in and out of LBA was predominantly small to medium-sized turboprop/RJ and the occasional 737/757 or A320/A321, but with the success of Jet2 and the general increase in jet traffic the runway simply hasn't been able to cope.

Thanks RAFAT,

Yes as a regular LBA passenger, I know that taxiing and take off/landing is somewhat bumpy on the concrete surface, and you can see a number of the patches you refer to. It's about par for the course for something that is ownded partly by Leeds Council - If you think the runway's bad you should try driving on the local roads!

Seriously, presume over a period of time this exacerbates wear and tear on aircraft that use the airport on a regular basis.

Sounds like an early priority for the new owners to address once they are in place.

BA7602 BELFAST CITY 1615 LANDED 16:17
BA1843 GLASGOW 1615 LANDED 16:22
AF2568 PARIS CDG 1710 LANDED 17:10
BA7792 VIENNA 2000


A few interesting arrivals this afternoon - anyone any idea whats going on ? Diverts ??? (its over 2.5hrs until the vienna arrival !)

sat in my office at man airport cant see far out of window lots of divs out to leeds and birmingham few inbounds to from liverpool.

Whats Going On
 

Jet2 flight from alicante to blackpool just land at leeds also 20.33

atc saying more to follow

??????????