Leeds Bradford International Airport

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Leeds Bradford International Airport Template:Airport codes is located between the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire, England.

1 Airlines and destinations
2 Transport
3 History
4 External links

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Airlines and destinations

The following list is current as of March 2006:

Air Southwest (Bristol, Newquay, Plymouth)
bmi (Brussels, Cork, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Heathrow, Paris-de Gaulle)
Eastern Airways (Aberdeen, Southampton)
Flybe (Belfast City, Bergerac, Exeter, Southampton)
Jet2.com (Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast International, Chambery, Faro, Ibiza, Málaga, Menorca [starts 22 May 2006], Murcia, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-de Gaulle, Pisa [starts 25 May 2006], Prague, Rome-Fiumicino [starts 7 April 2006], Tenerife-South, Venice)
KLM (Amsterdam)
Ryanair (Dublin)

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Transport

Leeds Bradford International Airport has connections to the road, rail, and bus networks. The airport is signposted on a large number of routes in the region. The MetroConnect737 bus service connects the airport to Bradford, Shipley, Guiseley and Yeadon, and the MetroConnect757 airlink bus service, to Leeds and Otley. Both services run every half hour during the week. The 757 route allows access to the National Rail Network via Leeds City Rail Station (Leeds Interchange and Leeds City Bus Station). Bus2Jet 767 from Harrogate and Knaresborough runs every 90 minutes and is operated by Harrogate and District with support from Yorkshire Forward and North Yorkshire County Council. Licensed taxis are available from the taxi rank outside the terminal building at the airport.

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History

Leeds Bradford was initially known as Yeadon Aerodrome when it commenced club flights and training in 1931. Scheduled flights began four years later in 1935. The first flights were to Newcastle, Edinburgh, Blackpool and the Isle of Man.

In 1936, the 609 Squadron of the RAF formed at Yeadon. Seasonal flights between Yeadon and Isle of Man and Liverpool also started this year. Work began on a terminal building this year, but progress was halted after only one wing had been built.

Civil aviation ended from Yeadon in 1939 when WW II started; the nearby Avro factory was used to produce military aircraft and many of these flew from Yeadon Aerodrome. Planes built included Lancasters, Anson, York and Lincoln. Significant developments were made to the aerodrome; the addition of two runways, taxiways and extra hangarage meant that Yeadon became an important site for military aircraft testing.

Civil flights didn't recommence until 1947; and shortly after this in 1953 Yeadon Aviation Ltd was formed. Two years later Belfast, Jersey, Ostend, Southend, the Isle of Wight and Düsseldorf were added to Yeadon's destination list.

Scheduled flights to London began in 1960, and Dublin was added shortly after.

A new runway was opened in 1965, and the terminal building was sadly destroyed by fire. A replacement terminal was opened by 1968.

In 1976 the first tour holiday flight to the Iberian Peninsula flew out of Leeds Bradford.

In 1978 it was decided that with runway extensions the airport's status could be upgraded to a regional airport. Work was begun in 1982, with completion taking place in 1984. This included significant extension to the main runway including putting the main road into a tunnel. The airport also underwent significant terminal extensions and redevelopments. The first phase of these developments was opened in 1985.

The first wide-body airliner service to operate from Leeds Bradford was a Britannia Airways Boeing 767 flight to Palma, which began in 1985. It attracted the attention of the local media.

In 1986, Concorde visited Leeds Bradford with an estimated 60,000 people at the airport to see it land.

The airport became a limited company in 1987, and was shared between the five surrounding boroughs. Although initially the airport had restrictions on its operating hours, these were removed in 1994, meaning that flights could depart from and fly into Leeds Bradford at any time of day or night.

Work on the airport terminal has been ongoing since 1996, and the result of this has been significant growths in the terminal size and passenger facilities.

The original runway, 09/27, closed on 6th October 2005, as is to be redeveloped as a taxiway and extra apron space.

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