Leeds Airport Parking

Leeds airport 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.

For a period in the 1980s there were transatlantic services from Leeds Bradford Airport operated by Wardair and using the Boeing 747 that flew to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

In 1986, Concorde visited Leeds Bradford for the first time 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 of Leeds (40%), Bradford (40%) and Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees (together sharing the remaining 20%).

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. In 2005 more than 2.6 million passengers passed through the airport, a 64% increase in just five years and more than twice as many compared with 1997 (1.2 million).

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

Since 2000 the airport has been home to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

In October 2006 plans to privatise the airport were confirmed when Bradford Council became the last of the five controlling councils (the others being Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees councils) to agree to sell off the airport to the private sector. The airport will be sold off in 2007 following a bidding process and it is anticipated the airport will have a value of at least £40 million. [1]

This history article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article " Leeds Bradford Airport".