Monday Interview: David Laws, CEO of Leeds Bradford Airport

In his first six months in position as CEO at Leeds Bradford Airport, David Laws didn’t expect to have to guide the business through the collapse of major airline, Monarch.

But as the former Newcastle Airport boss reflected on the first half-year under his leadership at the airport, he insisted that things are in place to ensure growth and investment which spell positive things for Yorkshire. And he was also clear that air travel is still in demand, both for leisure and business passengers, with his sights set on introducing new airlines as well as routes.

Laws, known as Davie, has also led the company through a major buyout; just a few months after moving to LBA in May, AMP Capital – the investment firm Laws worked for between his role at Newcastle and LBA – bought the airport from Bridgepoint in one of the biggest deals Yorkshire has seen this year.

“We are pushing on to get the right networks and bring in new destinations. It’s about raising aspirations and not being afraid to fail,” he explained.

This could include a business timed route to Paris, as well as further services being operated by Flybe, after the success of the Newquay and Dusseldorf services that have been introduced in the last year. Jet2.com has picked up some of the routes that Monarch used to serve and Thomas Cook are set to have based aircraft at LBA next year, in an extension to their flight programme re-introduced this year.

Laws has now completed a restructure of LBA’s teams and says terminal improvements are on course to deliver newly refurbished surroundings by Easter next year to give an enhanced passenger journey. Further improvements will begin after summer 2018, with the team looking to switch around the way in which passengers move through the terminal building to address feedback around waiting times and walks to and from aircraft.

Around £10m will be spent across all of the transformations in the terminal building. “We couldn’t have expected to be in a better position at this point in the year. We have increased the size of the security area and I am focused on making sure that the passenger journey starts right there,” he added.

LBA has also recently introduced a Deliciouslyorkshire shop and is set to open a new beer house in the coming week, next to the downstairs departure gates.

A new extension in the departure lounge will next year become a lounge area – split into leisure, business and first-class passenger areas. There will also be new retail space coming, including a potential major coffee brand.

Laws added: “This will give the people of Yorkshire a much better choice and the confidence that we are ambitious to take this airport forward.

“All of these things need to be done in practical ways, while we are still operational.”

Laws added that the recent acquisition had introduced board members with huge amounts of experience in airport development and that the potential to contribute to the success of the regional economy was enormous.

Laws added: “The business is doing fine. We know that in the last 12 months we have welcomed 4.1m passengers. Now we have gone through that milestone, the next stage is to get to 4.5m and on from there.

“Local and national influencers want this to happen. Everybody wants this to be a place that people can be proud of.”

The airport’s masterplan outlines an ambition to welcome 7.1m passengers a year by 2030. Laws added that connectivity to the airport was a key area which was moving forward, and urged people to support the parkway station development proposed for the Leeds to Harrogate line.

He asked that businesses continue to liaise with LBA over routes they need to drive their growth. Laws added: “The businesses I have met so far have offered tremendous support of what we are trying to do here.

“The way that I have been welcomed has been fantastic and now the reigns are off.”