British Airways to drop frequency of flights between LBA and Heathrow
The number of flights between Leeds Bradford Airport and Heathrow T5, which have been operated by British Airways for around five years, are to be reduced from March.
The airport’s new schedule from the spring will include one daily morning British Airways flight which will arrive into LBA at 10.20am and depart for Heathrow at 11.05am.
Then on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, a second flight will operate later in the day. These have been described as the busiest days of the week on the route. Mondays will see flights arrive into LBA at 4.55pm, departing at 5.30pm; Thursday’s Heathrow flights will arrive at LBA at 5.50pm, leaving at 6.25pm; and on Fridays, flights will arrive at LBA at 6.05pm, departing at 6.50pm.
The service links passengers with London Heathrow in just over an hour. At present, three flights operate daily.
Sean Doyle, British Airways’ director of networks, said:” We are maintaining the important air link between Yorkshire and Heathrow, but have had to take the difficult decision to reduce the frequency of flights to match demand. We will maintain a daily service and on the busiest days of the week there will be two flights a day to and from Heathrow.
“We appreciate that the connections from Heathrow are important for business and leisure travellers and we are retiming the morning flight so that customers can more conveniently connect to more of our long-haul flights.”
A Leeds Bradford Airport spokesman said: “We are disappointed with the decision of British Airways to reduce the frequency of its services to Leeds Bradford Airport.
“As the international gateway for Yorkshire and given our continued support for a third runway at Heathrow, this news is disappointing for the largest region in the UK. We have previously stated that we believe Heathrow expansion will enable Yorkshire to attract even more inward investment, exports and tourism by providing greater reach to key international markets via our own air link to Heathrow.
“We hope the people of Yorkshire will still fully support the route, enabling us to prove to British Airways that the largest region in the UK can support a viable and profitable service going forward.”
Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport this morning launched its 10-week consultation for the public to shape Heathrow’s expansion.
The consultation is latest delivery milestone and comes ahead of a Parliamentary vote in the first half of 2018 on a National Policy Statement for a new north-west runway at Heathrow
Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow’s executive director – expansion, said: “When the government announced its support for Heathrow expansion it made a clear commitment to keeping Britain open for business. We want an expanded Heathrow to be the world’s best airport, ensuring that our country and its future generations have the infrastructure they need to thrive.
“We need feedback to help deliver this opportunity responsibly and to create a long-term legacy both at a local and national level. Heathrow is consulting to ensure that we deliver benefits for our passengers, businesses across the country but also, importantly, for those neighbours closest to us.”
