Predictions for 2017: Leeds Bradford airport director predicts travel growth outside EU
Tony Hallwood is the aviation development director at Leeds Bradford Airport.
What have been the biggest changes in your industry for 2016?
The aviation and travel industries are continually adapting to keep up with trends and regulations. It’s an ever evolving scenario and we have to be at the forefront of every change. This year has been no exception and as demand for air travel continues to grow we will always implement what is needed to ensure quick, convenient and safe travel across the UK, Europe and worldwide.
The biggest changes in 2016 have been the growth in passengers to Spain and the Canaries, with a corresponding fall in demand to Turkey. However, following Brexit and the exchange rate adjustments we expect to see a return to growth in Turkey and also Bulgaria in 2017.
What has been your highlight for the year?
Hitting the 3.5m passenger milestone was a definite highlight including delivering seven new routes, including three capital cities; providing even more choice and connectivity for Yorkshire passengers. This has seen us introduce a wealth of new airlines and destinations for both business and leisure passengers. We celebrated our fourth British Airways anniversary in December, with news that more than 500k people have travelled on the route so far; fantastic news for our region’s businesses for worldwide connections through Heathrow T5.
Airline development has been instrumental in our success this year. Jet2.com has added a year-round route to Berlin, winter routes to Grenoble, Paphos, Gran Canaria and Malta and will next year introduce summer routes to Naples, Halkidiki and Almeria; Ryanair has grown capacity at LBA having introduced Warsaw, Vilnius and Bratislava year-round; Aurigny now deliver a year-round service Guernsey and Newquay was added as a regular service to LBA’s schedule with Flybe. Monarch introduced Malaga as a winter route this year and we are pleased to welcome Thomas Cook’s announcement of a wider range destinations from LBA, with Tenerife, Menorca, Palma, Alicante, Faro, Naples and Larnaca being introduced to their network for summer 2017.
In addition, a highlight has been getting the commitment from Leeds City Council to support a parkway station for Leeds Bradford Airport. We look forward to seeing plans progress in the coming months and years, as this will benefit the region and our passengers.
What will be the biggest changes in your industry in 2017 and anything to watch out for in terms of market trends?
From a business perspective, we have recently commenced improvement works in our terminal building, so it’s exciting to see that begin; all of which will be open in time for summer 2017. We will also formalise our Masterplan document in 2017, after concluding the consultation this year. Demand for air travel is expected to rise, so we will work closely with all airlines partners to meet that demand – certainly for the routes that businesses need to connect to in order to attract investment to the region.
