A YORKSHIRE and Humber MEP visited Leeds Bradford Airport on Monday to learn about its future development plans and to talk about Britain’s EU membership ahead of the European referendum next month.

Richard Corbett spent time with Tony Hallwood, Aviation Development Director at Leeds Bradford, discussing the airport’s draft Masterplan. The consultation period for the ‘Route to 2030’ Masterplan closed last month and this week's meeting gave Richard the opportunity to learn about the airport’s ambitions, which will see major investment in the region; creating new jobs and delivering enhanced route connectivity to destinations across the Europe and the world.

In addition, the draft consultation looks at options to improve access to the airport though public transport links, including a Parkway station proposal. The next stage of the Masterplan is to consider all feedback and to issue a final plan later in the year which will set the scene for the plans up to 2030.

Richard Corbett said: "I was very interested to learn more about the airport's Masterplan, which will bring a significant level of investment into our area as well as improving transport links with other parts of Europe and the rest of the world.

"Clearly, the debate about Britain's EU membership is of crucial importance to Leeds Bradford Airport and I enjoyed discussing these issues. It was a really informative and interesting morning and I look forward to seeing and hearing more in the near future."

Tony Hallwood added: “It’s been a pleasure meeting Richard today to explain how the airport is committed to driving future investment to the region. Our future activities will really encourage growth and our new routes will improve air connections across Europe and the world for people from across Yorkshire and the Humber. It was interesting and valuable to have a discussion about the EU referendum and I would like to thank Richard for taking out of his busy schedule to spend time at the airport today.”

Passengers can now fly direct to 70 destinations from Leeds Bradford and onto a further 70 through four connection hubs at Heathrow, Dublin, Amsterdam and Barcelona.