CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed an invitation from the airport’s new Chief Executive Officer to meet and discuss their objections to airport expansion.

But first, they have asked him to publish evidence to support his claim that the airport can already increase its passenger numbers to seven million per year - as they say there is a legal agreement with Leeds City Council that limits growth to five million.

The invitation to meet was made in an email sent to the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) at the end of May by LBA’s CEO Vincent Hodder.

The letter says “the airport already has all of the necessary approvals to grow whether or not this planning approval is granted.”

But GALBA says there is a legally binding agreement between LBA and Leeds City Council, which was updated in January 2019 and limits expansion to five million passengers per year.

Chris Foren, Chair of GALBA, said: “It’s a very strange claim to make so we’re looking forward to reading why he thinks it’s true. In 2009, the airport and the Council signed what’s known as a ‘Section 106’ legal agreement. This states clearly that in order to increase passenger numbers above 5 million per year, LBA has to seek permission from the Council by making a new planning application. That legal agreement has been updated over the years and was signed by LBA and the Council as recently as January 2019. But the section limiting passenger growth to 5 million per year has never been changed or removed.”

He added: “That’s why LBA have gone to the trouble and expense of making a new application. They want to extend daytime flying hours by 90 minutes - and remove the existing limit on night flights - so that they can fly 3 million more passengers on 16,000 extra flights per year. As we keep on warning, that would mean a massive increase in greenhouse gases, seriously damaging our climate, and a lot more noise for a lot more people in our communities. The good news is that we can make the right choices today to build a better tomorrow for everyone. We can invest in good, green jobs that also fight the climate crisis and create a safer world.”

Mr Hodder said: “We have great respect for GALBA and their right to express their views on aviation and climate change. We can confirm that we reached out to GALBA in good faith to understand their position, hear their concerns on the impact of aviation on climate change and to help them understand the existing S106 agreement and where it has been misinterpreted. We are extremely disappointed that, rather than engaging in good faith, GALBA put conditions in place prior to meeting and issued a press release.

“While we remain disappointed with their response, LBA remains happy to meet, but we do not propose making commercially sensitive documents public, as demanded by GALBA, and we continue to act in good faith towards them.

“LBA has a January 2019 planning approval for an extension of the existing terminal, which clearly enables the airport to reach a level of just under 7 million passengers per annum. The accompanying S106 agreement for that development does not put a limit on the number of passengers passing through LBA, unlike the S106 for the replacement terminal which clearly limits the number of passengers that LBA can handle at different times.

“We may differ in terms of the place of aviation in a net zero future, but we absolutely accept the need for a comprehensive national strategy for aviation. For example, we accept the need for offsetting to be a part of the aviation response and the investment in technologies to reduce emissions over time, rather than a blunt approach of stopping aviation all together – which would have the effect of starving aviation of the funds necessary for the innovation that will make the industry net zero by 2050. We remain hopeful that meeting with GALBA would help to start a process of collaboration towards the same end goal.”