Public inquiry into night-time flying rules at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) was held earlier this month. Chaired by an independent planning inspector, the inquiry considered the legal meaning of the night-time flying rules following an appeal by airport chiefs. The outcome is not likely to be announced for several weeks.
Currently the airport is permitted 2,920 take offs and landings between 23:00 and 07:00 during the summer. However, the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) say the airport has breached that limit in each of the past three years. LBA chief executive, Vincent Hodder says the rules, agreed by Leeds City Council in 1994, do not take into account changes to aircraft technology over the past 30 years to reduce noise.
The BBC web site reports that Leeds City Council agreed the original planning consent in 1994 permitting 2,920 night flights, and is responsible for monitoring to make sure LBA does not breach the night time flights cap. It issued a breach of condition notice against LBA for the additional flights in 2022 and accepted the rules were broken again in 2023, but said the public interest for a prosecution had not been met. No action has been taken after the alleged breach in summer 2024.
GALBA believes that more night flights would mean more greenhouse gases from jet engines, polluting our fragile climate, when everyone knows we have to cut emissions as fast and as much as possible. They also state that the Climate Change Committee has repeatedly said that airports should not be allowed to expand because there are no large scale alternatives to the fossil fuels used to fly aircraft.
Commitments made by the Secretary of State (Ed Miliband) include ‘….Any expansion sought by UK airports must be justified within the legally binding framework passed by the 2008 Climate Change Act and “any aviation expansion will only be able to go ahead if it is consistent with our Carbon Budget.”
You can find out more about GALBA at: https://www.galba.uk/