£12m Leeds Bradford Airport terminal extension to be discussed by planning chiefs

It follows an announcement from the airport earlier this month that it would invest £12m into the scheme, which would increase capacity and include a new arrivals hall.

A report to council chiefs claims the passenger terminal has been “subject to piecemeal development for several decades” and has not kept pace with the “expectations of a modern airport”.

It is also hoped the development will allow larger aircraft to use the airport and improve the experience of air-travellers.

The proposal is all part of the airport’s wider masterplan, which it hopes will add another million passengers per year by 2023, and increase investment into Yorkshire.

A report into the application by Leeds City Council said: “The existing passenger terminal has been subject to piecemeal development for several decades and has not kept pace with customer requirements and expectations of a modern airport.

“The present terminal suffers from congestion, space is constrained and there are insufficient security lanes both for outbound and inbound passengers. In addition, the terminal is poorly designed for segregating arriving and departing passengers.

“The purpose of the current proposed extension and internal modificationsis to address the existing issues on site to deliver improvements to the passenger experience to ease congestion, reduce queues, improve overall performance and to provide a higher profile airport as part of delivering the city’s European profile.”

The airport currently has a capacity of approximately 4 million passengers per annum, but hopes to increase this to 5 million by 2023.

The report added: “This extension will allow this expansion as well as improving the experience of the passengers at the airport. Leeds is currently the third largest city in the UK, yet the airport is the 25th airport ranked by passenger numbers and the airport therefore consider there to be significant opportunities for growth.”

Work on the building is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.

Leeds City Council’s city plans panel will meet to discuss the pre-application for the site on Thursday, October 4.