Leeds Bradford Airport: Night flights battle with Leeds Council goes to public inquiry

The hearing will take place at Leeds Civic Hall between today and Friday.

It follows the council imposing an enforcement notice on the airport last September over 272 unauthorised noisy night-time flights between 2008 and 2019. That came after the airport separately broke rules on how many flights it is allowed to operate between 11pm and 7am.

The enforcement notice requires the airport to cease all take-offs of aircraft with a so-called ‘quota count’ of 1. Quota count is a value assigned to aircraft noise at take-off or landing, with 1 being above 90 decibels.

LBA is allowed 2,800 aircraft movements at night in summer and 1,200 in the winter. If LBA wins the appeals in dispute at the public hearing, smaller aircraft and delayed and emergency flights will no longer count towards the caps.

In its submission to the public inquiry, lawyers for LBA said that the September enforcement notice is “not relevant” to the appeals being made.

One of the three applications relates to LBA seeking confirmation of immunity against conditions prohibiting the nighttime movements of aircrafts with a quota count of 0.25, which is below 87 decibels.

Because aircraft with a quota count of 0.25 are not covered by the current conditions, LBA submits there has effectively been “ten years of continuous breach” on this point without any intervention by the council and therefore should be immune from enforcement. The council argues there have been “multiple and lengthy periods of compliance” so the breaches have not been continuous.

Its second application relates to smaller aircraft under 11,600kg and those with propellers being classified as exempt from night flight restrictions caps, with the third application relating a similar exemption for delayed and emergency flights to land at night. The airport argues it is attempting to legitimise existing operational practices.

Leeds Bradford CEO Vincent Hodder said: “This public inquiry is not about increasing or changing night flights at LBA. We are simply attempting to clarify what our current permission, written nearly 30 years ago, means today.

“The purpose of the existing planning consent when granted was to allow night flights but minimise the potential for increased noise of those flights on local communities. Our interpretation of the conditions stays true to this purpose and would encourage airlines to deploy the latest generation of aircraft which are quieter and more efficient.

“The inquiry process will allow an informed decision to be made by an independent third party on the correct legal interpretation of the existing planning so we can continue to deliver an airport Yorkshire can be proud of.”

Nick Hodgkinson, chair of the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport, said: "This inquiry follows three years of LBA breaking the night flight rules. After LCC upheld GALBA's complaints about the 2022 and 2023 breaches, LBA submitted planning applications which attempted to reinterpret the plain and simple meaning of the rules. LCC rejected that attempt and we are confident the planning inspector will also reject LBA's appeal.”

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said it would be inappropriate for the council to comment.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​