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Airport marks 40th anniversary of runway extension

Jonathan Hinkles Hundreds of people lined up on the tarmac in front of a blue and British Airways Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Jonathan Hinkles
Two flights which took off and landed at Leeds Bradford Airport were chartered by the local newspaper group to celebrate the official opening

Leeds Bradford Airport has marked 40 years since a runway upgrade heralded the arrival of transatlantic flights.

The first flight from West Yorkshire to Canada took off on 4 November 1984, following the completion of work to extend the runway.

The project, which began in 1982, saw the construction of a tunnel to carry the A658 under the main airstrip allowing the site to welcome larger planes, including Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

Vincent Hodder, the airport's CEO, described the extension as a "significant milestone" which had paved the way for more than two million flights to take off and land at the site.

Leeds Bradford Airport A copy of the certificate issued to passengers on board a specially chartered flight from Leeds Bradford Airport. It says, this is to certify that ... was a passenger on the first British Airways 747 Jumbo Jet to operate from the newly-extended runway at Leeds/Bradford Airport"Leeds Bradford Airport
Hundreds of readers of Yorkshire Post readers were given a certificate after a special flight on a British Airways Boeing 747

Originally opened in 1931 as Yeadon Aerodrome the site was used for general aviation and training purposes before World War Two brought a halt to civil aviation in 1939.

However, when flights re-commenced in 1947, the short runway was deemed inadequate for modern jets, with large jets like the 747 unable to use the airport until the extension was completed.

To mark the occasion in 1984 Yorkshire Post Newspapers (YPN) chartered a Boeing 747 to run two flights under the name ‘Spirit of Yorkshire’ to take off from and land back at the airport.

Following the upgrade, in 1986 an Air France Concorde charter flight from Paris landed at the airport for the first time.

Leeds Bradford Airport was a public limited company run by West Yorkshire's five councils until 2007 when it was sold.

It is now privately owned by Australian-based AMP Capital.

Referencing the latest plans to upgrade the site, Mr Hodder added: "The airport has continually strived to improve in that time and our LBA: REGEN plans reaffirm our commitment to continually develop and evolve our services."

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