Leeds Bradford Airport seeks permission to run more night flights

Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has applied for permission to run more flights at night.

Conditions imposed on the airport restrict flights between 23:00 BST and 07:00 to limit noise for residents.

Campaigners said the application to Leeds City Council was not democratic because the public could not respond.

LBA said it was not seeking to operate "unlimited" night flights, but wanted an exemption for quieter aircraft and emergency flights.

The night-flight conditions were breached nearly 750 times in the 2022 summer season, according to the council.

LBA has applied for exemptions for aircraft beneath a certain noise level, delayed services and emergency flights.

The airport has applied to "confirm immunity against enforcement" for flights under a certain noise level - but there are no documents containing further details included within the council's public planning register.

It has applied for the changes under Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) rules, which do not allow the public to have their say on the plans before a decision is made by the council.

Ian Coatman, secretary of the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport, said: "If a member of the public wants to put an extension on the side of their house, it has to go through the planning process so there's full visibility of what is being proposed and people are allowed to comment.

"Now we have this proposal from LBA that could have huge consequences for public health and on attempts to reduce CO2 emissions and it's being done in secret."

The group said it believed the process was "profoundly anti-democratic" and it was seeking legal advice.

An airport spokesperson said: "We have not submitted an application to operate an unlimited number of night flights at LBA.

"The Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development submissions are part of a process to clarify how the existing planning permission, which was originally consented nearly 30 years ago, should operate now."

They said LBA was in an "ongoing, constructive dialogue" with the council to reach an agreement.

Leeds City Council said that, under the law, CLEUD applications were "not subject to public advertisement or consultation".

"Local planning authorities have eight weeks to determine CLEUD applications, with decisions being based purely on the balance of probabilities of factual evidence assessed against a legal test," a council spokesperson said.

LBA has made five applications which are expected to be decided by 1 November.

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