I have posted along these lines before, and usually get sarky comments from some, but what the hell - here goes yet again.
Firstly, this increase has never been discussed at the Consultative Committee, so I am surprised to say the least that there has been any increase, let alone 50%. I have no doubt at all it will prompt and lengthy and hostile debate at the next meeting.
Having said that, there is the free drop off area which is a 3 minute walk from the terminal - and the shuttle bus DOES pick up there! Passengers have a choice of walking up a dedicated foot route to the terminal or waiting for the free shuttle bus. Remember LBA had to spend a fair bit of money creating that area and the walkway to the terminal, which has just had suface improvements.
You cannot compare with Manchester. Large airports such as MAN that attract many more flights, larger aircraft and national carriers, earn huge amounts in landing fees. Low cost carriers pay very small and in some cases no landing fees. LBA do NOT dictate to the likes of Ryanair what they will pay to land - the fees are negotiated and small enough to get such operators to fly from LBA. Charge too much and they will be gone and with them your route options and a hefty chunk of passengers. Therefore LBA earns relatively little revenue from landing fees.
Larger airports such as MAN also earn far more than LBA from their parking charges. You don't have to be a genius to work out that the more passengers, the more revenue so they can afford to charge less. MAN does have free drop off, but if you go in the car park outside the terminal to wait for an arriving passenger, you do pay a fee and anything over 40 minutes was £4 as far back as 2012. Lets not forget either than MAN charges somewhere in the region of £8 (2012 prices) to go into their airport viewing area, which is always busy and provides them with a sizeable source of income.
It is the presence of the off site parking companies that is, in part, causing LBA to charge what they do. They lose a proportion of their expected parking revenue to these companies. That forces them to compete (a good thing, and preferable to a monopoly) but the fact is that a lot of people do not park at LBA so their income is reduced. Leeds City Council recognised that when the refused their planning consents and it was the inspector (on appeal) that overturned that refusal, allowed them to trade, and single handedly removed a proportion of LBA's annual income.
Car parking for LBA (and many other regional airports) is now THE main source of income. Second comes retail fees. Landing fees are well behind other than at major airports. As I have posted before - LBA is loss making. Yet, all of us on here want to see considerable investment in the terminal, apron, taxiways, runway, ILS, covered walkways and God knows what else. Where do we think the funds will come from? This is about pulling in funds to enable future developments to be made. The Masterplan is due out shortly and I am waiting for a date to attend the airport and see what is in it. Rest assured, anything in it will be expensive and has to be funded by LBA from its own income stream. So perhaps, this increase in parking is firstly to recover some of the cost of providing the free drop off zone (which in itself reduces airport income) and to start building capital for future investment. The recent papers logged with the council have already stated that improvements airside (aprons, taxiways) are a priority under the Masterplan and clearly they are going to have to do something pretty soon if LBA's future development isn't to stall. Personally, if paying £3 helps the airport to develop, then bring it on! It isn't even a price of a pint these days. I don't particularly like paying that much, but nobody is making me go in there and there is an alternative that is free and a short walk away.
If anyone can dream up alternative ways for LBA to generate the funds needed to spend vast amounts over the next 10 years on airport infrastructure (things we are constantly complaining about on here), I am sure they would be happy to hear people's ideas. I am happy to pay provided that the money does go towards such developments and in due course we end up with an airport fit for the Leeds City Region.
Finally - the question was asked (of LBA) why there are Police vans on Whitehouse Lane to stop people dropping off on there. Whitehouse Lane is not controlled by LBA. Any enforcement action being taken is by Leeds City Council. It is their road and their yellow lines. However, an issue people forget is that the CAA have a lot to say about airport access roads, which must be kept clear. Failure to maintain clear access could, in extreme circumstances, result in an airport losing its licence. People constantly stopping on yellow lines to avoid paying the kiss and fly tax (which they don't actually have to pay anyway) causes obstruction and increases the risk of an accident. The ridiculous thing is that some stop on yellow lines just as far from the terminal as the free drop off zone!! Frankly, they should change the yellow lines to red - and then stopping at all would be an instant fine.
OK - tin hat back on.
