BOSSES at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) have apologised for exceeding the number of permitted night flights by over 25 per cent last summer.

Leeds City Council received a complaint in October 2022 which led to them conducting an investigation.

Following robust analysis of data, the conclusion was that during the 2022 summer season, there were 3,667 night-time movements, exceeding the cap imposed (2,800) by 747.

A breach of condition notice has therefore been served to LBA by the council.

The night period operates between 11pm and 7am, with departure routes calculated to minimise the impacts of noise as much as possible.

LBA is permitted to operate 2,800-night flights during the summer season and 1,200-night flights in the winter season.

LBA says the technology used to report on night flights was not recording flight traffic data correctly from the airport's main database. This issue has now been addressed with a working solution in place.

They add that the organisation that facilitates flights to UK airports was not aware of LBA’s full operating restrictions, resulting in additional night flights being allocated to the airport.

Vincent Hodder, Chief Executive Officer of Leeds Bradford Airport, said: “On behalf of LBA, I sincerely apologise for the airport exceeding the permitted number of night flights in Summer 2022.

"I want to reassure our local communities that actions have been taken quickly to address the problems that led to this error.

"These new controls, alongside our continued collaboration with Leeds City Council, will ensure that LBA will operate within the terms of its planning consent.

"The Summer 2023 schedules have already been adjusted with our airline partners to reflect the conditions and we are working with the Council to ensure that conditions of the planning consent are understood by all parties and adhered to.”

Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for sustainable development and infrastructure, said: “Leeds City Council understands the public concerns which have been raised regarding night-time flight movements and has investigated this matter thoroughly, in accordance with our established procedures. 

“This has concluded that a breach has occurred, leading to a formal notice being served on Leeds Bradford Airport, which they have accepted.

"The airport has since put in place measures to prevent future instances, which will be subject to regular monitoring to ensure continued compliance with planning conditions.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and if required the council has many further options it can pursue including, but not limited to, an Enforcement Notice.

"It is also important to note that a Breach of Condition Notice offers the most expedient response to resolve this issue for the people of Leeds, with no right of appeal from Leeds Bradford Airport.

“If the Breach of Condition Notice is not complied with this can escalate into summary prosecution that can be brought in the Magistrates’ Court for the offence of contravening a breach of condition notice.”

A spokesperson from the airport said: "LBA apologises for accidentally exceeding its allocation of night flights in summer 2022 and we understand the impact that this has had on our neighbours. This was an accident that we have worked hard to put right.

"LBA accepts that we accidentally exceeded the permitted number of aircraft movements during the night period in Summer 2022. The airport will continue to work with Leeds City Council to ensure that the conditions of the planning consent are understood by all parties and adhered to. 

"LBA has introduced a series of controls to ensure future operations comply with the terms of the planning consent.

They added: "For over 15 years, Leeds City Council have reported on summer air traffic movements over a six-month period from May to October and winter movements from November to April.

"LBA adopted the same time periods used by LCC when it took over the reporting responsibility.

"Leeds City Council have now requested that the reporting period be changed to British Summer Time as specified in the 1994 planning approval.

"This has resulted in an extra month of night movements being counted relative to previous years.

"The independent third-party system used by both LBA and LCC to report on aircraft movements and noise levels was not correctly recording flight traffic data for all flights."