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31
Jan
Local MP hails prospect of New York flights from Leeds Bradford
The expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport could pave the way for transatlantic flights from Leeds Bradford Airport, a local MP has said.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed plans for a third runway at Heathrow on Wednesday (January 29) and said she wanted work to begin within five years.
Speaking in a Commons debate on airport expansion on Tuesday, Sir Alec Shelbrooke, the Conservative MP for Wetherby and Easingwold, said:
Many of my constituents use Leeds Bradford Airport. For years, I have wanted expansion of Heathrow so that morning flights from Yorkshire could come down to Heathrow airport, allowing transatlantic flights to be boarded in Yorkshire.
May I urge the minister, when considering the expansion of Heathrow, to always give firm attention to regional airports, especially Leeds Bradford Airport in Yorkshire? It would allow the economy to grow significantly if people could check-in at Leeds and get off in New York.
Ms Reeves also supported plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport. More than £100 million of public funds could facilitate the reopening.
But Vincent Hodder, chief executive of Leeds Bradford Airport, said public money shouldn’t be used to reopen the site.
Mr Hodder said:
To me that's unsustainable and it distorts competition in the market that should not be allowed and we will continue to fight on that particular point of subsidisation.
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