If you've come to this page, it's probably because you're angry or scared about the prospect of LBA operating thousands more night flights every year. And you have every reason to feel like that. But don't despair, GALBA has a proven record of stopping LBA in its tracks. And we can do it again - with your help!
LBA has made yet another application to rewrite the rules that put a limit on the number of flights allowed at night. They say they should be allowed thousands more night flights precisely because they’ve been breaking the night flight rules for years and years. LBA must not be rewarded for their bad behaviour! Read on to find out more.
On 17 February 2026, LBA announced they had made a new application to Leeds City Council to reinterpret the meaning of the night flight rules. The way LBA has done this is sneaky…
In October 2025, LBA’s boss said he would put his case for change to a committee of local councillors – the public’s elected representatives. That would have meant we, the public, could make objections and explain how an increase in night time flying would be very bad news for people living under the flight path, the quality of the air we breathe and the climate we all depend on.
Instead, LBA has chosen to apply for a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development, known as a CLEUD. This is a little used planning process that bypasses elected councillors and cuts out the public too. In the end, a decision on LBA’s CLEUD application will be made by planning officers only. There are more details of LBA’s application below.
GALBA is meeting with our lawyers to plan our opposition to the application. Obviously this will cost money. We know times are hard but if you can afford it, please make a donation to our fighting fund.
If you’re not already a GALBA member, please join us – together we can win! It’s free and only takes a couple of minutes to fill in the membership form. We send regular email newsletters to all our members, so this is the easiest way to keep up to date.
The good news is that LBA has applied for CLEUDs before and they were rejected, first by Leeds City Council and then at a Public Inquiry. You can read more about this here. However, we can’t be sure GALBA will win again.
LBA’s new CLEUD is available on the Council’s Planning Portal. Enter Leeds Bradford Airport or 26/00926/CLE in the search box, the CLEUD is at the top of the list on the results page.
The CLEUD seeks to make certain types of planes immune from all enforcement action by Leeds City Council, even if they exceed the permitted number of night flights set by local planning conditions. Those types of planes are the most frequently flown planes at LBA.
The basis for this is LBA’s claim that those types of planes have been flying unlawfully from LBA for a continuous period of 10 years (January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019), with no enforcement action against them by Leeds City Council. If that is true, LBA argues that the CLEUD provisions, in effect, permanently exempt those planes from the cap on the number of permitted night flights.
We are consulting with our lawyers to assess the legality of LBA’s application and GALBA is also assessing the factual claims made by LBA.
The decision whether the CLEUD is granted or not will be made by a Council officer, not elected councillors on the relevant Planning Committee, the City Plans Panel. While a form of public ‘consultation’ will take place, the public cannot submit opinions or personal views on the possibility of an increase in night flights.
Only factual and legal evidence relating to the 10 years in question is acceptable – the deadline is 25 March. There is more about the process on the Council’s website.
LBA is overwhelmingly a holiday airport – taking far more people out of the region to spend their money abroad than it brings in. We’re not saying people shouldn’t have overseas holidays but the reality is that LBA exports more money out of West Yorkshire than it imports from foreign tourists to our region.
The aviation industry claims that airport expansion is good for growth. But when he spoke to the Environmental Audit Committee recently, the government’s Aviation Minister “could not direct the Committee to any substantial economic analysis that supports the claim that airport expansion would lead to growth…”
Leeds Bradford Airport is big enough already