Writing to Leeds City Council ahead of a decision by Leeds-Bradford Airport on making over 100 staff redundant, Imran Hussain MP has urged the council to block the airport’s expansion plans if they push ahead with job losses.

In October 2020, Leeds-Bradford Airport opened a consultation on the loss of 107 jobs at the airport from early December, despite support being available from the Government to help retain staff, and a decision is expectedly imminently on whether the airport’s management will proceed with these plans.

However, as Imran has set out in his letter to the Leader of Leeds City Council, Cllr Judith Blake, these planned job losses follow additional plans by Leeds-Bradford Airport for a £150 million expansion that would see them almost double the number of passengers handled by their airport by 2030.

Imran states that these expansion plans have already been undermined by the increase in carbon emissions and damage to the environment, but that a case for expansion is left without grounds if there are major redundancies, and he has therefore urged Leeds City Council as the local authority responsible for planning decisions at Leeds-Bradford Airport to block their airport’s expansion plans if they press ahead with job cuts.

Speaking on his call to Leeds-Bradford Airport to cancel their plans for job losses at the airport, Imran said:

“There is obviously extreme uncertainty in the aviation sector during this period and it’s clear that the Government should have offered a specific package to support this sector, but Leeds-Bradford Airport’s decision to refuse to accept the furlough support that is available to retain staff and to instead push through redundancies is shameful.

“Pushing through job losses fatally undermines Leeds-Bradford Airport’s plans for a £150 million expansion of the airport, as does the increase in carbon emissions and impact on the environment that will come with this expansion, and it’s clear to me that there is no basis for it when they are making redundancies.

“As the local authority responsible for Leeds-Bradford Airport, Leeds City Council must send a clear message to the airport’s management that their decision to make a large number of redundancies cannot be supported, and I therefore strongly urge Leeds City Council to block LBA’s expansion plans if these job losses go ahead.”

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