Qualla: Leeds Bradford Airport

Leeds Bradford Airport: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit JThomas, CC BY-SA 2.0. From the air during the war, Yeadon looked like farmland. The roof of the Avro shadow factory was painted to resemble fields, dummy cattle were placed on top, agricultural buildings were faked in canvas and timber, and somewhere underneath it all the workers were building Lancasters. About 5,515 aircraft came out of the camouflaged factory between 1942 and 1946: roughly 4,500 Avro Ansons, 695 Lancaster bombers, plus York transports, Lincoln heavy bombers, Bristol Blenheims. It was the largest free-standing structure in Europe at the time, and nobody flying over saw a thing.

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Image: JThomas | CC BY-SA 2.0

Leeds Bradford Airport: Yeadon Aerodrome

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit SHB2000, CC BY-SA 4.0. Leeds and Bradford Corporations jointly bought 60 acres of grassland next to the old Bradford-to-Harrogate road in 1930 and opened Leeds and Bradford Municipal Aerodrome on 17 October 1931. Locals still call it Yeadon. The Yorkshire Aeroplane Club ran the place at first, mostly f...

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Image: SHB2000 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Leeds Bradford Airport: The Avro Shadow Factory

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit JThomas, CC BY-SA 2.0. When the RAF requisitioned Yeadon in 1939 it became part of 13 Group Fighter Command and then 12 Group. The 609 (West Riding) Squadron, an auxiliary unit, had already been based here since 1936 flying Hawker Harts and then Hinds, and they left for Catterick before the worst of th...

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Image: JThomas | CC BY-SA 2.0

Leeds Bradford Airport: From Yorkshire Council Airport to AENA

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chemical Engineer, CC BY-SA 4.0. The civilian airport ran for decades as a five-council collective: Leeds and Bradford each owning 40 percent, with Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees sharing the remaining 20. The 1984 runway extension brought transatlantic charter flights, Wardair flying Boeing 747s to Toronto, ...

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Image: Chemical Engineer | CC BY-SA 4.0

Leeds Bradford Airport: Jet2 and the 13th-Busiest in Britain

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Igor_Sivolob, CC BY-SA 4.0. By 2024 Leeds Bradford was the 13th busiest airport in the United Kingdom by passenger numbers, with Jet2.com headquartered here and operating as the dominant carrier. The single runway, aligned 14/32, sits on a ridge above the surrounding countryside, sloping enough that it once...

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Image: Igor_Sivolob | CC BY-SA 4.0