THE boss of one of the world’s leading airlines says he is impressed at the ongoing investments being made in Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA).

Warner Rootliep, general manager of Air France-KLM for UK & Ireland, says his airline views the airport as a key site in the UK and was pleased with its set-up. He also met its new chief executive David Laws yesterday.

KLM currently operates three flights each day from the Yeadon site to Amsterdam.

LBA is viewed as one of the UK’s leading hubs, taking passengers on from the Dutch capital city to a number of new long haul destinations including Mumbai and Indianapolis.

During the past year, more than 180,000 passengers have travelled on KLM between LBA and Amsterdam, not only bringing economic benefits to the area, but also connecting the region to KLM’s global network of more than 150 destinations.

The airport now operates to more than 70 destinations in 25 countries and has grown passenger numbers by six per cent over the last 12 months to 3.7 million passengers. It is forecast to welcome four million passengers during the 2017/18 financial year.

LBA formally launched a masterplan outlining its development strategy for the next 13 years in April. Route to 2030 was first released in draft form in March 2016, and the final document was launched at the airport today at an event attended by council leaders, councillors and MPs.

The document outlines the airport’s plans to grow and develop to carry a projected 7.1m passengers by 2030.

Mr Rootliep said: “We are very pleased with the investments being made at this airport. We are serving the same market here.

“We are always looking for new opportunities.

“LBA is a very important airport to us in the UK. We are happy with our relationship with the airport.

“KLM has been operating for 32 years from this airport. We are here for the long run.

“We have carried 180,000 people from LBA; 100,000 of these people were on outbound flights and the other 80,000 on inbound flights.

“We help introduce people from Bradford to the world.”