Leeds-Bradford Airport has been knocked from the top ten of airports - despite a rise in passenger numbers, an official report out today revealed.

Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority showed that the number of people using UK airports rose dramatically last year, particularly during the height of the Hatfield rail crisis.

But Liverpool knocked Leeds-Bradford from one of the top spots with a 52 per cent rise in its passengers numbers.

Ed Anderson, managing director at Leeds-Bradford, said: "Different airports were growing at different speeds during last year. Liverpool had an enormous increase in traffic from EasyJet who set up a base there and that accounts for the increase."

He said that Leeds-Bradford had grown by 8.5 per cent during 2000 and for the first four months of this year had seen a growth of 9.6 per cent.

"This is more than the national level of growth which stands at 6.8 per cent," he added."Last year was a good year and business at Leeds-Bradford is very good and continues to be. We are very pleased."