SIR - The Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, James Mason, seems to misunderstand the nature of the environmental problem with a new passenger terminal at Leeds Bradford Airport. The proposed new terminal may be “environmentally friendly”. But the purpose of the building is to facilitate an increase in passenger numbers from the present four million per year to seven million per year by 2030. There is nothing remotely environmentally friendly about that.

Mr Mason appears to be untroubled by climate change. Has he already forgotten the flooding across Yorkshire that occurred a few months ago? Simply to say “we need to compete in a new world” is just fatuous. No doubt tourism chiefs around the world are saying the same thing. We should not be getting into a competition for a new world that is too hot for human habitation.

Similarly, there is nothing friendly about an extension of flying hours. The owners of the airport want to remove current restrictions on night flying and to extend the flying hours from 6am. until 11.30 at night. This noise pollution, which extends across north Leeds, will damage the quality of life for many thousands of local people.

The cheerleaders for airport expansion claim that more passengers will bring more money to Yorkshire. In fact, figures just released by the Office for National Statistics show that tourism takes far more money out of the UK economy than it brings in. The tourism trade deficit is nearly £40 billion per year.

Christopher Foren

Chair, GALBA (Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport)