Airlines must overcome rising costs, says Leeds Bradford boss

Successful airlines and airports will find a way to cope with the rising cost of operating, according to the chief executive of Leeds Bradford airport (LBA).

Airline bosses have previously warned that ever-increasing costs are having a knock-on effect on fares.

But Vincent Hodder told Travel Weekly that businesses should focus on trimming costs where possible and “targeting resources more carefully”.

He said: “Over the long-term, those airlines and airports that are most effective at reducing costs will be the most successful. As they’re more profitable, they will grow faster.”

He added: “Ryanair has been better than anybody else at reducing their costs and being incredibly focused on their core strategy and that has fuelled their exceptional growth over such a long period of time.”

Hodder said half of LBA’s traffic comes from Jet2, but during the summer the airline’s load factor was lower than expected.

The cost-of-living crisis might have had an impact, Hodder said, as well as the increasing cost of fares.

“Airfare prices have gone up by quite a bit over the last few years and in conjunction with the cost of living, that is potentially having an impact. But it’s not a huge impact – it’s at the margin,” Hodder said.

He added that he believes the “the world adjusts” in the face of fresh challenges

“There’s an increasing level of regulatory compliance and safety compliance and cybersecurity risk and these things require us as businesses to do things we weren’t required to do before and that does increase our costs, but at the same time we’re constantly looking for other efficiencies,” he said.