The Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) has written to Leeds City Council this week saying it believes 500 planes have flown unlawfully at night during this summer. It is urging the council to “urgently take enforcement action”.

However, a spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport said the group’s claim was “incorrect” and that no breach had occurred.

Nick Hodgkinson, Chair of GALBA, said: “This summer, LBA has made more night flights than are permitted at Heathrow and around 500 of those flights should not have been allowed.

“There was a Public Inquiry into the correct legal meaning of the local night flight conditions earlier this year and the Planning Inspector ruled that planes with a noise ‘quota count’ below 0.5 are not allowed to fly at night at all. The Inspector also helpfully said that Leeds City Council has the power to make it lawful for those planes to fly at night and then they would be counted towards the cap on night time flying.

“But the council has chosen to do nothing. It hasn’t made it lawful for those planes to fly at night and it hasn’t done anything to stop them flying unlawfully. And to add insult to injury the Council is not counting these aircraft towards the night flight cap. The result is hundreds more night flights than should be allowed, harming human health and polluting our environment.”

A spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport added: “The planning enquiry was very clear that the movement of quieter aircraft are not counted towards the limits, so we think the appropriate thing to do would be to wait for the council to make any official determination – which we are awaiting an update on.”

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The council is yet to complete its analysis of the flight data for the 2025 BST period. Consequently, it would be therefore inappropriate to comment further at this stage on whether a breach has occurred.

“We recognise that planning issues relating to the airport are the subject of public interest and we always seek to work with the airport – and within the scope of the planning system – to address concerns raised.

“It should be noted that existing planning permits the airport to operate on a 24-hour basis within defined carefully limits.”