Leeds East Airfield Review

I remember this airfield as RAF Church Fenton, which operated until 2013. I came here to airshows in the 1990s and remember it for its training units.

Since its closure, it has been taken into private hands and now operates as Leeds East Airport. Its two hard runways are in excellent condition and there are lots of original RAF hangars and buildings on site.

Operations building (c) Leeds East Airport

It had been hoped to turn this into a proper alternative commercial airport for Leeds, but this seems to have been postponed for the time being. Nevertheless, there does seem to be the occasional bizjet and other larger aircraft arrive, which makes it interesting.

I took the opportunity to fly down in the Tomahawk recently to have a look around. On my visit there was a classic WWII livery Douglas DC-3 in the hangar!

The landing fee was £15, and the welcome good. It was pretty quiet, but I’ve heard there are busier days, and the occasional fly-in and airshow here.

There’s a café on site with nice snacks and drinks. Avgas is available.

Website http://www.leedseastairport.co.uk/

Technical Information

Elevation: 29ft AMSL

Runway 06/24 – 1827m x 46m asphalt
Runway 16/34 – 1668m x 45m asphalt

A/G frequency – 126.500

Circuits at 1,000’ AGL, RH on runways 24 and 34; LH on 06 and 16.

PPR on 01937 534197 / 07541 226316

Perform straight in approaches. Beware of Sherburn-in-Elmet airfield only 3nm south of Leeds East.