Leeds Bradford Airport Runway Mystery Forces Overnight Closure
Leeds Bradford Airport was suddenly shut down overnight after a mysterious runway issue brought operations to a grinding halt.
The unforeseen check left passengers stranded and airlines scrabbling for results, as masterminds worked through the night to get the runway back in action.
The field, one of Yorkshire’s busiest trip capitals, verified the arrestment late on Friday, citing an unanticipated specialised fault.
“Due to an unforeseen issue with the runway, we have had to make the decision to close the airport until the morning.”
A Leeds Bradford statement said.
Form brigades were incontinently dispatched to assess and repair the Leeds Bradford Airport runway, with expedients to have it functional again by 6 am on Saturday.
Leeds Bradford airport has been closed until at least tomorrow morning.
The evening outbound easyJet Europe flight from Palma was diverted to Manchester.
The inbound flight back to Palma has been cancelled.
Anyone flying tomorrow should check with their airline. pic.twitter.com/7F3hYU9TrE
— heatmallorca (@heatmallorca) October 24, 2025
“We are working to resolve the disruption as soon as possible. The safety and comfort of the passengers travelling through our terminal is our number one priority,” the statement continued.
The field added that staff remained on point throughout the night to help passengers with updates, rebookings, and support.
“Our team is on the ground in the terminal to answer any customer queries regarding departures.”
Between 7.30 pm on Friday and 7 am on Saturday, all but one flight listed for Leeds Bradford were moreover cancelled or diverted.
Breakouts from 16 destinations, stretching from Portugal to Turkey, were rerouted, substantially to Manchester Airport.
One flight from Palma was fully cancelled, while another from Nice was diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle, making it the only diverted flight outside the UK.
A single KLM service from Amsterdam managed to touch down at Leeds Bradford just before 11.30 pm, hardly avoiding dislocation.
This incident adds to a growing list of operational challenges for Leeds Bradford. The airport ranked among Britain’s worst for cancellations last year, with an average of 1.8% of flights scrapped each month, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
For context, Southampton (3.3%), London City (2.9%), Cardiff (2.2%), and Glasgow (2.1%) all reported higher rates — but Leeds Bradford’s record still placed it firmly in the top five.
Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor, which analysed the CAA figures, blamed a mix of bad weather and global tech failures for the airport’s turbulent record.
“Storms Isha and Jocelyn in January 2024 had a particularly damaging effect on services to and from Leeds Bradford Airport,” Mr Radchenko said.
“In July, the global IT outage resulted in around 5,000 flights worldwide being cancelled, in what was a very challenging few days for the aviation industry.
Across the month, cancellations at the airport rose to 1.8 per cent. In June and August, the rate fell to less than 0.5 per cent for both months.”
Frustration spread Snappily among trippers on social media, with some criticising the field for vague updates about the runway issue. Others expressed sympathy for the staff, praising their sweat amid chaos.
By early Saturday, optimism was returning as reports suggested crews were close to restoring full operations. Still, many questioned how such a critical fault could appear without warning, and whether it points to a deeper issue at the airport.
For now, Leeds Bradford remains under scrutiny, with passengers and airlines alike waiting for answers about what exactly grounded the runway overnight.
