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EspañolLONDON LUTON AIRPORT
'London Luton Airport' (previously called 'Luton International Airport')[3] is an international airport located on the edge of the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England approximately north of London. The airport is 2 miles (3 km) from junction 10a of the M1 motorway. It is the fourth largest airport serving the London area after Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and is one of London's five international airports along with London City Airport.
In 2005, total passengers at London Luton increased by 21% to 9.1 million,[4] making it the UK's seventh-busiest airport and one of the fastest-growing major UK airports.[4] Growth slowed to 3% in 2006, when passengers totalled 9.41 million. The airport serves as a hub for easyJet, Monarch Airlines, Thomsonfly, First Choice Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines, Wizz Air, Silverjet and Ryanair.[4]
History
Early history
An airport was opened on the site on the 16 July, 1938 by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood. During the Second World War it was a base for Royal Air Force fighters. The topography of the Luton area, situated where the valley of the River Lea cuts its way through the north-east end of the Chiltern Hills, has influenced the location of the airport. The airport occupies a hill-top location, with a drop-off about 40 metres at the western end of the runway[7][8][1].
Following the war the land was returned to the local council who continued activity at the airport as a commercial operation, providing a base for tour operators such as Euravia (now TUI, following previous growth as Britannia Airways) and Monarch Airlines. In 1972, Luton Airport was the most profitable airport in the country. It suffered a severe setback in August 1974 when a major package holiday operator, Clarksons, scheduling flights via its airline Court Line (which also operated local bus services), went bankrupt.
View across London Luton Airport, taken from the aircraft spotters viewpoint on the south side. A Thomsonfly Boeing 737-300 is lifting off, past the control tower.
1980s and 1990s
The next fifteen years saw a process of rebuilding, including the opening of a new international terminal in 1985. In 1990 the airport was renamed London Luton Airport to re-emphasize the airport's connection to the UK capital. In 1991 another setback occurred when Ryanair, who had flown from the airport to Ireland for a number of years, transferred its base of operations to Stansted. Later in the 90s MyTravel Group PLC began charter flights from the airport, using the "Airtours" brand and new 'low cost' scheduled flights from Debonair and easyJet, the latter making Luton its hub.
In August 1997, to fund a £80 million extension of the airport, the council issued a 30 year management contract to a public private partnership consortium, London Luton Airport Operations Limited , which was headed by Barclays Bank. Barclays later sold to TBI plc.
The main feature of the development phase in 1998 was a £40 million terminal made from aluminium and glass, based on an original design by Foster and Partners which The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened in November 1999. The new terminal houses 60 check-in desks, baggage and flight information systems and a wide range of shops, restaurants and bars.
Recent history
In September 2004, development work started on a major project to transfer departures from the International Terminal Building built in 1985, to the previously unused first floor of the 1999 Terminal Building, a area featuring a spectacular vaulted ceiling, which was completed with the new terminal, but intended to lie unused until required. The new departure hall opened on schedule on 1 July 2005 and features a new boarding pier extending 200 metres out between the airport's north & east Aprons and relocated security, customs and immigration facilities. In January 2005, London Luton Airport Operations Limited was acquired by Airport Concessions Development Limited, a company owned by Abertis Infraestructuras (90%) and Aena Internacional (10%), both Spanish companies. Abertis is a European infrastructure provider, whilst Aena Internacional is the international business arm of the Spanish national airport and air traffic control organisation.
Development plans and the future
In 2004 the airport management announced[9] that they supported the government plans to expand the facilities to include a full-length runway and a new terminal.[10]. However, local campaign groups, including Luton and Disctrict Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN)[11] and Stop Luton Airport Plan (SLAP)[12] opposed the new expansion plans, for reasons including noise pollution and traffic concerns; LADACAN also claimed that various sites, including Someries castle, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, would be threatened by the expansion. On 6 July 2007 it was announced that the owners of London Luton Airport decided to scrap plans to build a second runway and new terminal due to financial reasons.[13]
The airport today
The airport possesses a single runway, running roughly east to west, with a length of 7087 feet (2160 metres) at an elevation of 525 feet (160 m). The runway is equipped with an Instrument Landing System rated to Category IIIB, allowing the airport to continue operating in conditions of poor visibility. Luton Airport Technical Data Community Newsletter - August 2006 All the airport facilities lie to the north of the runway. The terminal and aprons have a somewhat unusual layout, with ground-side access to the terminal being via a road tunnel to a bus station, drop off area, taxi rank and short term car park on the runway side of the terminal building. Most of the aircraft stands are located on the northern side of the terminal building, away from the runway and connected to it by a 'U' shaped set of taxiways and aprons that together encircle the terminal.[7][8]
The northern side of the U shaped apron is ringed by a continuous line of hangars and other buildings, emphasing the fact that Luton is a major maintenance base for several airlines including Thomsonfly, Monarch and easyJet. By contrast to the heavily built up apron area, the airport's southern boundary is entirely rural with only a few isolated farm buildings and houses close to the airport boundary.[7][8]
The airport remains in municipal ownership, owned by Luton Borough Council but managed by the private sector London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLOAL). London Luton Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P835) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. An indicator of the importance of the airport to the economy of Luton is that Luton is reported to have the highest number of taxicabs per head of population in the United Kingdom.[18] The airport has become even more critical to the future of Luton given the recent closure of the Vauxhall car factory.
Airport statistics
Passengers using Luton airport, in millions:
★ 1992 - 1.943
★ 1993 - 1.844
★ 1994 - 1.804
★ 1995 - 1.810
★ 1996 - 2.406
★ 1997 - 3.221
★ 1998 - 4.116
★ 1999 - 5.251
★ 2000 - 6.170
★ 2001 - 6.540
★ 2002 - 6.474
★ 2003 - 6.786
★ 2004 - 7.520
★ 2005 - 9.135
★ 2006 - 9.425
Silverjet terminal
Shortly after its launch, Silverjet announced plans to open a private terminal facility at its base in London Luton Airport. The terminal is designed to handle around 100 passengers by a meet & greet service: passengers will arrive and be met by a concierge who will take their baggage and they can proceed through to security and into the lounge that features internet access, shops and seating. A member of staff will come to the customer and check their ticket and passport before they can board. The minimum time for this to be completed is 30 minutes.
The Silverjet facility is in the old Main Terminal and utilises the space of most of the old Departure Lounge Area. It has been completely refurbished to the standards of Silverjet.
Luton Airport in the media
Luton Airport is widely known as a result of the ''Airline'' and ''Luton Airport'' television series. ''Airline'' follows the staff of easyJet at Luton and the airlines other hubs across the country whilst the 2005 series, named after the airport followed the life of employees at the airport in a similar format to the show Airport which follows staff at London Heathrow Airport. The airport was also mentioned in a famous Campari advert featuring Lorraine Chase, with the punch line "Were you truly wafted here from paradise?". " Na Lut'n Airport". This advert was the inspiration for a 1979 UK hit by Cats U.K. entitled "Luton Airport". The airport was also mentioned in the Piranha Brothers sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, as being the place where one of the brothers, Dinsdale, thinks that a giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman sleeps and the airport was featured in the February 2007 issue of Airline World Magazine. The article featuring the airport was about how it responded to the terror scares on 10 August 2006 and what measures were put in place. Luton airport was also featured on ''Flying Photos'' episode 3. To see Flying Photos Go to wackyphoenix.com/animations.
Ground transport
First Capital Connect train at Luton Parkway
Road
The airport lies a few miles away from the M1 motorway, which runs southwards to London, northwards to Leeds and connects to the M25 motorway. There is a short stay car park adjacent to the terminal, together with medium and long term on airport car parks to the west and east of the terminal respectively and linked to the terminal by shuttle buses. Pre-booked off airport parking is also available from several independent operators.
Rail
A railway station, Luton Airport Parkway was built to serve the airport in 1999. It is positioned on the Midland Main Line.
First Capital Connect are the principle opperator, with services to Bedford, St Albans, London, Wimbledon, Sutton, London Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
Midland Mainline semi-fast services call hourly going south to London St Pancras and north to Leicester, Nottingham and Leeds.
A free shuttle bus connects the station to the airport, a distance of just over a mile.[4] There are plans to replace the shuttle bus with a segregated tracked transit system.[4]
Buses
Local buses connect Luton Airport with Luton town centre and other local places. Direct bus services to London are operated by both Green Line Coaches and easyBus (with service to London Victoria). National Express coaches link the airport to other towns in the midlands and north of England.[4]
Airlines and destinations
Luton is now also a major hub for several low-cost carriers, with scheduled services to many European destinations. Charter flights account for the remaining eight percent of the airport's passenger traffic.
The airport is also a centre for business jets, with an executive aviation base run by Harrods Aviation, part of the same group as London's Harrods department store. The airport is served by cargo airlines..[4]
Scheduled airlines
Scheduled airlines operating out of Luton include:[4]
★ Aer Arann (Galway, Waterford)
★ easyJet (Aberdeen, Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Belfast-International, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Bremen, Budapest, Cagliari, Dortmund, Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow-International, Grenoble, Ibiza, Inverness, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Hamburg [begins November 5, 2007], Kraków, Lisbon, Madrid, Málaga, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rijeka, Turin, Warsaw, Zurich [begins September 18, 2007], Vienna [begins October 29, 2007])
★ Flybe (Isle of Man) [begins Winter, 2007]
★ Monarch Airlines (Alicante, Almería, Faro, Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Málaga, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife-South)
★ Ryanair (Brest, Dublin, Fez, Girona, Knock, Malta, Marrakech, Milan-Bergamo, Murcia, Nîmes, Reus, Rome-Ciampino, Shannon [begins November 7, 2007])
★ Silverjet (Chicago-O'Hare [begins November, 2007/pending Gov't Approval], Newark)
★ Sky Europe (Bratislava [begins October 28, 2007], Kosice [begins October 29, 2007], Poprad [begins October 30, 2007], Prague [begins October 28, 2007])
★ Thomas Cook Airlines (Palma)
★ Thomsonfly (Alicante, Bourgas, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Faro, Funchal, Gerona, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Ibiza, Jersey, Kefalonia, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Malaga, Marrakech, Minorca, Monastir, Palma, Paphos, Prague, Reus, Rhodes, Tel Aviv [begins November 1, 2007], Tenerife, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos)
★ Wizz Air (Bourgas, Bucharest-Băneasa, Budapest, Gdańsk, Katowice, Poznan, Sofia, Split, Tirgu Mures [begins October 30, 2007], Warsaw, Zagreb)
★ XL Airways (Larnaca)
Charter operators
Around 8% of flights out of Luton are operated by charter airlines. Charter airlines who fly to Luton include:
★ First Choice Airways [ends November, 2007]
★ Monarch Airlines
★ Thomas Cook Airlines
★ Thomsonfly
★ XL Airways
Cargo operators
Cargo operators include:[4]
★ DHL
★ MNG Airlines
★ Varig Logística
References
1. UK Aeronautical Information Service
2. Aircraft Movements, Air Passengers by Type and Nationality of Operator
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 182 - St Albans & Hatfield''. ISBN 9780319237809.
8. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 193 - Luton & Stevenage''. ISBN 9780319237830.
9. London Luton Airport - Future Developments
10. Luton and Distric Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise - Communities affected
11. Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise - Campaign Headlines
12. Stop Luton AIrport Plan
13. New runway plans at Luton shelved
14. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 182 - St Albans & Hatfield''. ISBN 9780319237809.
15. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 193 - Luton & Stevenage''. ISBN 9780319237830.
16. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 182 - St Albans & Hatfield''. ISBN 9780319237809.
17. Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 193 - Luton & Stevenage''. ISBN 9780319237830.
18. "Luton South", UK Polling Report
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
External links
★ Official website of London Luton Airport
★ London Luton Airport Consultative Committee
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