Luton Airport

Luton Airport is the fourth largest airport serving London, after Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. It is also one of London's six international airports, along with London City and Southend. In 2013, just under 9.7 million passengers crossed the airport, causing Luton Airport to be the sixth busiest airport in the UK. The airport serves as the airbase for EasyJet, Monarch, Thomson Airways and Ryanair. Most of the routes served are in Europe, although there are regular charter flights to destinations in North Africa and Asia. An airport was opened on the current airport on July 16, 1938.

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During the Second World War, it was the air base for the Royal Air Force. Following the war, the land was returned to the local council, which continued to operate the airport with commercial operations. The Percival aircraft factory existed at the airport until the early 1960s. Since the mid-1960s, executive aircraft were operated by McAlpine Aviation. These activities increased, so many jet operators as well as maintenance companies were operating at the airport.

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It became the operating base for charter airlines, such as Autair (which became Court Line), Euravia (now Thomson Airways), Dan-Air and Monarch. In 1972, Luton Airport was the most lucrative airport in the country. It suffered a serious regression in August 1974, when a vacation package of the Clarksons operator was eliminated. In the 1980s, the airport experienced a decrease in the number of customers; this was because of the lack of investment. The Council has again focused on airport development, primarily on the efficient operation of the airport through an independent management team. As a result, necessary infrastructure works were carried out. In the next 15 years, the airport has been refurbished and a new international terminal, a baggage handling station with an automatic installation, a new control tower with upgraded air traffic control systems, a new cargo center, other upgrades of the runway. By the late 1980s there was only one concrete track. The former grass strip disappeared under a waste facility. In order to remain a viable airport, it was also necessary to update CAT3 services. This meant updating ILS.

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During the development of the basic infrastructure, various business partners were shown to be interested and new business models were considered. The creation of a freight center and a railway station at the airport was envisaged. In 1990, the airport was renamed London Luton Airport to rediscover the proximity of the airport to the capital of Great Britain. In 1991, another failure occurred when Ryanair transferred its operating base to London - Stansted Airport. Later in the 1990s, MyTravel Group began charter flights from the airport and new low-cost flights from Debonair and EasyJet, the latter creating its air base at Luton Airport. In August 1997, in order to finance an expansion of the airport with a £ 80 million investment, the Council issued a 30-year concession contract for a public-private partnership at Luton Airport in London with International Airport Group AGI) and Barclays Private Equity. In 1999, AGI was sold to TBI plc and in 2001 Barclays also sold its Luton shares to TBI plc. The main feature of the development phase in 1998 was the construction of the aluminum and glass terminal with a 40 million pound investment. The new terminal, which was officially opened in November 1999 by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, has 60 check-in offices, flight information systems, and a wide range of shops, restaurants and bars.

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The New Departure Hall was opened on July 1, 2005 and features a new embarkation dock, security services, customs and immigration facilities. This also extended the number of boarding gates from the previous number to 19 to the current number of 26. 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, while Aena Internacional deals with international business, airport organization and air traffic control. Airline Silverjet operated flights to Newark and Dubai from a dedicated terminal between 2006 and 2008. However, the airline ceased operations due to the global economic crisis. At present, the airport has only one runway running from east to west with a length of 2160 m. The track is equipped with an ILS landing system, rated IIIB, which allows the airport to continue operating under conditions low visibility. All airport facilities are located on the north side of the runway.

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The terminal has access to a bus stop, a drop off area, a taxi station and a short-term parking lot. There are approximately 60 stands available for aircraft. All of these stands are located in the northern part of the terminal building, away from the track and connected to it by a U-shaped treadmill that surrounds the terminal. The northern side of the U-shaped platform is surrounded by a continuous hangar line and other buildings, underlining the fact that Luton is an important maintenance base for several airlines, including Thomson Airways, Monarch and EasyJet. Unlike the north-built area, the southern border of the airport is entirely in the countryside, with only a few isolated farm buildings and houses close to the airport. The airport remains owned by the city, owned by the Luton Borough Council, but managed by the private sector of London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL).

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Luton Airport in London is allowed to make flights for public passenger transport or for training flights. An indicator of the importance of the airport to Luton's economy is that Luton has reported the largest number of taxis per capita in the United Kingdom. For the airport to expand further, the Transport Department (DfT) supports runway extension plans from its current length of 2160 m to 3,000 m. Such a runway would increase the operational flexibility of airlines that could use aircraft with a higher payload. In 2013, the number of passengers at the airport was 9,697,944.