TUI has almost pulled Luton from its programme so the question is why? Delays at Luton are similar to Gatwick so there are other reasons like a lack of demand. Charter flights showed another drop from 429,504 in 2017 to 358,811 for 2018, which is around 10% of what Luton has had in the past. 19 new routes came in 2017 and 33 in 2018 but all those routes came from Luton’s existing airlines with no new airlines coming to Luton despite the efforts of a dedicated marketing team which is now being cut back.
As I said before the Dart will be a game changer but new markets are not in Europe but further afield and Luton has a success rate of zero in those markets.
Personally I don’t support expanding the airport. There always has to be a balance between those living under flight paths or living close to the airport and those that demand air travel as long as the aircraft don’t fly over their homes.
From a selfish point of view it is good to see Southend starting to do well. They might be a smaller player but they are getting their passengers from somewhere and it might help contain Luton’s aspersions.
Last edited by LTNman; 13th Oct 2019 at 06:49.