All comes back to diversification or a lack of. History is littered with airport's that have relied on just one or two airlines. Southampton is the UK's latest example. Luton's business model is cheap as chips low cost European routes and that other London airports that are full so they can get away with a poor experience. What is their business model for a 32m Luton? What new markets are they aiming for as they haven't said? Their only hint is a new terminal as bad as the existing one.
Questions about LLAOL as well. With just 11 years of the existing franchise left the clock is ticking regarding any new investment from the airport operator. They were meant to be funding the taxiway extension at runway 25, maybe they have no choice but to finish it but the new aprons that were announced last year around the engine run up bay might now never get built, as LLAOL announced they were stopping all investment. If the demand comes back in future years there will not be enough time to recoup the investment. The terminal expansion to 22.5million won't happen either as that is dependent on the new aprons.
Meanwhile the council has announce massive job cuts, cuts to services including children's and adult social services. Even the switching off of street lights and charging residents to empty their brown bins. As for the airport, the council doesn't intend to make any cutbacks so the £418 million being spent or to be spent on pre enabling work will continue, as the council has decided that residents, including the vulnerable and poor, need to make sacrifices and the government needs to bail them out due to their loss making airport and not putting money aside during the good years. The £418m might be a complete waste if the government says no to airport expansion. The DCO has now been put back a year.
As for how the Council has spent money in the past, apart from the airport, carnivals for Londoners comes to mind and money poured into trying to get City of Culture status for a town that is a sh!thole in the town centre. Even the locals who live on the edge have stopped going to the town centre and now travel to other towns for events and shopping.