There is provision to build a station in the mid term car park but it was not part of this build. To be honest LLAL is up to its eyeballs in debt with no income and is in a bad way. Looking at projections for the return of a dividend to the Council the Council is expecting nothing for at least 5 years.
The capital programme for the airport for this and the next financial year is £164m. Much of this expenditure is historical with most of it going on the Dart.
Net income to the Council from the airport for this financial year and the following financial year will be £20m per year but that money will be borrowed by the Council and handed over to LLAL so they can pay it back as income.
Regarding leverage, Debenhams had a debt to top line annual earnings ratio of 5 to 1 and went bust. LLAL ratio is 8 to 1 of debt and that doesn’t include latest borrowing for its most profitable year which was 2018/2019.
Force Majeure, which was written in 1999 has yet to be settled and might well end up in court but it is likely to cost LLAL millions and might even sink it and that excludes legal costs.
Let’s not forget the terms the government set regarding the Councils dependency on the airport as it wants to see a plan. At the moment it is LLAL that is dependent on the Council to bail it out while the Council is dependent on LLAL to pay it £20m. The latest Council proposed cutback is to close the towns golf course at Stockwood park.
With the Councils proposed expansion of Luton Airport it has spent money like water in anticipation of earning more but it might end up with not owning the airport. That would indeed be a bleak day but the airport would always survive.
Dart train news
https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/tr...n-dart-3140455