Grand plans are meaningless if you cannot compete equally with the BAA?
Yes but Luton is not equal with Stansted. The fact that Luton’s catchment area is the second biggest in the UK seems to count for very little as far as airline executives are concerned. While we all want to see Luton do well maybe we all see the airport with rose tinted glasses? The fact is from a passenger’s point of view Stansted is in a different division. Arriving by car at Stansted it is duel carriageway right to the front door with no problems dropping passengers off. Compare that with Luton. On Friday and Saturday of last week traffic was queuing all the way back to the Holiday Inn around lunchtime. Yes it was the age-old problem of parked cars in the drop off area stopping other cars from getting in. So was there anyone trying to keep the traffic moving? Not a chance.
Passengers intending to use the short-term car park at Luton should be recommended to take their own stepladders so they can climb out of the potholes. At Stansted they have something called tarmac in their car parks.
Passengers arriving by train not only have to contend with the tailbacks but also are packed like sardines into low capacity busses. I wonder sometimes whether these busses are officially overloaded and legal.
No doubt Luton will get there by 2012 with its major overhaul but while Stansted can still accept new airlines the marketing department are fighting a loosing battle.
As a side note when the popular information desk was closed the staff became floorwalkers but they all seem to have disappeared now. Were they made redundant?