London Luton Airport outperforms the competition
FromLondon Luton Airport website
Published: 02 October 2014
London Luton Airport outperformed all other UK airports in August, enjoying record passenger numbers and its busiest month on record.
The Airport recorded an 11.8% increase in passenger numbers in August compared to the same month last year, beating Gatwick’s increase of 8.2%. The average increase across all UK airports was 4.4%.*
London Luton is on track for the busiest year in its 76 year history. The increase is being driven by new routes and carriers and a new ten-year deal with easyJet announced in March which will see the airline grow capacity at London Luton by 20% over the next year.
New destinations on sale this summer included Naples, Catania and Skiathos with more opening up this winter, such as Copenhagen, Lyons and Basle. New airline partner, Atlasjet, commenced flights to Istanbul in May.
The news comes as London Luton embarks on a £100m redevelopment of the Airport, which will increase annual passenger capacity from 12 million to 18 million per year by 2026. The plans include an expanded and modernised terminal building, better rail and other surface transport links and improvements to the passenger experience, including additional screening lanes to reduce waiting times.
The changes are forecast to increase the Airport’s annual economic impact by £283m to £1.2bn per annum and create over 5,000 new jobs.
Clive Condie, Executive Chairman of London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL), said: “Interest in London Luton from leisure and business passengers has never been higher. This is a great platform from which to launch our ambitious redevelopment programme and enable London Luton to become a leading airport serving London, Luton and the surrounding regions.”