Luton permanently closes the passenger drop off area.

[PAXboy]

I can't think of any BAA airports that don't allow you to pickup/drop off right outside the terminal.

Sure, sloppy wording on my part. I meant it to indicate that generating revenue is now more important than servicing the customers. If you service the customers well - then you will get revenue.

[vintage ATCO]

Much of Luton’s problems stem from the location of the bridge. The original plan was to locate the bridge around 100 yards further down the road towards the hotels which would have made a huge difference to the size of the central area. I heard at the time that it was ATC who objected as it would have restricted movements due to its location in respect to runway 08 and the inability to hold more than one aircraft at the holding point without affecting aircraft that had landed getting to the apron. Not sure this story was true but it was what I heard at the time.

There was an idea, not so much a plan, to plug the taxiway into the back of the compass base. Without additional parallel taxiways, which were not planned at the time, this would have been a disaster as traffic turning the corner onto what is now twy B would infringe the Cleared and Graded and would therefore have been held back until traffic had taken off or landed. Also traffic holding here would be in the way of arrivals turning off of rwy 26. Credit me with some commonsense.

It might have worked in the end but would have required a direct turn onto a parallel twy A, meaning demolishing switch house one and the fire station. That wasn't going to happen at the time and the interim would have been a nightmare.

[LTNman]

Great entertainment

I guess that the roundabout will become the unofficial drop off point from now on.

Anyone looking for a good day out with free entertainment should come and watch the airport staff trying to direct reluctant passengers to the short-term car park for their free 15 minutes of parking. Yesterday morning it was NCP staff who were failing to stop passengers unload luggage from cars on the roundabout. By the afternoon airport security with whistles had taken over the job but were also having not much success. Today it was the police who got stuck in. Despite the sight of the police, cars were still parking on the roundabout right in front of the boys in blue to disgorge their passengers. Other motorists had a better plan, with the exit off the roundabout to the old drop off zone coned off together with road closed signs they just drove on the wrong side of the traffic island to get the old entrance.

With I guess most passengers making just one or two trips a year through LTN I wonder how long manpower will be deployed to keep the traffic moving?

[eurostar builder]

Dropping of on roundabout and holding the traffic up even more.

What a good move Luton

[LTNman]

Passengers win battle

After 5 days of chaos the new drop off area in the short-term car park has been abandoned. Despite thousands of pounds being spent on new roadside barriers, traffic signs and an additional entry to the short-term car park the great British public were having none of it.

At 17:15 the cones were removed and the signs were being taped up. The old barrier to the drop off zone was raised and left in an open position as all of the old signs stating that there was a 10 minutes limit or it would cost up to £50 to leave had been removed. Within minutes the old drop off area was full of parked cars as others struggled to get in.

Just another day at LTN!

[rubik101]

Open again?

I flew into LTN last night and the barriers were still in place, the drop off area empty and the taxis queueing in half of the drop off area, just as before. I couldn't see the signs, it was peeing down and I was leaving, without looking back. Btw, I was picked up off the middle of the the roundabout.

[LTNman]

It is definitely back to the drawing board for LLA. Some of the new road signs on the approach road have now been removed and the information about using the short term car park as a drop off point has now been removed from the airports website.

I hope they haven’t thrown away all the old signage as I guess it will be going back up again until they can come up with plan B

My suggestion for Plan B is either a second barrier for both inbound and outbound traffic thus doubling capacity or removing the barriers and using wardens who this time actually enforce the no waiting rules. Last time the airport used wardens they did nothing if drivers sat in their cars.

[tart1]

I had to pick someone up at 23.00 the other night and even at that time it was chaos. I can imagine that at busy peak times it must have been mayhem. The free 15 minutes is really not long enough and is just a way of making sure that most people using the car park end up paying £1.60 to pick up their friends and relatives. Surely it wasn't too difficult for the airport authorities to anticipate that the roundabout would very quickly become the new pick-up/drop-off point and that this would cause great problems for the buses using the roundabout. What on earth were they thinking????? There has to be a better way.

[Jordan D]

I flew back to EDI via LTN on Sunday night ... drop off area was packed with cars, with the barrier open and no charge for staying: if you could find a space .... all good with me & my parents!

Jordan

[tart1]

Well I'm glad they really do appear to have gone back to that system then. It would seem that if there are too many cars parked in the pick-up area then they need to make sure that the 'no waiting' rule is enforced by moving people on. The whole point of a pick-up area is that dropping off and picking up can be done quickly and close to the terminal without having to park in an expensive and inconvenient car park. If you need to wait half an hour for someone to arrive then you have got to go and wait somewhere else where it is quieter and where you will not cause an obstruction. In these days of everyone having a mobile phone then it's simple just to park somewhere and wait for the call to say that the people are ready to be picked up - isn't it?

[LTNman]

It would seem that if there are too many cars parked in the pick-up area then they need to make sure that the 'no waiting' rule is enforced by moving people on.

The airport has gone full circle. Joe Public were ignoring the double yellow lines so traffic wardens were employed at great expense. The problem with the wardens was that they would ignore any car that contained the driver. As most of the parked cars contained drivers who were waiting for passengers, the drop off area was often grid locked as there was no kerb for anyone dropping people off.

The next plan was to get rid of the wardens and fit an entry and exit barrier. Anyone staying more than 10 minutes had to pay the following.
10-15 minutes £25
15-20 minutes £35
Over 20 minutes £50.
The problem was that they only fitted a single barrier in each direction. A stretched limo could cause a tailback that went past the Ibis hotel. Even without blockages the single barriers could not cope with the traffic flows thus the move to the short-term car park, which only lasted a week.
So now everything has gone back to were it was except that two rows of the drop off area are now reserved for taxis making the remaining area even smaller.

[tart1]

I'm not trying to be difficult but why can't wardens move people on who are just parked waiting for arriving passengers? If I park in the middle of town on a double yellow line, then a warden asks me to move or I'll get a ticket. I think that people are very selfish and they will just park and wait regardless but if they are threatened with a parking ticket then they may well act differently. Surely it's just a matter of enforcing the rules for the benefit of the majority of people who would just like the ability to stop for a minute or two at most to pick up or drop off their passengers near the terminal. I suppose there is no point contacting the relevant airport authorities to put the humble point of view of a member of the public??

[LTNman]

The wardens faced a loosing battle. There was only every one warden on duty at any one time. Joe Public would keep one eye on the warden and one eye out for the their passengers. It got to a point very quickly when the wardens would just concentrate on the cars with no drivers. Also the wardens needed breaks including lunch so there would be no cover then.

[In trim]

Whatever plan they come up with next, that whole roundabout and approach really needs re-configuring. On numerous occasions I have queued from the Ibis going up the hill, simply due to the roundabout being clogged up with people in the wrong lane.

At least if it was better signed, and perhaps the road was wider after the tunnel, people who genuinely want to get round the roundabout to access the car park, staff parking, Harrods Aviation, easyLand, etc. could do so.

This coupled with strict control of the 10 minute waiting would certainly assist in the short term.

[tart1]

I suppose it all boils down to needing to spend the money on enough wardens to do the job and provide cover at all times. I would imagine that, unless some kind of investment is made in this area, chaos will continue to reign.

[Buster the Bear]

Why is this thread still here?

Parking and the costs involved at Heathrow.

Supply and demand!

LTNman try parking at the Wigmore ASDA on a Saturday afternoon, then blame the airport operator for a lack of short term parking bays at your local supermarket?

LTNman move on to something remotely interesting. One day you might even praise Luton!

Short term parking, drop off parking. Luton will shift closer to 10 million pax this coming year so parking resources will be stretched, if you want the luxury of driving to Luton, sadly you will have to pay a premium for it, and rightly so! Folk sadly think that it is thier god given right to park where they like!

[LTNman]

Why is this thread still here?

Because you are keeping it going

[tart1]

Why is this thread still here?

Excuse us - I thought that we were on a forum talking about airports.

Sorry if we're boring you Buster. This is a legitimate topic about a current issue

[Eddie Ginley]

Busterboy makes a good point though...

This does seem to be a discussion that has little to do with aviation, and a lot to do with car parks.

Yum, I'm lovin' it - I just can't abide them pesky hairyplain critters...

However, for anyone who is a bit bored with this topic - one of our fellow prunettes has elsewhere started a string about LTN and the High court judgement on airport expansion today.

Not much interest so far - 'cept from me - but hey, whadda I know? - not a lick of a mention of parked cars on roundabouts in sight...

Love & kisses

Laughin' Eddie Ginley XX

[LGS6753]

Eddie

As the originator of the High Court string, I am no "prunette". There's absolutely nothing "ette" about me.

I'm yer original pruner - no frilly bits, fully grown to normal size and shape, red-blooded and definately leaded.

Wot's more my wings aren't angelic....

LGS