LUTON -8
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FRatSTN I agree, I think its unlikely that Thomson would switch their long haul ops planned for STN to LTN but that's no reason not to hope they do.
I don't see anything wrong in pinching routes from STN. LTN has done it with easyJet and its happened in reverse too in the past.
Like you I support the airport with which I have close links and for me that is LTN,
I don't see anything wrong in pinching routes from STN. LTN has done it with easyJet and its happened in reverse too in the past.
Like you I support the airport with which I have close links and for me that is LTN,
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Forget long haul, Luton doesn't need it and as La Compagnie has shown a movement per day per aircraft is not going to set Luton's figures on fire.
Luton's priority apart from getting the upgrade done ASAP is to improve the customers experience and perception. The state of parts of the short term and mid term car parks are a complete disgrace. Hardly any spaces marked out and potholes by the hundred surrounded by stones and gravel. Due to a lack of markings because of the surface breakup cars were having to reverse 100m today as exits at end of rows were blocked with parked cars. Hopefully the short term car park will get a complete makeover once it can be emptied after the multistory car park is opened but there is no hope for the mid term after seeing what is going on there this week with its cinders extension.
Luton is the only London airport without a station on site. OK that is never going to be corrected and alternatives to the shuttle bus are at least 10 years away but there are still big improvements that can be made to the service like replacing the usually overcrowded shoppers bus that has replaced one of the fleet of high capacity bendy buses and scrapping the conductor and ticket machine to use the bus which just slows the whole process down for that final mile.
Luton's priority apart from getting the upgrade done ASAP is to improve the customers experience and perception. The state of parts of the short term and mid term car parks are a complete disgrace. Hardly any spaces marked out and potholes by the hundred surrounded by stones and gravel. Due to a lack of markings because of the surface breakup cars were having to reverse 100m today as exits at end of rows were blocked with parked cars. Hopefully the short term car park will get a complete makeover once it can be emptied after the multistory car park is opened but there is no hope for the mid term after seeing what is going on there this week with its cinders extension.
Luton is the only London airport without a station on site. OK that is never going to be corrected and alternatives to the shuttle bus are at least 10 years away but there are still big improvements that can be made to the service like replacing the usually overcrowded shoppers bus that has replaced one of the fleet of high capacity bendy buses and scrapping the conductor and ticket machine to use the bus which just slows the whole process down for that final mile.
Anyone have any figures as to how much it costs to operate the buses between Parkway station and the terminal ?
I can guess a number, but would be nice to hear from someone knowledgable on this...
I can guess a number, but would be nice to hear from someone knowledgable on this...
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They used to be free and the cost was paid for by the airport out of general revenue. The charges were introduced when the bendy buses were introduced and became part of the Thameslink franchise allegedly to pay for the high end buses. Only one of the high class original bendy buses remains, two others have been replaced by inferior looking imitations while a single decker standard "shoppers" bus is also used.
The good https://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/4206903784
and the rubbish except the one they are using now is in London Transport Red blackmagic Yes it is a sight to see when one of these is packed out with passengers who can't breath on a hot day and stuck in traffic trying to get the CTA for 15 minutes.
It would make sense to maybe just raise the fare slightly for the rail part of the journey and chuck in the bus link but at the same time cutting slightly the car park charge at the station to compensate those that don't use the bus. Of course those that arrive on foot would loose out but there are not many foot passengers.
The good https://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/4206903784
and the rubbish except the one they are using now is in London Transport Red blackmagic Yes it is a sight to see when one of these is packed out with passengers who can't breath on a hot day and stuck in traffic trying to get the CTA for 15 minutes.
It would make sense to maybe just raise the fare slightly for the rail part of the journey and chuck in the bus link but at the same time cutting slightly the car park charge at the station to compensate those that don't use the bus. Of course those that arrive on foot would loose out but there are not many foot passengers.
Last edited by LTNman; 8th Sep 2015 at 20:43.
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There are separate rail fares to Luton Airport Parkway and to Luton Airport itself (the latter includes the bus transfer). For example, an off-peak single this morning from St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway costs £14 (off peak), but you'll pay £15.50 from St Pancras to Luton Airport. That's a saving of 10p I think, compared to the £1.60 you'll pay if you have to buy a separate ticket for the bus.
Plenty of people, like myself, use Parkway station without coming to or from the airport, so you need to keep separate fares. I agree that the charge should be scrapped though, as should the staff as it just slows down everything and creates a really bad impression for people who are charged if they have only got a ticket to the station and not the airport.
Plenty of people, like myself, use Parkway station without coming to or from the airport, so you need to keep separate fares. I agree that the charge should be scrapped though, as should the staff as it just slows down everything and creates a really bad impression for people who are charged if they have only got a ticket to the station and not the airport.
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Some favourable comments starting to appear on Twitter following the opening of the new security hall in its new ground floor location. Seems to be considerably quicker to transit.
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It opened yesterday but with the same amount of lanes as before. The airport claim that the new technology installed will allow for more passengers to be processed. Also don't forget the summer peak is now over but by next summer all 18 lanes should be opened.
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I hear a Swiss A320 got holed today by a high loader so a replacement aircraft had to be flown in.
On a more positive note the Israeli prime minister flew into Luton today on board an El-Al flight.
On a more positive note the Israeli prime minister flew into Luton today on board an El-Al flight.
Playing devil's advocate why should the airport subsidise the shuttle bus between Parkway station and the airport ?
The airport needs to be reachable without *too* much effort by train but the airport derives very little benefit at all from passengers travelling by train compared to parking fees and drop off charges paid by car passengers. As long as a Govt regulatory body doesn't hear too many complaints, the airport operating company is incentivised financially to keep the service to the train station in its current lousy state.
Anyone want to give a counter argument ?
Edit - forgot to add that this post was written on the train home from Parkway station, having just walked down the hill from the airport to the station at 10 pm
The airport needs to be reachable without *too* much effort by train but the airport derives very little benefit at all from passengers travelling by train compared to parking fees and drop off charges paid by car passengers. As long as a Govt regulatory body doesn't hear too many complaints, the airport operating company is incentivised financially to keep the service to the train station in its current lousy state.
Anyone want to give a counter argument ?
Edit - forgot to add that this post was written on the train home from Parkway station, having just walked down the hill from the airport to the station at 10 pm
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 9th Sep 2015 at 23:13.
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Playing devil's advocate why should the airport subsidise the shuttle bus between Parkway station and the airport ?
It encourages passengers and stimulates demand which ultimately benefits the airport. Also Luton is committed to increasing public transport usage to at least 40% which it is struggling to achieve. A benefit of that would be to take pressure away from the CTA which can't be psychically increased in size.
If anyone is in to heavy reading here are some airport PDF's on the subject. http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/con...ace-acces.html
Also why did you walk down the hill to the station as it didn't snow last night.
Last edited by LTNman; 10th Sep 2015 at 05:44.
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When Parkway station was first built, wasn't there an intention that the airport would have a monorail link? I seem to remember space made specifically for it in the tunnel under the taxiway (now gone though)?
Is there still any room to potentially enable a monorail to be built? Presumably if one were, it would have to stop well short of the terminal building as it couldn't get into the main central terminal area.
Is there still any room to potentially enable a monorail to be built? Presumably if one were, it would have to stop well short of the terminal building as it couldn't get into the main central terminal area.
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The intention was to put the land side terminal down there but the terminal and monorail never got further than a drawn line on a map.
No reason why a dedicated link to the station could not go into the CTA. It just depends what needs to be removed first. A natural place would be easyjets orange HQ which they are thinking about leaving anyway. It already butts up against arrivals and the soon to be built terminal extension. It would have minimal impact on the CTA as no roads need to be crossed or land taken then over the taxiway by the tunnel and follow the road down to the station except I am not aware that monorails like hills. The maximum gradient seems to be 12% so I don't know if Luton's terrain is within limits.
Who would pay for it would be the issue. No doubt someone would be looking for a government infrastructure grant.
No reason why a dedicated link to the station could not go into the CTA. It just depends what needs to be removed first. A natural place would be easyjets orange HQ which they are thinking about leaving anyway. It already butts up against arrivals and the soon to be built terminal extension. It would have minimal impact on the CTA as no roads need to be crossed or land taken then over the taxiway by the tunnel and follow the road down to the station except I am not aware that monorails like hills. The maximum gradient seems to be 12% so I don't know if Luton's terrain is within limits.
Who would pay for it would be the issue. No doubt someone would be looking for a government infrastructure grant.
Last edited by LTNman; 10th Sep 2015 at 12:58.
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One of the biggest changes to the redevelopment plans was the late introduction of a canopy fronting the terminal. This canopy is massive and now that some of the nose in coach bays have been marked with spray paint inside the old taxi rank its true size can be gauged.
The black lines represent the canopy footprint, the red zone is the terminal extension while the blue lines mark the new terminal entrance and exit.
From the same spot as the artist impression. The middle of the National Express coach marks the front edge of the canopy which is almost the same depth as the terminal extension.
The black lines represent the canopy footprint, the red zone is the terminal extension while the blue lines mark the new terminal entrance and exit.
From the same spot as the artist impression. The middle of the National Express coach marks the front edge of the canopy which is almost the same depth as the terminal extension.
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Another good EZY schedule for S16. Some days up to 65 departures. Can't help noticing some times look very peaky though...
To demonstrate, these are the departures currently between 1200 and 1800 on a Monday in June 2016:
EZY2303 12:20 Pisa
EZY2447 12:25 Copenhagen
EZY2367 12:35 Lisbon
EZY2273 12:55 Palma de Mallorca
EZY2203 13:00 Madrid
EZY2397 13:00 Sharm El Sheikh
EZY181 13:10 Belfast-International
EZY2045 13:20 Zurich
EZY2103 13:25 Berlin-Schonefeld
EZY2033 13:30 Bordeaux
EZY2439 15:25 Paris-Charles de Gaulle
EZY2449 15:25 Copenhagen
EZY185 16:20 Belfast-International
EZY2161 16:20 Amsterdam
EZY2211 17:10 Rome-Fiumicino
EZY2451 17:25 Copenhagen
EZY2267 17:45 Barcelona
EZY2061 17:50 Geneva
EZY2071 17:50 Munich
EZY2125 18:00 Nice
To demonstrate, these are the departures currently between 1200 and 1800 on a Monday in June 2016:
EZY2303 12:20 Pisa
EZY2447 12:25 Copenhagen
EZY2367 12:35 Lisbon
EZY2273 12:55 Palma de Mallorca
EZY2203 13:00 Madrid
EZY2397 13:00 Sharm El Sheikh
EZY181 13:10 Belfast-International
EZY2045 13:20 Zurich
EZY2103 13:25 Berlin-Schonefeld
EZY2033 13:30 Bordeaux
EZY2439 15:25 Paris-Charles de Gaulle
EZY2449 15:25 Copenhagen
EZY185 16:20 Belfast-International
EZY2161 16:20 Amsterdam
EZY2211 17:10 Rome-Fiumicino
EZY2451 17:25 Copenhagen
EZY2267 17:45 Barcelona
EZY2061 17:50 Geneva
EZY2071 17:50 Munich
EZY2125 18:00 Nice
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Easyjet: Looks like Copenhagen will go to 4 daily and Vienna stays at 3 weekly. This means more flights for next year and maybe more routes to come closer to the time.
Ramada Encore has now tuned into a hoilday inn. This means there is a hoilday inn express and a hoilday inn on the same road.
Ramada Encore has now tuned into a hoilday inn. This means there is a hoilday inn express and a hoilday inn on the same road.
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Does this mean the old 1980's terminal frontage will be no more...
Its about time we kissed good bye to it, as even now it stands out like a sore thumb.
Its about time we kissed good bye to it, as even now it stands out like a sore thumb.
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As can be seen in the plan on the previous page the maneuvering area for buses and coaches to reverse out of the 18 bays is very tight to say the least. This is in part due to the large paved areas which actually covers a larger area than the bus station. Once opened I don't think it will be that long before reversing buses and coaches in such a small busy area have their first collisions.