LUTON -8
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The entrance that we were all talking about is in fact the temporary departures entrance and it has opened today. The old departures entrance will now be closed and sectioned off to help with the development of the terminal extension. It is quite a small entrance by the looks of it and is very close to the check in desks, so could get very crowded. Progress with the multi-story seems to be doing well, but we will see all of that in LTNMan's weekly redevelopment update tomorrow.
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The link bridge video is here https://vimeo.com/162856110 with its nice view of the airport from the top of the multistory core.
The entrance video is not worth looking at but I will put a few photos of it here later today.
The entrance video is not worth looking at but I will put a few photos of it here later today.
Last edited by LTNman; 15th Apr 2016 at 05:01.
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The UK's cheapest airport
Luton Airport named cheapest to fly out from in the UK in SkyScanner survey | Daily Mail Online
Also apparently the council are going to announce details of a £200 million rail link to the airport today in London. Not sure why they need to go to London to make the announcement.
Also apparently the council are going to announce details of a £200 million rail link to the airport today in London. Not sure why they need to go to London to make the announcement.
Last edited by LTNman; 15th Apr 2016 at 08:05.
LTNman - probably because they want maximum press coverage and many journalists will not want to spend the time travelling from their office to LTN and back if they can avoid it
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Correct
Talk of light rail 1.5 miles long, £200 million cost , a tunnel and delivered by 2020-ambitious
Also land by M1 Junc 10 to raise funds for the new football stadium.
Talk of light rail 1.5 miles long, £200 million cost , a tunnel and delivered by 2020-ambitious
Also land by M1 Junc 10 to raise funds for the new football stadium.
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Weekly redevelopment update
At around 10:45 yesterday the new temporary entrance opened while the old entrances together with the covered walkway leading to them were blocked off.
It has been confirmed that indeed the new entrance is only temporary and will eventually be used just as a fire exit. The yet to be built entrance, which will be one of two, will extend 18 metres under the canopied roof and will open next year.
The temporary entrance and lobby area is a little rough looking to say the least with no false ceilings in the lobby and exposed red pipework and conduit on show. Also the metal skinned exterior walls are full of drill holes and the internal wall that faces the entrance only extends a few metres in height and doesn’t reach the ceiling leaving a mess on show.
Work continues on adding two extra stands to the eastern apron. The area that was dug out next to the end of the pier is now receiving concrete while the southern side next to the drop off area and future pier is now being dug out.
Work has also started on infilling pier A which straddles the eastern and northern aprons.
The first steelwork for the multistory car park arrived onsite today. Also part for the ground floor of the car park was being tarmacked today.
Work continues on the new drop off area. The work will be opened in 3 separate phases.
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https://www.thinkluton.co.uk/live
Announcements from 14:00.
Apparently something about a rail link to the airport will be amongst it...
Very interesting time. Huge investments into the billions...
Announcements from 14:00.
Apparently something about a rail link to the airport will be amongst it...
Very interesting time. Huge investments into the billions...
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I think the press are a little ahead of the 2pm news announcement, the story has already leaked out!
They intend to spend £200 million on a driver-less automated light railway people mover between Luton Airport Parkway Station and the Airport, and hope for it to be opened by late 2020.
It looks like the council will be funding this and fares will be included in rail tickets.
The planning application is hoped to be submitted by the Autumn, and work commencing in 2017.
In one article it mentions three stops on the 1.4 mile rail system. So makes me wonder if it will stop at the present mid-stay car park.
Take your pick, from whichever news outlet, is covering the story!
£200 million plan for tube-style transport link to Luton Airport | Anglia - ITV News
Luton airport calls time on bus transfers with £200m fast-track to trains | Business | The Guardian
£200m plan for Tube-style link to Luton airport | Transport | News | London Evening Standard
They intend to spend £200 million on a driver-less automated light railway people mover between Luton Airport Parkway Station and the Airport, and hope for it to be opened by late 2020.
It looks like the council will be funding this and fares will be included in rail tickets.
The planning application is hoped to be submitted by the Autumn, and work commencing in 2017.
In one article it mentions three stops on the 1.4 mile rail system. So makes me wonder if it will stop at the present mid-stay car park.
Take your pick, from whichever news outlet, is covering the story!
£200 million plan for tube-style transport link to Luton Airport | Anglia - ITV News
Luton airport calls time on bus transfers with £200m fast-track to trains | Business | The Guardian
£200m plan for Tube-style link to Luton airport | Transport | News | London Evening Standard
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The future is looking bright to say the least for Luton. Four years from an application to completion is very fast going and could be hard to achieve but today is the day to be positive.
This really is a game changer but the council must secure an agreement that the new franchise for the East Midland line includes 4 non stop trains an hour to achieve a London to terminal time of under 30 minutes. I think this will be included in the new franchise agreement as the government will be keen to help Luton take pressure off other airports. As one of the reports mentions Stansted will not be happy at the thought of its North London rival having a link to London that is 50% faster.
The report mentions bridges and tunnels so the bridge will be to cross Airport Way by Parkway and the tunnel must be to pass under the taxiway. It will be very interesting to see where the station goes in the CTA which we have already mentioned many times here. It's just got to be around easyjet HQ I would have thought but we will see.
This really is a game changer but the council must secure an agreement that the new franchise for the East Midland line includes 4 non stop trains an hour to achieve a London to terminal time of under 30 minutes. I think this will be included in the new franchise agreement as the government will be keen to help Luton take pressure off other airports. As one of the reports mentions Stansted will not be happy at the thought of its North London rival having a link to London that is 50% faster.
The report mentions bridges and tunnels so the bridge will be to cross Airport Way by Parkway and the tunnel must be to pass under the taxiway. It will be very interesting to see where the station goes in the CTA which we have already mentioned many times here. It's just got to be around easyjet HQ I would have thought but we will see.
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Full press release.
https://www.thinkluton.co.uk/news/20...-luton-airport
https://www.thinkluton.co.uk/news/20...-luton-airport
“A total journey time of less than 30 minutes from St Pancras to the airport will beat the time from Liverpool Street to Stansted by 20 minutes and better the time from Victoria to Gatwick too.”
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The new modern walk through duty free also opened today, as announce on the airport's Twitter page. Things are really looking up for the airport and I hope it does so it can change it's reputation of being named the worst airport in the UK for several years running. The new rail link to Luton Parkway will be a massive advantage and let's hope it stops at the car parks as well to improve the connectivity even more.
Here is the link to the tweet showing a picture of a part of the new duty free: https://twitter.com/LDNLutonAirport/...40174264426497
I personally think that next Luton should be thinking about how they are going to deal with potentially dealing with 18 million passengers in no time at all the way the airport is growing at the moment. What other options to they have in creating extra terminal space and also extra stands for aircraft? We have already had the discussion about the demolition of hangar 89, to create either more terminal,CTA space or even more apron space.
This question may have been mentioned before, but is Luton's runway capable of handling a 787 to the likes of Orlando or Cancun. If it isn't, how much would the runway need to be extended? I could see on the long-haul side, Thomson adding holiday routes but also El Al operating more wide body flights. Where else could Luton grow in long-haul?
Here is the link to the tweet showing a picture of a part of the new duty free: https://twitter.com/LDNLutonAirport/...40174264426497
I personally think that next Luton should be thinking about how they are going to deal with potentially dealing with 18 million passengers in no time at all the way the airport is growing at the moment. What other options to they have in creating extra terminal space and also extra stands for aircraft? We have already had the discussion about the demolition of hangar 89, to create either more terminal,CTA space or even more apron space.
This question may have been mentioned before, but is Luton's runway capable of handling a 787 to the likes of Orlando or Cancun. If it isn't, how much would the runway need to be extended? I could see on the long-haul side, Thomson adding holiday routes but also El Al operating more wide body flights. Where else could Luton grow in long-haul?
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I don't think they need to concern themselves with a runway extension for Long Haul. Over time they might pick up one or two niche flights but it will be done with smaller long range equiptment or even more modern planes that dont need Long runways. They need stands and to sort those taxiways out more than anything. ASAP!
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Just a thought, £110 million is buying the airport an additional 6 million passenger capacity. So what is £200 million going to buy them when the airport will reach 18 million passengers without it? Hidden agenda's comes to mind but a terminal 2 would have to be outside the CTA so would not be served by the rail link and new aprons serving the existing terminal won't increase capacity when the existing terminal is already being maxed out.
As for the location of the station within the CTA maybe it will indeed be under the airport with just an entrance down to it. £200 million seems alot of money for a rail link that is just over a mile long so maybe the tunnel will go further than just under the taxiway?
I can't see a longer runway ever being built as Luton is doing very nicely without it and the odd departure that would need it would never cover the cost of building an extension on a hill that drops away.
As for the location of the station within the CTA maybe it will indeed be under the airport with just an entrance down to it. £200 million seems alot of money for a rail link that is just over a mile long so maybe the tunnel will go further than just under the taxiway?
I can't see a longer runway ever being built as Luton is doing very nicely without it and the odd departure that would need it would never cover the cost of building an extension on a hill that drops away.
Last edited by LTNman; 16th Apr 2016 at 13:28.
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Just a thought, £110 million is buying the airport an additional 6 million passenger capacity. So what is £200 million going to buy them when the airport will reach 18 million passengers without it? Hidden agenda's comes to mind but a terminal 2 would have to be outside the CTA so would not be served by the rail link and new aprons serving the existing terminal won't increase capacity when the existing terminal is already being maxed out.
As for the location of the station within the CTA maybe it will indeed be under the airport with just an entrance down to it. £200 million seems alot of money for a rail link that is just over a mile long so maybe the tunnel will go further than just under the taxiway?
I can't see a longer runway ever being built as Luton is doing very nicely without it and the odd departure that would need it would never cover the cost of building an extension on a hill that drops away.
As for the location of the station within the CTA maybe it will indeed be under the airport with just an entrance down to it. £200 million seems alot of money for a rail link that is just over a mile long so maybe the tunnel will go further than just under the taxiway?
I can't see a longer runway ever being built as Luton is doing very nicely without it and the odd departure that would need it would never cover the cost of building an extension on a hill that drops away.
As for further development, if easyJet HQ can be relocated off airport as has oft been mooted then the big orange hangar can be pulled down, creating a huge space for terminal expansion.
Never say never on a runway extension. The rail link seemed unlikely for years and years but now it's happening although I agree there's little business case for it right now as Luton's bread & butter will remain low cost short haul
A rail link will allow Luton to be taken seriously by non LCC airlines and thus increase demand for LTN airport. Increased demand but unchanged terminal availability will give LTN the negotiating power to raise airport charges significantly. The gameplan is over 5+ years but expect Luton to become a bit less downmarket
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For Luton to be taken seriously by non LCC airlines a few air bridges would also be needed. The latest artists impression of the new pier shows nothing which is making it look rather naked.
LTNman - I agree air bridges will help, but there is presumably a rather shorter lead time and less in the way of legalities (e.g. planning applications or locals raising any form of objections) to deal with compared to building a rail transit link.