LUTON -8
Flew into Luton on Sunday evening and noticed 2 things:
1 - The barrier along the pavement between the Holiday Inn and Easyjet HQ seem to have got even longer - probably been extended around the Holiday Inn. I find this rather pedestrian unfriendly, all for the sake of making it that bit harder for those with non-UK car numberplates to drop off their friends along the private road area
2 - Airport Way, the road between the Vauxhall car plant and the Ibis seems to have become an overflow car park for those who've come to pick up friends from the airport but don't want to pay the parking charges - full of cars or minibuses with just a driver and nobody else who look like they are waiting for a call on their mobile to say 'come and meet us in the mid-term car park'...
Anyone able to confirm ?
1 - The barrier along the pavement between the Holiday Inn and Easyjet HQ seem to have got even longer - probably been extended around the Holiday Inn. I find this rather pedestrian unfriendly, all for the sake of making it that bit harder for those with non-UK car numberplates to drop off their friends along the private road area
2 - Airport Way, the road between the Vauxhall car plant and the Ibis seems to have become an overflow car park for those who've come to pick up friends from the airport but don't want to pay the parking charges - full of cars or minibuses with just a driver and nobody else who look like they are waiting for a call on their mobile to say 'come and meet us in the mid-term car park'...
Anyone able to confirm ?
Paxing All Over The World
Yes, davidjohnson6, exactly so. On the two occasions that I've been there this year, the unofficial waiting road was fully occupied.
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1 - The barrier along the pavement between the Holiday Inn and Easyjet HQ seem to have got even longer
Airport Way, the road between the Vauxhall car plant and the Ibis seems to have become an overflow car park for those who've come to pick up friends from the airport but don't want to pay the parking charges
LTNman - no, not the service road by the Ibis with the taxi rank. Airport Way itself seems to have become a short term car park as well for those collecting pax from Luton - saw people parked up almost all the way down the hill to the roundabout by the Vauxhall factory
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I agree but Southampton isn't going through a 100 million plus redevelopment is it and doesn't come anywhere near the 18 million expected at Luton annually, for an airport the size of Southampton your not out of cover for long, there are no steps to the aircraft or long walks to the terminal and the drop off zone is under cover in the multi story car park so not really a good comparison to Luton is it!
I agree but Southampton isn't going through a 100 million plus redevelopment is it and doesn't come anywhere near the 18 million expected at Luton annually, for an airport the size of Southampton your not out of cover for long, there are no steps to the aircraft or long walks to the terminal and the drop off zone is under cover in the multi story car park so not really a good comparison to Luton is it!
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As a passenger I couldn't care less whether the airport has invested £100m or £1. The last thing you want is to get soaking wet walking to/from the aircraft. It is made even more acute at Southampton during driving rain when you are held outside Border and effectively outside the terminal in a queue. Been there done that and got the wet T Shirt! Airbridges are so much more civilised. Having said all that, I'd use Southampton anytime as it reminds me of what Luton once used to be like, small, friendly and efficient (if a tad small). Thankfully I now live much closer to other airports, so probably will not sample the 'Luton experience' in future.
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As seen from the Manchester thread Monarch have announced brand new routes to Porto, Stockholm & Zagreb from Manchester. Do you think in light of the Lanzarote and Rome terminations we could see Monarch launching these destinations. Zagreb would be a great addition as the Croation market is proving popular from Luton and also Stockholm would strengthen Scandanavian links which were once non-existent. I don't think they would launch Porto due to easyJet operating unless they are feeling confident.
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Do you think in light of the Lanzarote and Rome terminations we could see Monarch launching these destinations
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Well they surprised me with 3x weekly Tel Aviv - very brave move IMO. I reckon all those could have potential from LTN, but still looks as if ZB haven't really found their focus yet.
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Well I think they need to start finding there focus especially at Luton where there flying programme has been struggling due to competition. They need to find gaps in Luton's network but also maybe offer more conveniently timed flights to places like Madrid to positively compete with easyJet.
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As a passenger I couldn't care less whether the airport has invested £100m or £1. The last thing you want is to get soaking wet walking
There is plenty of room to provide shelters as on either side there is a dead area that looks like it might end up being planted.
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Well I think they need to start finding there focus especially at Luton where there flying programme has been struggling due to competition. They need to find gaps in Luton's network but also maybe offer more conveniently timed flights to places like Madrid to positively compete with easyJet.
That said, it would also be difficult for them to compete on say MAD with EZY not only on price but just as crucially for much of that market... on frequency.
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If they could 'own' UK-Spain/Portugal, that would fit really nicely with the tour operation. Maybe even open seasonal bases in Malaga or Palma and service other UK airports: Cardiff/Norwich/Aberdeen which doesn't have the demand for based aircraft.
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Maybe even open seasonal bases in Malaga or Palma and service other UK airports: Cardiff/Norwich/Aberdeen which doesn't have the demand for based aircraft.
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A woman was killed on a pedestrian crossing in 2009 while crossing the service road to the undercroft from the drop off area with the airport being fined but those railings pre-date that accident. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...herts-24582857
I assume they were put in to act as a passenger deterrent to stop people getting out of a stationary queuing car rather than keeping people on the pavement and off the road.
Just where the barrier begins, which is before the Midterm car park but after the Holiday Inn, a sign has been put up stating that charges apply from this point. Well they don't yet, as it is possible to go around the roundabout by the terminal and get out without paying. That will change when the dual carriageway opens. No doubt people will still leap out of cars before the drop off area to avoid the £3 charge but there will be no escape.
I assume they were put in to act as a passenger deterrent to stop people getting out of a stationary queuing car rather than keeping people on the pavement and off the road.
Just where the barrier begins, which is before the Midterm car park but after the Holiday Inn, a sign has been put up stating that charges apply from this point. Well they don't yet, as it is possible to go around the roundabout by the terminal and get out without paying. That will change when the dual carriageway opens. No doubt people will still leap out of cars before the drop off area to avoid the £3 charge but there will be no escape.
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As seen from the Manchester thread Monarch have announced brand new routes to Porto, Stockholm & Zagreb from Manchester. Do you think in light of the Lanzarote and Rome terminations we could see Monarch launching these destinations. Zagreb would be a great addition as the Croation market is proving popular from Luton and also Stockholm would strengthen Scandanavian links which were once non-existent. I don't think they would launch Porto due to easyJet operating unless they are feeling confident.
Monarch Airlines in summer 2017 season is introducing a number of new service.
Effective from 28 April 17 Monarch will serve the London Luton – Stockholm Arlanda route 2 weekly (Day 15) and then from 29 April 17 the London Luton – Porto route with 3 weekly departures (Day 267)
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Two out of three isn't bad !
Monarch Airlines in summer 2017 season is introducing a number of new service.
Effective from 28 April 17 Monarch will serve the London Luton – Stockholm Arlanda route 2 weekly (Day 15) and then from 29 April 17 the London Luton – Porto route with 3 weekly departures (Day 267)
Monarch Airlines in summer 2017 season is introducing a number of new service.
Effective from 28 April 17 Monarch will serve the London Luton – Stockholm Arlanda route 2 weekly (Day 15) and then from 29 April 17 the London Luton – Porto route with 3 weekly departures (Day 267)
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Good to see Thomson are still flying to Dalaman with a Thursday afternoon flight. Myself and many other people I know still go to Turkey and this is a very popular flight every time I fly.
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For the Stockholm route to achieve maximum potential passengers the airline needs to give passengers a bit more flexibility when to travel and should be looking at least daily I would have thought but for a 2 day a week service Mondays and Fridays seems a good choice.