LUTON -8

[Falcon666]

Giles,
Wizz will start Sibiu in mid June alongside the seasonal Split.
They have added a lot of frequency on existing routes however!
Is it saturated , well the opportunities still arise but agree they may be limited to maybe one or two a year.
Dubrovnik has been mentioned before as it used to be a seasonal from Wizz(albeit just one summer I think)
This could be a likely route from Easy rather than Wizz in the future though.

Like you I can't believe the Airport hasn't found a airline to pick up the Waterford/jersey routes.There must be more to it!

[Boeing737-8]

Also Easyjet have added Catania but did end Istanbul. This has benefit Luton for a daily Istanbul plus the flights to Catania.

I also see in the skytrax Luton was third in the worlds best low cost airports behind Stansted and Berlin

[Lee Baker Street]

North of London and achievable in only 23 minutes by train from London St Pancras and a further 5 minutes via a dedicated bus transfer service direct to the airport terminal- exists a secret!

That secret being London Luton Airport!

With flight prices up to a third less than Heathrow and used daily by the rich and elite and price conscious- it surely has something to offer the discerning of travelers irrelevant of airline carrier or private operation.

The airport management need to grasp the fact Luton has so much more potential and promote that fact!

They can start by bring back the 'Irish Connections'...

[TSR2]

The airport management need to grasp the fact Luton has so much more potential and promote that fact!

I am sure the management are fully aware of the fact.

[LGS6753]

It's particularly surprising that Ryanair hasn't brought more of their Irish routes back to Luton. Apart from there being a large Irish community in Luton itself, the Irish enclaves in North London (Kilburn, etc) are closest by far to LTN.

If FR don't do it, I'm sure as the economy improves we will see more flights from some operator to Ireland (Waterford, Cork, Knock, even Sligo).

[LTNman]

North of London and achievable in only 23 minutes by train from London St Pancras and a further 5 minutes via a dedicated bus transfer service direct to the airport terminal- exists a secret!

In reality the shuttle bus is Luton's weak link. It used to be funded by the airport as a free service but was then farmed out to the First Group who have steadily increased the fare which now stands at Ł2.70 return.

Passengers can buy an integrated ticket by asking for Luton Airport instead of Luton Airport Parkway thus hiding the shuttle fare and I suspect many of them do this but confronted by a conductor who stops passengers boarding the bus I think many passengers pay twice instead of showing the conductor their through ticket.

Queuing passengers buying bus tickets means that many of them don't catch the first bus available which adds to the negative experience.

This is worth a read

Ryanair B737-800 economy - Business Traveller

But the airport knows that change must come and commissioned this report

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...65397613,d.ZGU

[gilesdavies]

North of London and achievable in only 23 minutes by train from London St Pancras and a further 5 minutes via a dedicated bus transfer service direct to the airport terminal- exists a secret!

LOL, did you just swallow the Luton Aiprort marketing brochure?!

We need to be realistic, there is only one train an hour offering this high speed connection between Luton Airport Parkway and St Pancras and that's with East Midland Trains operating an Intercity service between Nottingham and London.

First Capital Connect offer 8-12 trains an hour, but these vary with journey times of 40-60 mins...

I live up in Northamptonshire and regularly use East Mids service, and has on some occasions only taken 18 mins between the airport and St Pancras.

The link between the airport and the station claims to run every 10 mins, but I think every 15-20 mins is far more realistic. I have regularly waited over 15 mins for the bus and then it waits another 5-10 odd mins and will only leave when full.

There has been talk once the Thameslink line has been upgraded and there is more capacity available with the new trains, under any new franchise agreement East Midlands trains will no longer have to be committed to stopping at Bedford or either of the Luton stations. Or if they do, it will be to drop off passengers southbound and pick-up northbound only. In theory removing any fast non-stop links to the airport from London. That is probably not until 2018 at the earliest and FCC might then pick up the slack.

[LTNman]

First Capital Connect offer 8-12 trains an hour, but these vary with journey times of 40-60 mins...

The standard daytime First Capital Connect service is actually six trains per hour. Two of those are an all stopping service which is handy if you live along the route like for the Jewish community living around Mill Hill while the other 4 are semi-fast.

The all stopping service takes 48 minutes to St Pancras while the semi-fast services take between 32 and 34 minutes. On top of that is the non stop East Midlands hourly service which is well patronized but with ticket restrictions like groups save tickets which can't be used.

You can't get away with the fact that the shuttle bus can be a pain and while indeed I have done many a journey from London in around 20 minutes on a bad day it could take another good 15 minutes or so to get to the terminal if a bus is pulling out of the forecourt.

On the positive side and where Luton has the advantage is the shear number of stations that has a direct service to the airports railway station. Including East Midland Trains the total comes to around 50.

Aena recognize the problem and have said that they will look at ways to improve the link but with the reserved tunnel space now going to become a road the monorail link looks like it will never happen.

Lets remember that there was once a plan to turn parkway into the landside terminal of the airport with the existing terminal becoming pure airside.

[compton3bravo]

WHAT A PRIVILEGE!

I know it is a bit spotterish but it looks like the whole fleet of Spanish carrier Privilege is going to grace the Luton concrete today and tomorrow. The B767-300 is bringing the Athletico Madrid team, etc. today and the two B757s are due to arrive on Wednesday morning bringing supporters for the game against Chelsea. A MD-83 is also due to make an appearance on a Privilege call-sign on Wednesday morning.

[pabely]

Privilege

Is that the outfit who used to have a L1011 with a football on the tail?

[wallp]

The Irish market does seem ripe for growth though I guess that for the most part it depends on Ryanair and they are always going to prioritise STN over LTN.


However given they split operations to DUB, NOC & KIR from both LTN & STN, I'm surprised that they don't do the same with ORK & SNN. I know these are also available from LHR so perhaps that's part of the reasoning but given the obvious demand for Irish routes there's surely a good chance both routes could be popular?


As for WAT, it's s struggle to see who would give the route a go now that Flybe are out of the picture. As alluded to in earlier posts, CityJet would be good but I don't really see that happening so the chances of WAT returning any time soon seem pretty slim.

[Boeing737-8]

BBC News - London Luton Airport expansion plan backed by government

Good timing as summer season stars today

[wallp]

That's good news, presumably should mean that things can now begin to happen?

[Powerjet1]

From the airports website....

Planning Application Consent


Published: 01 May 2014

London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (“LLAOL”) and its new owners, Ardian and Aena, are pleased that the Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed that Luton Borough Council may proceed to grant consent for its planning application.

Our application to develop the Airport has been subjected to intense and rigorous scrutiny over the past 12 months from neighbouring Councils, independent third party specialists and by the Local Planning Authority, who twice extended the period required to review the plans.

Before the plans were formally submitted, proposals to improve the Airport were subject to two public consultations. 65% of respondents who took part in the consultation on LLAOL’s development plans said they supported proposals to develop the Airport. They all stated their support for the economic benefits to Luton and the wider region, and the need to generate 5,100 new jobs, including a contribution to a reduction in youth unemployment.

Construction will take place over three phases and will:

Expand, modernise and remodel the terminal building to accommodate and equip:

Up to 20 security passenger screening lanes;

15 immigration passenger screening lanes;

Up to 8 international and 1 domestic passenger reclaim belts;

Increased retail, catering, circulation and seating areas;

A new two-storey pier.

Dual the road from the Holiday Inn Roundabout to a newly configured road system in front of the Central Terminal Area;

Build a new parallel taxiway to unlock capacity for an additional 6 million passengers a year from the existing runway;

Build a new multi-storey car park.

Glyn Jones, Managing Director of the Airport said: “We are delighted that after a thorough process, the Council can proceed to grant planning permission for London Luton. We see this as a real vote of confidence in the Airport and its future, underlining the determination of our new owners, Ardian and Aena, to develop and radically improve London Luton and deliver a better airport experience for our passengers in the years to come. The opportunities it brings for the local economy in terms of jobs and investment are significant, and Luton can now press ahead with making its local airport bigger and better, while remaining a good neighbour.”

[Ends]

For more information please contact:

[email protected]

[wallp]

Well it sounds like the expansion plans are now good to go which is fantastic news.


Hopefully work will begin very soon, enabling easyJet to follow through on their expansion commitments at Luton and other carriers to move in with new routes.

[ericlday]

Is there any indication what work is included in each phase of the three phases ?

[Aluminium shuffler]

The planning permission was never really in jeopardy - sure, there was a delay while it was referred up to higher powers because of the clash of interests between the council being both responsible for planning applications and being airport owner, but the DfTR was never going to allow a refusal.

The real problem is the money. With AENA being part of the bankrupt Spanish govt, the money is not going to come from there, so the council will need to replace AENA, who might not want to give up their contract, with another operator with deep pockets. I would have said Russia would be a good place to look, but with the current political climate, that's out of the question. So, perhaps they'll be looking to China and India for wealthy entrepreneurs...

[pabely]

AENA made EUR308M last year so are a profitable entity, even if the Spanish Gov. is the major shareholder.

[LTNman]

I thought the money was actually coming from Ardian http://www.ardian-investment.com/ who are in partnership with AENA at Luton

[Powerjet1]

Mentioned on the local news that work is due to start in November, and whilst not stating specific areas, I think it would be safe to assume that remodelling of the terminal must be high on the list, so that the passenger experience can be improved as soon as possible.