LUTON -8
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Looks like my experience arriving at Heathrow Terminal 3 last Easter with no E Passport booths operational. In fairness, we were processed within 30 minutes.
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For the poor arrival time of luggage from aircraft to belt the airport always blames the handling agent but the aircraft must get unloaded quick otherwise it would hold up the departure. I think the lack of belts is the real issue.
While the CTA and parking will be resolved by next spring the terminal has another 18 months of this and one of the last jobs is to increase the number of belts. That can't be done until the meet and greet area is moved into the new build.
While the CTA and parking will be resolved by next spring the terminal has another 18 months of this and one of the last jobs is to increase the number of belts. That can't be done until the meet and greet area is moved into the new build.
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Just looked at the arrival flow using FR24 and this what I found. Take it with a pinch of salt though... Perhaps give or take 1 or 2 mins for each movement. Only pax aircraft but may be some Domestic / CTA flights in there that don't go through Passport Control. Times are in ZULU time.
1801
1803
1810
1813
1827
1831
1835
1845
1848
1851
1854
1856
1858
1902
1905
1908
1915
1918
1921
1925
1928
1934
1937
1940
1952
2003
Not sure if that is particularly busy for LTN or not??
1801
1803
1810
1813
1827
1831
1835
1845
1848
1851
1854
1856
1858
1902
1905
1908
1915
1918
1921
1925
1928
1934
1937
1940
1952
2003
Not sure if that is particularly busy for LTN or not??
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This was the capacity in 2012 and I don't think Baggage reclaim would have changed since then
Process Element Capacity (pax/hr)
Departures
Check-In 2,350
Central Security 2,630
Arrivals
Immigration 1,810
Baggage Reclaim 1,370 International
Baggage Reclaim 250 Domestic.
As can be seen it was the airports weak spot but less people check luggage in these days.
Process Element Capacity (pax/hr)
Departures
Check-In 2,350
Central Security 2,630
Arrivals
Immigration 1,810
Baggage Reclaim 1,370 International
Baggage Reclaim 250 Domestic.
As can be seen it was the airports weak spot but less people check luggage in these days.
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Well if you take the one hour period from 1827-1928hrs that is 17 movements.
Even if those flights had only 110 pax per flight which is unlikely anyway that would put both Immigration and Reclaim at maximum capacity according to those figures.
It's not even peak summer yet so this is going to be a common problem throughout the next three months.
The terminal expansion can't come quick enough!
Even if those flights had only 110 pax per flight which is unlikely anyway that would put both Immigration and Reclaim at maximum capacity according to those figures.
It's not even peak summer yet so this is going to be a common problem throughout the next three months.
The terminal expansion can't come quick enough!
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3rd B757 joining the fleet soon.
La Compagnie offers unlimited business-class flights all year for $35,000
La Compagnie offers unlimited business-class flights all year for $35,000
Many of the baggage delays etc are down handling agent staffing issues...
Although managers may think they have things covered, many staff don't always work overtime and plenty fail to show up for shifts (particularly when the weather is decent etc!) Considering most are recruited from agencies and paid little more than the minimum wage its not surprising! Handling agent service standards have been a particular challenge for one of LTN's long serving airlines in recent years!!
Don't get me started on the ambulift service run by a monopoly at LTN who frequently show up 45mins to an hour after an aircraft has arrived to collect passengers (much to the extreme frustration of the operating crew who may have already had a 12 hour day and have to wait until all passengers are off)
Although managers may think they have things covered, many staff don't always work overtime and plenty fail to show up for shifts (particularly when the weather is decent etc!) Considering most are recruited from agencies and paid little more than the minimum wage its not surprising! Handling agent service standards have been a particular challenge for one of LTN's long serving airlines in recent years!!
Don't get me started on the ambulift service run by a monopoly at LTN who frequently show up 45mins to an hour after an aircraft has arrived to collect passengers (much to the extreme frustration of the operating crew who may have already had a 12 hour day and have to wait until all passengers are off)
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I recently arrived at the airport a few weeks ago on a Monday afternoon about 4:30ish with Thomson. Through border control and went straight to the counter. Being straight through border control I didn't expect luggage to be there but 5 mins later it arrived. All 4 belts had people collecting luggage and all seem to be arriving within 10 mins of landing. Must of been a mad day. Also i though going through departures was really good compare to past experiences.
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Seems that easyjet are going to base an additional 2 aircraft at Luton from September. Also noted that easyjet flies less than 50% of all passengers that use Luton which is good news as not all of Luton's eggs are in one basket so are not dependent on one airline for its growth.
easyJet announces new routes from Luton Airport - Dunstable Today
easyJet announces new routes from Luton Airport - Dunstable Today
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Even if Whitelighter got through Border Entry in seconds he would not have got out the airport any quicker as the luggage was also delayed longer than the wait at Border Entry.
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Nice to see the 787 the other day. Has the Elal 777 turned up at all this summer yet? I still haven't seen one.
Also I was unaware Blue Air also operated 737-500 series into LTN. I have only ever seen the 733/734/738.
Also I was unaware Blue Air also operated 737-500 series into LTN. I have only ever seen the 733/734/738.
Blue Air have taken delivery of three 737-500s this year (April/May). AFAIK none has yet visited LTN. They also have another -500, YR-BAG that they have owned for 7 years and has visited.
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Two stands should be gained soon on the eastern apron. One has been finished and the other one is nearly finished. It will then just need the stand markings to be altered. Also the hangar line is going to be remarked to gain a stand.
Worth remembering that 2 stands have been lost due to contractors compounds but the gain is still at least 2 on what it is today. August should also see the stands 16-19 come back to the airport from Signature unless dates have changed so the gain could be another 4 on top of the 2 or 3 but stands 16- 19 are due to be modified so I don't know how much of it will remain open during the work.
Also the south stands and rarely full and can be quite often empty.
Worth remembering that 2 stands have been lost due to contractors compounds but the gain is still at least 2 on what it is today. August should also see the stands 16-19 come back to the airport from Signature unless dates have changed so the gain could be another 4 on top of the 2 or 3 but stands 16- 19 are due to be modified so I don't know how much of it will remain open during the work.
Also the south stands and rarely full and can be quite often empty.
Last edited by LTNman; 19th Jun 2016 at 18:02.
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Full Luton experience report
I know I have already posted about the queue at border control but I thought for balance I would give my overall impressions of being a first time user of Luton airport.
I frequently use Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow for flying, but because of route competition between EZY and Vueling to Barcelona for this trip LTN was significantly cheaper, plus I was collecting a mate from Stevenage on my way so that also made Luton a good choice.
Arriving: I took LTNman's advice (thank you again) and got to the long stay car park with no problems at 08:00 in the morning. £32 for 4 days seemed a fair price for four days parking and we quickly found a space. Bus arrived promptly and we were at the terminal in about 15 minutes.
Checkin/bag drop: already checked in on line, but I had a hold bag so headed for the EZY desks. Not much of a queue and we had the bag done in about 5 minutes. The terminal is obviously being worked on but it caused me no issues.
Security: nice and fast, short queue but better than Stansted and Gatwick. Not as fast as Heathrow T5 but then not much is. Pleasantly surprised and certainly no complaints.
Departure area/lounge: straight into the Aspire lounge - what an asset to the airport this is. Easily the best Aspire lounge I have been in (not tried the T5 one as head to Galleries there) but better than the aspire at Gatwick and miles better than the offering at Stansted. Good hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, coffee was good. Loads of space and after finishing a night shift at 07:00 that morning the showers were a welcome refresh (though the £15 additional charge was about excessive they were very nice). The public departure area is under development but it seemed like it would be light. Not sure how this will develope, without access to the lounge we would have struggled to find somewhere to sit. Shops were limited but ok - usual trek through a perfume filled duty free - I don't mind but the wife is allergic to perfume do we hurry through these places face down normally. I actually like the opportunity to browse shops but I know a lot don't. I think the departure area will be nice enough when finished - I like Stansted and Heathrow here, Gatwick is hit and miss.
Long walk to the furthest gate and then abus to a remote stand was a pain, they need more attached gates which I believe are coming.
Overall after the departure experience I was left fairly impressed. I was prepared to have a hellish time but actually found the experience very pleasant. The inbound experience was completely different but I won't go over old ground here. With initiation and increased flights on the BCN route it's very likely I'll try Luton again - I know departing I can camp out in the lounge and I only hope that they improve the inbound situation as the boarder control queue/organisation and baggage delivery is a mess
I frequently use Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow for flying, but because of route competition between EZY and Vueling to Barcelona for this trip LTN was significantly cheaper, plus I was collecting a mate from Stevenage on my way so that also made Luton a good choice.
Arriving: I took LTNman's advice (thank you again) and got to the long stay car park with no problems at 08:00 in the morning. £32 for 4 days seemed a fair price for four days parking and we quickly found a space. Bus arrived promptly and we were at the terminal in about 15 minutes.
Checkin/bag drop: already checked in on line, but I had a hold bag so headed for the EZY desks. Not much of a queue and we had the bag done in about 5 minutes. The terminal is obviously being worked on but it caused me no issues.
Security: nice and fast, short queue but better than Stansted and Gatwick. Not as fast as Heathrow T5 but then not much is. Pleasantly surprised and certainly no complaints.
Departure area/lounge: straight into the Aspire lounge - what an asset to the airport this is. Easily the best Aspire lounge I have been in (not tried the T5 one as head to Galleries there) but better than the aspire at Gatwick and miles better than the offering at Stansted. Good hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, coffee was good. Loads of space and after finishing a night shift at 07:00 that morning the showers were a welcome refresh (though the £15 additional charge was about excessive they were very nice). The public departure area is under development but it seemed like it would be light. Not sure how this will develope, without access to the lounge we would have struggled to find somewhere to sit. Shops were limited but ok - usual trek through a perfume filled duty free - I don't mind but the wife is allergic to perfume do we hurry through these places face down normally. I actually like the opportunity to browse shops but I know a lot don't. I think the departure area will be nice enough when finished - I like Stansted and Heathrow here, Gatwick is hit and miss.
Long walk to the furthest gate and then abus to a remote stand was a pain, they need more attached gates which I believe are coming.
Overall after the departure experience I was left fairly impressed. I was prepared to have a hellish time but actually found the experience very pleasant. The inbound experience was completely different but I won't go over old ground here. With initiation and increased flights on the BCN route it's very likely I'll try Luton again - I know departing I can camp out in the lounge and I only hope that they improve the inbound situation as the boarder control queue/organisation and baggage delivery is a mess
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Where on earth are Luton going to put an extra 2 Easy Jet airliners from September, or are there a lot of extra stands coming on line by then ?
easyJet's flying programme, during the winter month's is always scaled back, compared to the summer. While I think the number of aircraft based at the airport, does not really change, the fleet is used far less intensely, with many of the routes to the tourist destinations in the Mediterranean scaled back.
As I mentioned before there is no plans at present to operate Sharm El Sheikh this winter and previous years that has flown 5 times weekly.
The 4x weekly routes to the Canaries, just about fill this gap and then you have Toulouse 4x weekly. I am guessing and thinking they will be operating the equivalent of two extra aircraft from the airport this winter. But with aircraft that would usually be parked up for the day, previous winters.
If they are basing an extra two aircraft from the airport, then that means easyJet have many more routes to announce, in the coming weeks. As the above mentioned routes barely keep 0.5 of an aircraft busy for the week, and that means the old Sharm El Sheikh route still needs filling with another route or two.
Just an idea and would be interested in people's thoughts..
Luton is rather constrained for a long list of reasons - this includes thing like number of overnight stands, and availability of slots in the first wave of departures form 0600 to about 0900. It does however have plenty of capacity to service departures late at night.
Easyjet has a base at Luton and as such is limited by the airport's constraints.
Easyjet fly London to Tel Aviv flies 14 times per week, taking about 5 hours, or arrives 7 hours after departure from London when you take into account the time zone. Ryanair and Wizz sometimes play the time zone game - what would stop Easyjet operating a departure about 11 pm form Luton to Tel Aviv (arriving 6 am local time) and returning at 7 am to arrive at Luton about 10 am local time ? Yes - I have checked that there are plenty of flights on other airlines from western Europe to Tel Aviv following a similiar schedule so there is presumably demand for flights 'overnight'.
Would have the advantage of avoiding the need for an overnight stand and could keep an aircraft busy overnight. Anyone care to comment ?
Luton is rather constrained for a long list of reasons - this includes thing like number of overnight stands, and availability of slots in the first wave of departures form 0600 to about 0900. It does however have plenty of capacity to service departures late at night.
Easyjet has a base at Luton and as such is limited by the airport's constraints.
Easyjet fly London to Tel Aviv flies 14 times per week, taking about 5 hours, or arrives 7 hours after departure from London when you take into account the time zone. Ryanair and Wizz sometimes play the time zone game - what would stop Easyjet operating a departure about 11 pm form Luton to Tel Aviv (arriving 6 am local time) and returning at 7 am to arrive at Luton about 10 am local time ? Yes - I have checked that there are plenty of flights on other airlines from western Europe to Tel Aviv following a similiar schedule so there is presumably demand for flights 'overnight'.
Would have the advantage of avoiding the need for an overnight stand and could keep an aircraft busy overnight. Anyone care to comment ?