Luton-9
Join Date: Jul 2002
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On a different note, while walking the dog, I spoke to a man I know who knows someone heavily involved in the Dart protect. He said the the ski slope that is meant to represent flight and that adorns the bridge over the A1081 has cost £850,000 and was a major engineering project to build and attach to the bridge.
Well it looks nice and will look better still when the LED backlighting is switch on. I have never been a fan of Luton’s cheap as chips terminal where the airport operator has built it to a cost cutting budget. The same can’t be said for the council funded Dart where no expense has been spared. With the £18m overspend and a year to go before opening the bill so far comes to £243m excluding the 5 year maintenance contract that has been signed. If the second terminal is built the Dart will be a necessity. If it isn’t the Dart will be a white elephant at a cost of £4m a second time saving between the published travel times for the Dart at 5 minutes and the shuttle bus at 6 minutes.
With the airport reaching capacity in 2019, some 2 years before the completion of the Dart, the Dart was never needed to enhance capacity for the existing airport although it will improve passengers perception of Luton as a major airport although most passengers will never use it.
Last edited by LTNman; 16th Aug 2020 at 06:42.
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LTNman...
As you continue your theme of social distancing at LTN & to extrapolate surely the relevant Government Departments are fully aware too & continuing then my own theme are by inference condoning the situation along with the PM`s position of (mass) travel but with no National mitigation as such...If you wish to construe this as "Government bashing" so well & good but first duty of Government always is to protect the populace & it does appear they fail Nationally in fundamental regards...
Perhaps you should write to the the relevant departments & No10 with your perceptions at LTN & for the interest of the forum/s then publish the answers & explanations received...
As you continue your theme of social distancing at LTN & to extrapolate surely the relevant Government Departments are fully aware too & continuing then my own theme are by inference condoning the situation along with the PM`s position of (mass) travel but with no National mitigation as such...If you wish to construe this as "Government bashing" so well & good but first duty of Government always is to protect the populace & it does appear they fail Nationally in fundamental regards...
Perhaps you should write to the the relevant departments & No10 with your perceptions at LTN & for the interest of the forum/s then publish the answers & explanations received...
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I think the difficulty is there are people who don’t maybe have any friends or family to have discussions of their thoughts and suchlike, so coming on here is perhaps the only way of engaging in such topics that they are passionate about. I don’t have a problem with that personally as long as he continues to post the cool pictures of the airport which I’m sure we all appreciate.
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LTNman...
As you continue your theme of social distancing at LTN & to extrapolate surely the relevant Government Departments are fully aware too & continuing then my own theme are by inference condoning the situation along with the PM`s position of (mass) travel but with no National mitigation as such...If you wish to construe this as "Government bashing" so well & good but first duty of Government always is to protect the populace & it does appear they fail Nationally in fundamental regards...
Perhaps you should write to the the relevant departments & No10 with your perceptions at LTN & for the interest of the forum/s then publish the answers & explanations received...
As you continue your theme of social distancing at LTN & to extrapolate surely the relevant Government Departments are fully aware too & continuing then my own theme are by inference condoning the situation along with the PM`s position of (mass) travel but with no National mitigation as such...If you wish to construe this as "Government bashing" so well & good but first duty of Government always is to protect the populace & it does appear they fail Nationally in fundamental regards...
Perhaps you should write to the the relevant departments & No10 with your perceptions at LTN & for the interest of the forum/s then publish the answers & explanations received...
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Lets all try to be positive
Fortunately LTN Airport is operating and flight programmes are continuing to flourish. For the very first time in my life I witnessed 8 aircraft all lined up and ready to take their turn to depart runway 07. It made me realise we will eventually return to normal times once more. No politics and no negativity makes reading comments in here more enjoyable!
Join Date: Jul 2002
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I think the difficulty is there are people who don’t maybe have any friends or family to have discussions of their thoughts and suchlike, so coming on here is perhaps the only way of engaging in such topics that they are passionate about. I don’t have a problem with that personally as long as he continues to post the cool pictures of the airport which I’m sure we all appreciate.
Join Date: Nov 2001
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I have been told that businesses wishing to send their staff abroad are facing a massive hike in the cost of insuring them against contracting Covid-19. You cannot check out new suppliers, ensure good working practices are being maintained by suppliers, or a vast plethora of other tasks that involve staff members having to travel. Once an effective vaccine is rolled out, I can see a sudden exponential growth. Brilliant news for airlines, as supply and demand would dictate excellent yields. The pent up demand by then will be massive. Trying to forecast demand and the agility to move capacity rapidly as lockdowns around the globe occur will dictate the survival of the fittest. By far the greatest challenge for any government will be to prevent a second wave. Winter as we all know is the time when viruses love to transfer from their hosts. If any industry needs enduring support, it is the travel and hospitality sector. Without such support, I suspect wholesale redundancies from November 1st. I don't think anyone can really predict what aviation will look like in the UK 12 months from now? My own guess would be that if slots become available in substantial quantity at Heathrow and Gatwick next Spring, could we see the resident airlines prepared to switch capacity away from Luton if the price is right? If I was LBC, I'd have a Plan B in my back pocket.
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Construction update
The Gateway bridge has had its superstructure fully painted. The slope is in white and the supports are in battleship grey. While the bridge seems to be all but complete work continues around its base. Temporary fencing still covers the crossing but lower permanent fencing is already in place. The highest part of the bridge has a red warning light attached. Note the bridge is actually curved which doesn't show in this photo.
Central station has had its upper steelwork installed. The design doesn't seem great at keeping the rain out. The white objects are the tops of the escalators that are covered in plastic.
Viewed from the terminal side this will be the route from the terminal to the station. To the left is the service road. When finished passengers heading for the drop off zone will still have to follow the route under the footbridge and then turn sharp left followed after 100m by a sharp right turn.
The bigger picture. The concrete structure closest to the camera will not normally have passenger access. Note the grey painted concrete wall that is being dug out.
Finally to the left of the coach will be the new access route for authorised vehicles only including coach and taxi rank access.
Central station has had its upper steelwork installed. The design doesn't seem great at keeping the rain out. The white objects are the tops of the escalators that are covered in plastic.
Viewed from the terminal side this will be the route from the terminal to the station. To the left is the service road. When finished passengers heading for the drop off zone will still have to follow the route under the footbridge and then turn sharp left followed after 100m by a sharp right turn.
The bigger picture. The concrete structure closest to the camera will not normally have passenger access. Note the grey painted concrete wall that is being dug out.
Finally to the left of the coach will be the new access route for authorised vehicles only including coach and taxi rank access.
Last edited by LTNman; 16th Aug 2020 at 17:38.
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Having used and operated out of LTN for several decades, I’m no fan of the airport and all of it’s faults that are mostly in my mind due to cost cutting. There is much criticism above of the airport’s handling of COVID and passenger segregation but of what I’ve seen of some other airports in Western Europe recently, LTN airport is doing at least as good, if not better job than most.
The airline involved seemed to be genuinely trying their best as well to provide segregation when possible but the passengers generally seemed to not always be helping matters.
The airline involved seemed to be genuinely trying their best as well to provide segregation when possible but the passengers generally seemed to not always be helping matters.
Join Date: Apr 2007
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The Gateway bridge has had its superstructure fully painted. The slope is in white and the supports are in battleship grey. While the bridge seems to be all but complete work continues around its base. Temporary fencing still covers the crossing but lower permanent fencing is already in place. The highest part of the bridge has a red warning light attached. Note the bridge is actually curved which doesn't show in this photo.
Central station has had its upper steelwork installed. The design doesn't seem great at keeping the rain out. The white objects are the tops of the escalators that are covered in plastic.
Viewed from the terminal side this will be the route from the terminal to the station. To the left is the service road. When finished passengers heading for the drop off zone will still have to follow the route under the footbridge and then turn sharp left followed after 100m by a sharp right turn.
The bigger picture. The concrete structure closest to the camera will not normally have passenger access. Note the grey painted concrete wall that is being dug out.
Finally to the left of the coach will be the new access route for authorised vehicles only including coach and taxi rank access.
Central station has had its upper steelwork installed. The design doesn't seem great at keeping the rain out. The white objects are the tops of the escalators that are covered in plastic.
Viewed from the terminal side this will be the route from the terminal to the station. To the left is the service road. When finished passengers heading for the drop off zone will still have to follow the route under the footbridge and then turn sharp left followed after 100m by a sharp right turn.
The bigger picture. The concrete structure closest to the camera will not normally have passenger access. Note the grey painted concrete wall that is being dug out.
Finally to the left of the coach will be the new access route for authorised vehicles only including coach and taxi rank access.
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Done just for you, you see comments and opinions can influence me.
One thing I noticed this month is just how busy the airport has become even over July. Easyjet still has 3 or 4 aircraft on the south stands with their engine covers on but apart from that I would struggle to tell a difference between road and aircraft traffic compared to last year. The majority of the mid term car park is full and maybe around 70% of the long term car park is now occupied.
In landside M&S is still closed as is Starbucks while in airside more and more shops and eating establishments continue to reopen although I suspect the more unsuccessful ones will now never reopen.
It is hard to judge total passenger numbers as passengers seem to arrive and depart in noticeable waves now but I think they will be substantially up on July. The airport and terminal seem to be carrying the ideal amount of passengers without making it feel overcrowded so I will be interested to read the passenger reviews over the coming months.
It is already hard to remember the drop off zone without a single car in it yet it was only on April 15th I took this.
Yesterday
One thing I noticed this month is just how busy the airport has become even over July. Easyjet still has 3 or 4 aircraft on the south stands with their engine covers on but apart from that I would struggle to tell a difference between road and aircraft traffic compared to last year. The majority of the mid term car park is full and maybe around 70% of the long term car park is now occupied.
In landside M&S is still closed as is Starbucks while in airside more and more shops and eating establishments continue to reopen although I suspect the more unsuccessful ones will now never reopen.
It is hard to judge total passenger numbers as passengers seem to arrive and depart in noticeable waves now but I think they will be substantially up on July. The airport and terminal seem to be carrying the ideal amount of passengers without making it feel overcrowded so I will be interested to read the passenger reviews over the coming months.
It is already hard to remember the drop off zone without a single car in it yet it was only on April 15th I took this.
Yesterday
Last edited by LTNman; 17th Aug 2020 at 05:26.
Currently running at just over 200 passenger movements a day. Wizzair look to be almost at normal, but EZY movements well down, and often one or more of the based Ryans doesn't leave in the first wave.
Join Date: Jul 2002
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I said on the 12th that I was thinking close to a million passengers for August. I might be way off but I am still thinking similar numbers but passengers might be dropping as late booking passengers are put off by fresh quarantine measures and the inability now to complete 2 weeks quarantine before the schools go back for some destinations.
A quick analysis of yesterday (Sunday) showed:
Passenger movements (excl. freight and positioning): 219
Of which:
BLA 7
EZY 76
EJU 4
WUK 42
WZZ 63
RYR - EI 22
RYR - SP 4
LOG 1
I have counted EZY/EJU and WUK/WZZ by flight code, but RYR by aircraft registration.
Passenger movements (excl. freight and positioning): 219
Of which:
BLA 7
EZY 76
EJU 4
WUK 42
WZZ 63
RYR - EI 22
RYR - SP 4
LOG 1
I have counted EZY/EJU and WUK/WZZ by flight code, but RYR by aircraft registration.
Join Date: Aug 2000
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The one million figure might be just about reachable, but it will depend on how long Greece and its islands stay off the 14 day England quarantine requirement.
But alas l think it will be at the latest for only this week or part of next week.
But alas l think it will be at the latest for only this week or part of next week.
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I am not so sure all flights would average 147 pax.
I would imagine Wizz are loading well but not sure about all easyjet flights ?
I would estimate August at less then 700k
But I got July wrong !
I would imagine Wizz are loading well but not sure about all easyjet flights ?
I would estimate August at less then 700k
But I got July wrong !
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Ryanair have announced demand is dropping so maybe Luton has peaked over the last couple of weeks. Maybe we should run a sweepstake to guess the August figures. 1m and 700k so far. Who has their finger on the pulse?