Luton-10
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Looks like the Unions press releases using 'massive' & 'meltdown' adjectives was drum beating only. How well was the picket line attended?
Join Date: Jan 2005
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The DART notches up it's 1M customer since opening in March
https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/l...nth-passenger/
https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/l...nth-passenger/
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Very disappointing figures and undermines the airports public transport strategy.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
I can guarantee that tapping in or out 3 times to travel on the Dart will lead to at least one barrier failure where a gate agent will have to override the closed gate.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
Wouter said it was straightforward navigating the trains and tapping at the gates, and has now won free travel on the Luton DART for a year.
Last edited by LTNman; 30th Aug 2023 at 18:16.
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No longer bottom but should we celebrate?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news...-joke-30813668
I note that much of the airports woes can be put down to overcrowding, which I have highlighted here many times.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news...-joke-30813668
I note that much of the airports woes can be put down to overcrowding, which I have highlighted here many times.
LTNman - I think you are being a little pessimistic about the LTN experience. I flew through LTN 7 times during July and August this year. Every time, LTN has been a reasonable experience. Not luxury, but I don't expect a luxury airport with an LCC... but equally nothing has gone particularly wrong. Security screening has been effective with acceptable queues, even early on Saturday morning during school holidays. Boarding and deboarding has been managed reasonably well. If you wander a short way from the central departures retail area, seats can be found. Immigration for UK citizens has been fine. Coaches are fine.
MAN by contrast seems really rather amateur, both T1 and T3 - the layout is far more confusing and rambling than LTN, with all sorts of staircases, tunnels and side passages everywhere. Security screening at both T1 and T3 seems to be operated by people in an uncoordinated way on their first day in a job, with people focussing more on covering their backsides than being effective (and yes, I compare them to STN which is part of MAG, as well as LHR, LGW, BRS, EDI and GLA). Flying out of MAN just isn't a pleasant experience.
About 5 years ago, the night before a flight out of LTN, I used to groan, knowing it would be a cr*ppy experience... now it's MAN (and LBA) that makes me groan inwardly instead.
Yes, everyone flying out of LTN would like the same experience as (e.g.) Southend, but LTN is a busy airport with plenty of routes and getting close to 20 million pax (ie used by lots and lots of people) who want to fly in an efficient *and* cost effective way... LTN delivers that in a way that neither MAN nor LHR do.
MAN by contrast seems really rather amateur, both T1 and T3 - the layout is far more confusing and rambling than LTN, with all sorts of staircases, tunnels and side passages everywhere. Security screening at both T1 and T3 seems to be operated by people in an uncoordinated way on their first day in a job, with people focussing more on covering their backsides than being effective (and yes, I compare them to STN which is part of MAG, as well as LHR, LGW, BRS, EDI and GLA). Flying out of MAN just isn't a pleasant experience.
About 5 years ago, the night before a flight out of LTN, I used to groan, knowing it would be a cr*ppy experience... now it's MAN (and LBA) that makes me groan inwardly instead.
Yes, everyone flying out of LTN would like the same experience as (e.g.) Southend, but LTN is a busy airport with plenty of routes and getting close to 20 million pax (ie used by lots and lots of people) who want to fly in an efficient *and* cost effective way... LTN delivers that in a way that neither MAN nor LHR do.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 30th Aug 2023 at 19:25.
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Very disappointing figures and undermines the airports public transport strategy.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
I can guarantee that tapping in or out 3 times to travel on the Dart will lead to at least one barrier failure where a gate agent will have to override the closed gate.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
I can guarantee that tapping in or out 3 times to travel on the Dart will lead to at least one barrier failure where a gate agent will have to override the closed gate.
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Is the Dart a train or a cable car? I use the Dart mainly to get to the retail park. If I had to pay I wouldn’t use it as they are getting no money out of me.
Very disappointing figures and undermines the airports public transport strategy.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
I can guarantee that tapping in or out 3 times to travel on the Dart will lead to at least one barrier failure where a gate agent will have to override the closed gate.
The average daily figure is only 6802 passengers a day or 2.48m a year. Assuming the airport will handle 17.5m passengers this year the percentage figure is a mere 14.2% which is under half of what was predicted. At a cost of £9.80 return, clearly their is some reluctance to use it.
It does explain nicely why the intention is to increase passenger car park spaces by 62%.
I can guarantee that tapping in or out 3 times to travel on the Dart will lead to at least one barrier failure where a gate agent will have to override the closed gate.
At LTN a group of 4 (two adults and two teenage children) is paying just shy of 40 quid, and thats on top of a rail fare to reach the Dart.
LTNman - I think you are being a little pessimistic about the LTN experience. I flew through LTN 7 times during July and August this year. Every time, LTN has been a reasonable experience. Not luxury, but I don't expect a luxury airport with an LCC... but equally nothing has gone particularly wrong. Security screening has been effective with acceptable queues, even early on Saturday morning during school holidays. Boarding and deboarding has been managed reasonably well. If you wander a short way from the central departures retail area, seats can be found. Immigration for UK citizens has been fine. Coaches are fine.
MAN by contrast seems really rather amateur, both T1 and T3 - the layout is far more confusing and rambling than LTN, with all sorts of staircases, tunnels and side passages everywhere. Security screening at both T1 and T3 seems to be operated by people in an uncoordinated way on their first day in a job, with people focussing more on covering their backsides than being effective (and yes, I compare them to STN which is part of MAG, as well as LHR, LGW, BRS, EDI and GLA). Flying out of MAN just isn't a pleasant experience.
About 5 years ago, the night before a flight out of LTN, I used to groan, knowing it would be a cr*ppy experience... now it's MAN (and LBA) that makes me groan inwardly instead.
Yes, everyone flying out of LTN would like the same experience as (e.g.) Southend, but LTN is a busy airport with plenty of routes and getting close to 20 million pax (ie used by lots and lots of people) who want to fly in an efficient *and* cost effective way... LTN delivers that in a way that neither MAN nor LHR do.
MAN by contrast seems really rather amateur, both T1 and T3 - the layout is far more confusing and rambling than LTN, with all sorts of staircases, tunnels and side passages everywhere. Security screening at both T1 and T3 seems to be operated by people in an uncoordinated way on their first day in a job, with people focussing more on covering their backsides than being effective (and yes, I compare them to STN which is part of MAG, as well as LHR, LGW, BRS, EDI and GLA). Flying out of MAN just isn't a pleasant experience.
About 5 years ago, the night before a flight out of LTN, I used to groan, knowing it would be a cr*ppy experience... now it's MAN (and LBA) that makes me groan inwardly instead.
Yes, everyone flying out of LTN would like the same experience as (e.g.) Southend, but LTN is a busy airport with plenty of routes and getting close to 20 million pax (ie used by lots and lots of people) who want to fly in an efficient *and* cost effective way... LTN delivers that in a way that neither MAN nor LHR do.
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Clearly I'm not exactly comparing apples with apples but the free shuttle between Birmingham International Station and BHX appears to be much better value!
At LTN a group of 4 (two adults and two teenage children) is paying just shy of 40 quid, and thats on top of a rail fare to reach the Dart.
At LTN a group of 4 (two adults and two teenage children) is paying just shy of 40 quid, and thats on top of a rail fare to reach the Dart.
When a freedom of information request was put forward asking to see the business case for the Dart it was initially refused. On appeal it was so heavily redacted it contained no information. Clearly there was no business case and explains nicely why LRT no longer pays dividends to the Council, a fact that they would rather people did not know.
That was my point - DJ6 comments suggested that his recent experiences of LTN didn't support the reputation, so what was his comments on MAN based on?
Originally Posted by SWBKCB
How many times have you flown through MAN (and LBA) recently?
Flew through LBA 3 times in the last 12 months
No, it's not as often as I fly to/from LTN... but it's enough.
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Just noticed this morning the Wizz- Varna departure went straight over Stevenage and didn’t use the standard departure to the south.
Is this now a common occurrence as haven’t seen it before
Is this now a common occurrence as haven’t seen it before
Bit off topic, but interesting knock on effect of the Dart implementation...
https://www.go-ahead.com/media/blog/...t-stop-ukraine
Holidaymakers who’ve caught a flight from Luton Airport might recognise a fleet of purple bendy buses that, for years, shuttled passengers between the terminal and Luton Airport Parkway station. Operated by Go-Ahead, the buses carried holidaymakers and their luggage up and down a steep two-kilometre hill between the airport and train railway – until March this year, when they were replaced by a brand new airport monorail. So what became of the buses? After a long journey driven by a team of volunteer drivers, they’ve turned up in an unlikely place – Ukraine – still with their Luton Airport livery intact.
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Wouldn't think at pilots request but open to be corrected.