Luton-10
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Many people here are in denial and can’t quite grasp what lies ahead for Luton. Yes, all airports will be affected but as Luton is one of those airports, it was the subject to my comment. Luton is an airport dependent on discretionary spending and has little business travel passing through the terminal.
Airlines at Luton can add capacity but finding people to fill those seats will be a task, when airfares are also rising. Come next year, consolidation will be the name of the game. Cutting back on a holiday, an additional holiday or a couple of weekends away could be the difference between heating their homes or sitting there with the lights out or putting food on their plates.
Airlines at Luton can add capacity but finding people to fill those seats will be a task, when airfares are also rising. Come next year, consolidation will be the name of the game. Cutting back on a holiday, an additional holiday or a couple of weekends away could be the difference between heating their homes or sitting there with the lights out or putting food on their plates.
Last edited by LTNman; 26th Aug 2022 at 08:27.
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I don't think it's an overreaction to say the fuel bill situation could quite easily hit household finances much more severely than the 2008 crash. Luton lost around 14% of its passenger numbers in the following 2 years after that so it will be interesting to see what happens.
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Much of the rebound for this year at Luton was for deferred trips booked one or two years ago yet Luton is still down around 20% from 2019.
LRT income is down lower than that after being shafted by the airport operator.
LRT income is down lower than that after being shafted by the airport operator.
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With all these unused slots ACL could have let Flyr or SkyExpress in!
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Doesn’t explain why that allowing for staffing issues that particularly affected Heathrow and Gatwick why Luton had the slowest percentage growth figures for July out of the three.
As for Southend, I am afraid to say that airport has become a basket case.
As for Southend, I am afraid to say that airport has become a basket case.
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So details of the new stands are now uploaded on Luton council's planning site.
As you can see from the below drawing, not only are the expected 4 new stands (#101 - #104) going in where the old drop-off zone was, but 3 new stands (#77 - #79) are being squeezed in on the northern side of the North Apron. It looks like taxiway Echo is being reconfigured slightly to make this work. The docs submitted with the plans explain that this will create 46 commercial stands (those with red numbered circles). The black circled stands are for general aviation.
As you can see from the below drawing, not only are the expected 4 new stands (#101 - #104) going in where the old drop-off zone was, but 3 new stands (#77 - #79) are being squeezed in on the northern side of the North Apron. It looks like taxiway Echo is being reconfigured slightly to make this work. The docs submitted with the plans explain that this will create 46 commercial stands (those with red numbered circles). The black circled stands are for general aviation.
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Those 3 stands in the North area by the old flying club have always been shown as commercial stand but were used by Ocean Sky and then Signature. Back in the day of the 2012 planning permission there were 48 commercial stands shown, now there are 46 proposed. Signature will loose 3 stands but gain 1 under this plan. Maybe gain 2, as I can't remember the status of stand 10 at the moment.
I was thinking Signature would gain out of this development but maybe they are being further squeezed.
I was thinking Signature would gain out of this development but maybe they are being further squeezed.
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LTNman - are you sure? I've not seen these 3 new stands on any previous plan. Note I'm not talking about Stand Area 80. With the new plan, Stand Area 80 is free for General Aviation instead of being used for 3 commercial stands. So I think Signature are definitely gaining space. Indeed, the planning doc states the purpose is "to facilitate the development of the new Signature (GA) layout".
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I would assume these new 77-79 stands are only used overnight and once those planes have gone early AM the taxiway will revert back without a kink so larger aircraft can be accommodated again or if the likes of El Al send in a 777 or a 330 pax charter flight required they will now have to be accommodated away from North East finger stands 41-42?
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I can’t see the new north apron having two centrelines depending on the time of day, as it could result in a collision. The existing northern apron stands seem shorter under the this plan resulting in a much narrower northern apron than the eastern apron. No more wide jets here.
Last edited by LTNman; 28th Aug 2022 at 07:25.
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I can’t see the new north apron having two centrelines depending on the time of day, as it could result in a collision. The existing northern apron stands seem shorter under the this plan resulting in a much narrower northern apron than the eastern apron. No more wide jets here.
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Which means aircraft tails will stick out even more from the back of this stand. Taxiway Echo has always had a width restriction. I would suggest that this will now also apply to the northern apron. A simple comparison with the eastern apron shows the northern apron to be narrower when aircraft have been pushed back.
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On the East Midland Railways booking engine Luton Airport Parkway and Luton Airport Parkway Dart are shown as two separate destinations including an 8 minute walk between the two, despite a working exit and entrance, on that side of the track.
Short codes:
LTN Luton Airport Parkway
LPD Luton Airport Parkway Dart
LUA Luton Airport
Short codes:
LTN Luton Airport Parkway
LPD Luton Airport Parkway Dart
LUA Luton Airport
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On the East Midland Railways booking engine Luton Airport Parkway and Luton Airport Parkway Dart are shown as two separate destinations including an 8 minute walk between the two, despite a working exit and entrance, on that side of the track.
Short codes:
LTN Luton Airport Parkway
LPD Luton Airport Parkway Dart
LUA Luton Airport
Short codes:
LTN Luton Airport Parkway
LPD Luton Airport Parkway Dart
LUA Luton Airport
I use trains on a daily basis. I can assure you that depending on length of platforms and number of train carriages and passengers exiting or entering carriages and using lifts and escalators it could take 8 minutes. Unfortunately once a train pulls in lack of technology does not allow passengers to teleport to the new Dart Station. However knowledgable regular train passengers know the quickest routes to take which could shave off 5 to 6 minutes. It is therefore fair to state 8 minutes as a maximum!
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Just the occasional ghost trains are now running the route to empty stations with no passengers. With staff being paid to stay at home, the financial position for the Dart and LRT gets worse by the day.
When it is eventually opened the stations are very generously sized for the expected traffic unlike the shoehorn terminal.
I wonder how much their electricity bill is?
The Dart arrives at an empty station. The top of a ticket barriers can just be seen.
When it is eventually opened the stations are very generously sized for the expected traffic unlike the shoehorn terminal.
I wonder how much their electricity bill is?
The Dart arrives at an empty station. The top of a ticket barriers can just be seen.
Last edited by LTNman; 29th Aug 2022 at 04:59.
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Wasn't the new Elizabeth Line in London running for years with ghost trains to iron out all snags, obviously a much more complicated project but still require all Health & Safety hurdles to be signed off.
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No points with 2 independent concrete tracks, pulling 2 cable hauled trains on rubber tyres can’t be compared with the Elizabeth Line that has 3 sets of independent incompatible signalling. Point taken about H&S. Maybe corners have been cut as LRT has never held a public service licence before but then the forecourt isn’t finished anyway. This would also prevent the Dart from opening.