Might even do Silverjet some good, when punters see the difference in fares between them and Eos!

And I see AA are announcing a second Stansted to JFK daily.

<Powerjet1>
Sept pax figs show a 5.7% increase on last year to 946,769. Rolling 12 months now stands at 9.77m (+3.7%). Will the magic 10m rolling, be reached by Dec ?. It will be very close but I think it might just be a few 000pax short.

I suppose this is not really any relevance for LTN Management, but thought may be of interest... Birmingham for the first time this year has beaten LTN's monthly passenger numbers.

Source BHX Website:

"Birmingham International Airport (BIA) handled 969,407 passengers during September, including 642,182 scheduled passengers and 327,225 charter passengers spread across the two passenger terminals; an increase of 2% over the previous year."

Parkway Upgrade
 

Site works begin for £3.5bn Thameslink upgrade

Work will get underway this week to lengthen platforms at Luton Airport Parkway, the first station to be upgraded as part of the £3.55bn Thameslink upgrade programme.

Platforms at Luton Airport Parkway will be extended by 50% to accommodate 12-car trains. The station is the first of around 50 on the Thameslink route north of London that will need platform extensions.

Major engineering work to build a new double-track viaduct carrying the railway over Borough Market in London is scheduled to begin next year for completion in time for the 2012 Olympics. The project - which will remove a rail bottleneck by providing a new viaduct across Borough Market to supplement the existing track – is intended to tackle overcrowding and support economic growth in London and the south east by increasing rail capacity.

The Thameslink programme will be delivered in two phases, with extra capacity by 2011 and the full scheme up and running by 2015. When completed it will allow 12-car trains to operate up to 24 times an hour through central London with expanded routes to additional stations outside the capital. The government has also agreed to buy new rolling stock for the route, which takes the total project cost up to £5.5bn

easyJet fleet faces holiday grounding for £25,000
 

This could be excellent news for LTN as it means that MidlandMainline (or whatever it'll be called under the new franchisee) will be able to use Parkway with its HST sets serving Sheffield and occasionally, Leeds out of St. Pancras. In fact, it could mean that the Town station (incorrectly called "Central" - the Great Central never served Luton...) in Luton might end up being the secondary station on the network that it now looks like.

The Thameslink 2000 Project also has through trains linking Guildford with Cambridge via St Pancras (Thameslink platforms) and other through trains from Littlehampton via Horsham & Dorking to either Bedford or Cambridge. However, there are capacity issues to be overcome across the two-track Hatfield Viaduct on the ECML.

All this means that LTN's catchment area for those wishing to let the train take the strain will be significantly increased to the extent that they'll almost rival the rail connections available from LGW, for example. :ok: :sad:

Or, folk might be able to by-pass Luton, take Eurostar from St P into mainland Europe?

The current airport security restrictions and check in deadlines certainly advocate the 'train taking the strain' compared to a 1 hour sector?

CAP493, if you add Cross Rail into the equation, the catchment area for Luton will be enormous.

Mind you, by then Oil will be $1000 a barrel and my Brown fur will have turned silver having won a GOLD in 2012 for sarnie swiping!

Having said all of the above, as the UK population is set to become 70 million, Luton airport is set to become even busier when they all fly home for the weekend?

Luton airport Britannia,s past
 

Britannia indeed, did have two 707's operating in the seventies from Luton, flying to Los Angeles,
The schedule was so tight that another airline crew had to do all the preflight checks . This was because if the crew taking the plane had done it, they could have run out of hours at the other end .
How do I know this, I was a line chargehand at the time with Brits and if my memory serves me right , turnround time was around 1 hour, usually around midnight. This could sometimes involve a wheel change and asbestos gloves were needed, bit like Formula 1 really.:)

easyJet acquires GB Airways
 

http://www.easyjet.com/common/img/ea...cquisition.pdf
Wonder how this might affect easyJet at LTN in the future...?? :confused:
Well, it'll certainly be interesting to see how easyJet's load factors on its LTN/Paris services hold up after next month... :hmm:

Updated SMR
 

HERZLIA, Israel, October 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Transtech Control Ltd., announced today that the Intelligent Airport System (A-SMGCS) has successfully passed the SAT (Site Acceptance Test) at London Luton airport, UK. The system commissioning is scheduled for end of 2007.
The Intelligent Airport solution, deployed at London Luton airport, is comprised of a cluster of Millimeter Wave Sensors (MWS) and Optical Identification Sensors (OIS). The solution also includes interfaces to the airport flight information system (AMOS) and the approach surveillance radar (ASR). The system covers the runway, taxiways and aprons, delivering full situational awareness to the control tower and ground operations facilities, and will provide A-SMGCS level II capabilities.
Hagai Katz, Transtech CEO said: "London Luton Airport is one of the fastest growing UK Airports and our ASMGCS solution "the Intelligent Airport" is specifically designed for this kind of busy airport, with inherent growth potential. Transtech is delighted to have the opportunity to work with London Luton Airport and NATS in implementing a new generation of surface movement surveillance and control tools, which will enable the airport to improve its safety while increasing its capacity, throughput and efficiency".
Neil Thompson, Airspace and Airfield Environment Manager, London Luton Airport, said: "London Luton Airport selected the Transtech Surface Movement Radar because of the significant safety enhancements that it offered whilst covering the complexities of the entire airport site. The capability to expand the system to accommodate future growth was also an important factor in our decision to go with this product"

SKY Europe
 

Noticed that SKY Europe booking engine now has LTN-AMS Bookable via PRG.Strange decision that, given that EZY fly direct.Surely there are other more interesting destinations on their network that could be utilised /tied into LTN Flights.
Also does anybody know if Monarchs IBIZA Flights from LTN for S08 will be bookable soon or has it been dropped completely?

easyJet acquires GB Airways
 

I don't think this is really going to effect Luton much, even though LTN will always be an important base to easyJet - LGW has always been their priorty for the London market. This is is where the most profitable routes are flown, and where expansion will come first...

Over the last year or two their has been very little expansion at LTN with easyJet and the new routes they have launched have usually come at the expense of other failing routes. Until LTN gets converted to a full A319 base, I suspect expansion will continue to be limited, as the airline is reluctant to operate such a large base like LTN with a mix of two aircraft type.

I thought EZY were doing just that. First 319 next year last 7372011 ish

All the 737's should be phased out by 2012, not sure how gradual the transition will be though.

A virtual tour of Harrods new FBO facilty, being constructed at Luton, is now available on their website. Quite an impressive facilty, which is due to go live for VIP pax in January.

A couple questions:

Will the new Harrods facility make complete use of what is now the cargo ramp?

If so what will happen to the cargo planes?

Why isn't the stand 48 - south apron road open yet?! It's been completed for ages and yet the barriers are still up.

cheers all

Cargo apron
 

A new cargo apron is being built next to the cargo shed, I think they will be practically in Wigmore Lane!

Appararantly the new road is not open yet because it connects a controlled area with a restricted area! I guess it won't be in use until Harrods move and there gate by Easyland is shut and welded.

Two new airlines in one day...
 

Flybe and SkyEurope both launching at LTN tommorow...
Should be IOM (BE), BTS (NE) and PRG (NE)
Although no sign of any morning arrivals from SkyEurope on the LTN website which I expect the BTS/PRG flights would be? ...
I'm sure we can count on Flybe though - they are scheduled at 2pm i beleive? SkyEurope website only showing a nighttime arrival.. from BTS. Not sure about PRG though! Anyone care to shed some light?

Why do I get the feeling NE won't show up ?! Unless the LTN press release is wrong, they are due to start ops on 28/10/07...

;)

Ahh SkyEurope..
 

Found it!

Both flights arriving/departing in the afternoon/evening
PRG
Arrival
NE2122 PRG Prague
SkyEurope Airlines 03:05 PM
Scheduled
73G

Departure
NE2123 PRG Prague
Skyeurope Airlines 03:35 PM
Scheduled
73G

BTS
Arrival
NE126 BTS Bratislava (Vienna)
SkyEurope Airlines 07:00 PM
Scheduled
73G

Departure
NE127 BTS Bratislava (Vienna)
Skyeurope Airlines 07:30 PM
Scheduled
73G


Anyone know where they will be parking? East apron possibly ?
I know the Big Orange are handling them so that probably means they will be put with all the easy / ryan / aranns round the back?