What is there to talk about:confused: All development plans are on hold until abertis, the council and any prospective leaser announce a new contract. The airport is ticking over.

I would rather post and read posts about the airports colourful past than see no posts because no one has any news or rumours.

Signature still haven't completed the new vehicle parking area next to Harrods which will allow the start of construction of their new hangar. The vehicle parking area seems to be a major piece of work due to the ground conditions.

DJ6,

Sorry, we were unashamedly wallowing in nostalgia! I think in days passed there was a far greater variety of aircraft types, and operators were more transient than at present.

I'm afraid the story of Luton Airport isn't of past glories, but of missed opportunities, mainly down to Council ownership. The visionaries who invested in a municipal aerodrome in 1938 would be impressed by what is there now, but if they had seen it develop, and watched aviation developments in the country at large, they would turn in their graves.

The blundering politicians who currently inhabit the Town Hall are again missing out due to their short-sighted parochialism. The current debate about additional runway capacity in the south-east should include a second runway at Luton, but LBC has ruled that out because they don't own the land on which it would be built. Hence no-one is considering the possibility of a 26L/08R built a few hundred yards south of the current strip, possibly with a terminal between.

Over the years, various plans have been brought forward for serious development (since the Snow Report in ?1969), but none has found favour with the owners. Apart from bringing additional wealth to the town for which they have responsibility, a major development would be in the national interest, and create jobs at a time when unemployment is high. Luton is also situated where the airlines want to be, after Heathrow and Gatwick. It has always suffered from lack of investment causing lack of capacity.

Not much is going to happen in the near future, as LTNman says, until the ownership of Abertis is resolved. However, if planning permission for the latest proposals was sought pre-emptively by LLAOL Ltd, the enterprise value would be enhanced to their benefit.

Onwards and upwards!

The criticism of the management of Luton Airport seems a little harsh to me.

Take a look at the past 10 years in passenger numbers.

2002 ... 6,486,770
2003 ... 6,797,144 +5%
2004 ... 7,535,614 +11%
2005 ... 9,147,776 +21%
2006 ... 9,425,908 +3%
2007 ... 9,927,321 +5%
2008 ... 10,180,734 +3%
2009 ... 9,120,546 -10%
2010 ... 8,738,712 -4%
2011 ... 9,513,704 +9%
2012 ... 9,617,697 +1%

Positive growth in 8 of the past 10 years with a total growth of 48.3%.

Whilst there is always room for improvement, it seems to me to be a solid and steady growth particularly when you take the economic situation into consideration.

TSR2 -

My criticism isn't of management, but owners (Luton Corporation/Luton Council), over a period of some 45 years.

No doubt the last 10 years (indeed the last 18 or so) has seen growth, but greater growth could have been achieved had the owner been more pro-active and supportive.

Belfast International has today been sold along with Stockholm Skavsta to an American firm called ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide... It seems they have purchased the whole Abertis airport portfolio, for a mere 284 million Euros.

Luton is not mentioned and would appear to be the only airport in the Abertis portfolio left!

I would imagine an announcement on the new owner is imminent, and probably the discussions with the borough council and the terms of the airports lease are holding things this up... It would therefore appear Luton is being sold off separately. Will the new leaseholder be AENA, as many are expecting?

BBC News - American firm to buy Belfast International Airport

Hope this gets sorted sooner rather than later, a clean sheet with someone who is intetested will be a freshing change.

LUTON - 7
 

Wizz

With all this nostalgia talk, we all missed yet another destination from wizz

Arad, 3 weekly

lutonboi - Timisoara is closed for a week at the end of August for repairs and maintenance. Arad being relatively nearby is acting as the diversion airport

LUTON - 7
 

Thanks for that.

My understanding is that a deal to release the concession from Aberis is very close. Suitors await in the wings allegedly.

It will be better for Luton that the airport is sold on its own rather than in a portfolio of airports as the leaser will know exactly what they have bought into.

With Gatwick 2nd runway plans publish today and MAG obviously wanting more from Stansted, the Luton concession release needs sorting very quicky.

Has today's weather caused some routing issues?

Saw a B744 approx 5000ft fly over the town about 5pm. About 12pm there must've been a go around, flying over in a similar pattern about 3000'.

Flight tracking of aircraft in/out of the Airport can be replayed on Travis - go to Luton Airport website - About Us- Flight Tracking. Set your time and date and watch the tracking.

Sure? I think it's just for a period as a replacement for Timisoara (maybe airport closure?).

A 767, ZS-DJI apparently owned by the Djibouti Government, has been a regular visitor over the past few weeks. Anyone know why?

ZS-DJI is now owned by a charter company, and seems to rest at MSE between jobs.

The FT is reporting that Abertis is close to announcing the sale of its majority stake in luton airport to AENA. Apparently such an announcement could happen as early as tomorrow.

I think this is the best news Luton could hope for. The price will be between 400 and 490million euros. Aera will hold 51% while Axa's private equity will hold 49%. A lot of money for an airport they will never own.

Luton is the first non-Spanish airport that Aena will take control of. Aera handles almost 200m passengers a year across nearly 50 airports in Spain and had revenue of over €2.6bn.


According to the FT Aena plans to nearly double capacity at Luton, which in 2012 stood at above 9m passengers, to about 18m a year. It believes that more can be done to make the journey to central London quicker and smoother, and to boost the airport’s image.

Luton is also attractive to Aena because during high season its flights connect to 14 Spanish airports run by the operator. I wonder if they would offer Spanish airport discounts for airlines that use Luton???

With that kind of investment, the concession period will no doubt be long.