Good question. All the latest projects are being funded by LLAL who are borrowing the money from the council who are then borrowing the money themselves. This is just part one as the terminal that was meant to be maxed out at 18 million would need modifying again to add another 3 million passengers. Planning permission would have to be granted as the council limit is set at 18 million at the moment.

Looking back on old photos the oldest photo I can find of the start of the upgrade goes back to the winter of 2014/15 when trees were cut down by the fire station. The temporary arrivals area opened in May 2015 so this is a long slog. The airport is a mass of cranes, compounds and building sites at the moment with construction activities as far as the eye can see.

Don't look at the Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feeds then, it it littered with LLA, along with buses, airport vehicles, marketing materials. Previous to this we had LIA. Like it or not LLA is here, introspective to what gets printed on your luggage label.

Seems that the contractor building the DART link is in financial trouble so will they survive another 3 years allowing the project to finish. This could open up a whole can of worms for the airport with contrcators and suppliers wanting up front payments from Kier

Kier shares plunge on news of rights issue to tackle £624m debt mountain - News - GCR

Construction update
 

The embankment has been removed on the approach road to allow the road to be temporarily diverted for the construction of a cut and cover tunnel for the DART
https://i.imgur.com/N4KcWt6.jpg

The roof for the DART maintenance area that will adjoin the station is under construction. Later the space underneath will be dug out.
https://i.imgur.com/xrqM46p.jpg

The first stairwell for the new multistory is almost complete. A new passenger route that is yet to open straddles the multistory. In the background the temporary drop off area is looking like it will become a new apron as a tender process is under way.
https://i.imgur.com/O6W6O4r.jpg

As can be seen the new multistory will be taller than the existing multistory due to the height of the ceiling of the ground floor that will accommodate the new drop off area.
https://i.imgur.com/UYDHweb.jpg

The alternative walk to the terminal that avoids the steps and steeper slope has opened together with its original fairground hotdog type kiosks. The temporary entrance to the terminal has been replaced by windows. Inside the terminal clearly someone has been reading Pprune, as the missing floor tiles that were replaced with filler over the last 19 years are now being replaced with new tiles.
https://i.imgur.com/02skftZ.jpg

For unknown reasons a section of tarmac has been painted dirty white.
https://i.imgur.com/B0mGXGN.jpg

The bus station canopy is now complete. Work has started on building the last of the bus bays on the far side, as that area was being used as a vehicle access point to the terminal infill.
https://i.imgur.com/VqQUnv3.jpg

Finally, how it was back in 2015
https://i.imgur.com/aocEIXD.jpg

Thanks as ever for the update, I bet you are particularly pleased about the above!

It was a thorn in my side for years. They are not all done yet as there are hundreds of tiles that need replacing but a few seem to be being replaced each night.

I could be wrong but with the end in sight to the terminal upgrade there is not a hint that the ceiling will be covered in planking, not that it hid much on the small sections that were installed. With a low ceiling in the new terminal infill it looks awful with everything that should be hidden on show.

Any detail on this: BBC local news

It was 114 pax LTN-GIB
and 126 pax GIB-LTN

I have to agree with most of the article, apart from this bit "Passengers vote with their feet. While Luton has a commanding position with the M1 running close by to the west and the A1 not far away in the easterly direction, it is expected to move something fewer than 16m passengers this year"

Passengers vote with their bank balance. Those travelling low-cost (nearly everyone) will put up with poor - or worse - facilities if they are only paying peanuts for their flight. So long as passenger numbers continue to rise (already more than the quoted "fewer than 16m this year"), airport management will happily ignore the adverse publicity which, as the article says, has put it at the bottom of the UK airport league table for decades. As someone who has worked at the airport for many years, I despair at the (mostly justified) complaints I come across, but I guess my comments above are vindicated by the graphs below.

Here we have the LTN and STN passenger numbers for the last 20 years:-
LTN
https://i.imgur.com/jLIEOVn.png?1

STN
https://i.imgur.com/Vm6FIVw.png

Stating the obvious but STN is only a couple of million better than its peak in 2007, while LTN is nearly 6 million above its peak in 2008 (data from Wikipedia).

Goes to prove numbers can prove anything depending on how it is presented & by whom of course.

Have to admire though the spin & almost complacency contributed above.

Perhaps somewhat disingenuous to present 2 graphs for visual comparison but with very different values on the vertical axis - makes Luton appear initially a lot stronger at 1st glance until you look at the numbers carefully

That said I agree with cj's comment that although the passenger experience at Luton is generally lousy, passenger volumes and destination choice has grown significantly over the last 10 years and people are not voting away from Luton with their feet

Luton is clearly aiming for the bottom of the market and has been very successful. Just take the hotdog type kiosks for example that adorn the walk to the terminal. In fact the airport loves them so much there are tenders out for additional ones but inside the terminal this time. Much of the finish of the airport leaves much to be desired and the new build has in fact made customers subconscious perceptions worse. The upgrade was all about adding numbers and nothing else.

Saying that more seating has been added in departures but still less additional seats than found on a single 319. Note the clutter free ceiling of the 1999 build.
https://i.imgur.com/lXlUvzS.jpg

Luton as % of Stansted
 

Luton as % of Stansted Pax 1978-2017

1978 635.64%
1979 611.96%
1980 737.63%
1981 741.99%
1982 581.64%
1983 492.36%
1984 337.77%
1985 297.79%
1986 351.41%
1987 348.56%
1988 255.40%
1989 207.09%
1990 228.84%
1991 114.64%
1992 83.96%
1993 69.27%
1994 55.48%
1995 46.67%
1996 50.06%
1997 59.67%
1998 60.22%
1999 55.93%
2000 52.08%
2001 47.81%
2002 40.43%
2003 36.31%
2004 36.04%
2005 41.58%
2006 39.79%
2007 41.75%
2008 45.53%
2009 45.70%
2010 47.05%
2011 52.69%
2012 55.04%
2013 54.32%
2014 52.52%
2015 54.50%
2016 60.19%
2017 61.73%

I would point out that I work AT the airport not FOR the airport. The graphs above (as published by Wikipedia - not my work) were meant to indicate that both airports have shown a large growth in passenger numbers since the general slump in air travel 10 years or so ago. My apologies to anyone who interprets it as another STN versus LTN (or LTN versus STN) post. The BTNews article, whilst accurate in much of its criticism, implies that passenger numbers are in decline (ONLY 16m per year, voting with feet etc.). So I thought I would at least put the record straight on that bit as the reality is the opposite.

And not a broken floor tile in sight....
LTNman, I think this was probably the 2005/6 rebuild as it looks like the upstairs departure lounge which opened around then.

A much more interesting & illuminating portrayal of the relevant figures by BHX5DME...

It is interesting with Jet2 being mentioned here that LGW & even SEN have also laid claim to losing or missing out with the base so not all can be correct one wonders.