Councillors
 

The views of 2 members of the board who have now resigned had no influence on whether the airport will expand or not. This is down to the controlling party in the council, which is Labour, who are not gifted when it comes to intelligence or financial management.

Expansion will have to be paid for so who is going to pay for it? As with the DART, the airport operator with only 12 years left on their franchise has said no, so will it be down to the council to risk borrowing maybe £1bn with no certainty they will get their money back? Council borrowings due to LLAL need for money are already at £300m but with no shareholders to bail them out and with the airport dividend to the council already set to be diverted to pay the interest payments on the existing loans the council needs to provide some answers.

Harrods Aviation Boosts Hangarage at London Luton

Based on increasing demand from its customers, Harrod’s Aviation has boosted the winter aircraft shelter capacity at its London Luton facility, through a temporary lease on Hangar 60, which formerly housed the now-defunct Monarch Engineering. The 33,000-sq-ft heated structure with direct access to the apron can house aircraft up to an Airbus ACJ and will bring the facility up to nearly 100,000 sq ft of hangar space. According to the company, the addition will allow it to handle more aircraft by freeing up operational ramp space.

“We have a short-term hangar parking solution for our customers who wish to park their aircraft at one of London’s busiest and most convenient business airports,” said Kerry Besgrove, Harrod’s operation director. “We are wholly committed to meeting our customers’ needs, and with the UK winter well on its way, the timing of this new hangar space couldn’t be better.”

The initial contract on the hangar is for six months, which will run through the busy spring and summer months. Depending on circumstances, the lease could be extended.

Even when the stands in front were empty, sometimes it took up to an hour to get airport equipment out of the way. Don't know tho if Monarch never bothered to do it themselves or they weren't allowed. I can't see airport giving them 2 stands in front of the hangar like they have done with stands 10/10R for signature.

So which Monarch hangar has Harrod's leased, as one is much bigger than the other?

Changing the subject somewhat 3 black thick poles, as tall as lampposts, have been erected down (old) Airport Way. One is in the middle of the Ibis roundabout. Another is located outside the Holiday Inn part way down the hill with another one located by the roundabout for the A1081 and Kimpton Road. At the top on these posts is an InfiNet wireless network. Can't think who would be paying for a wireless network that takes this route.

Just H60 not H127.

H60
 

It is not as wide as H127.

TUI Summer 2019 Schedule Changes
 

Not sure if this has been reported previously, however it would appear that TUI have made further reductions to their Luton flying programme for Summer 2019, with a series of frequency cuts and season length reductions. This is now as follows:

Antalya - 1x weekly; 27th May to 23rd September
Corfu - 1x weekly; 3rd May to 18th October
Dalaman - 1x weekly; 25th May to 21st September
Enfidha - 1x weekly; 3rd May to 18th October
Faro - 1x weekly; 21st July to 1st September
Gran Canaria - 1x weekly; 6th May to 28th October
Heraklion - 1x weekly; 25th July to 29th August
Ibiza - 1x weekly; 6th May to 21st October, 2x weekly; 20th July to 31st August
Lanzarote - 2x weekly; 2nd May to 27th October
Madeira - 1x weekly; 22nd July to 26th August
Malaga - 1x weekly; 21st July to 1st September
Menorca - 1x weekly; 24th July to 28th August
Palma de Mallorca - 2x weekly; 4th May to 26th October, 3x weekly; 25th July to 29th August
Paphos - 1x weekly; 5th May to 20th October, 2x weekly; 24th July to 28th August
Reus - 1x weekly; 23rd July to 27th August
Rhodes - 2x weekly; 1st May to 23rd October
Tenerife South - 1x weekly; 3rd May to 27th September, 2x weekly; 23rd July to 27th August & 1st October to 29th October
Thessaloniki - 1x weekly; 2nd May to 26th September
Skiathos - 1x weekly; 24th May to 27th September
Zante - 1x weekly; 7th May to 22nd October

No routes have been lost entirely, however Faro, Heraklion, Madeira, Malaga, Menorca and Reus will only operate for six weeks in peak summer, with frequency cuts also to Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos and Tenerife-South outside the peak summer period.

It would seem just a single based aircraft with some re-timed schedules (IBZ going to a W pattern in from BHX) except for Fridays and the first rotation on Saturdays which still require two aircraft (seems odd, though maybe an aircraft could rotate into LTN through maintenance to cover this?)

The peak summer period between 20th July and 1st September appears wholly unaffected.

The Summer 2020 season also remains unchanged though I wouldn't expect just yet to see any major changes that far ahead.

Hangar 60 as detailed in the first line of my original post and is the smaller of the two.

Construction update
 

The new parallel taxiway to Delta, which will also gain de-icing stands is now receiving concrete
https://i.imgur.com/2XGc2e2.jpg.

The route of the new parallel taxiway is in the foreground. The cranes locate the DART maintenance area, while in the middle the new multi story has reached the first core.
https://i.imgur.com/S3HeFMg.jpg

The station is now being dug out.
https://i.imgur.com/dMmgU7M.jpg

The embankment of the dual carriageway has been removed for the DART crossing of taxiway Bravo. The entire route from the fire station to the Dart station will be underground.
https://i.imgur.com/iHvA7VM.jpg

The pedestrian route to the drop off area is about to be put back. A scaffolding corridor with roof has been put in between the road and the new car park to protect passengers from falling objects. Once open this passenger route in the photo will be removed.
https://i.imgur.com/sG3IVeT.jpg

Does anyone know what is happening behind the hoarding/what is happening to the area connecting the new airside domestic baggage hall and landside arrivals?

It's been like a building site for months now with no hint of any work being carried out on it at all. Passengers are still being forced to walk through a twisting and turning corridor that has nothing but a paint-splattered concrete floor and plastic walls.

Bizarre.

As you say the builders have all but left.

There are many area's that have not been completed that still contain hoardings including the landside waiting area by the toilets and the check-in area as the airline ticket desks are still using temporary structures. Add to that the lack of a ceiling and still vast amounts of broken floor tiles the terminal still looks half finished and in need of a make over. It was noted that when the terminal was opened by the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling he was carefully managed even to the point that only the broken floor tiles were replaced where he was expected to walk..

The airport handled 1.1 million passengers in January an 12.9 per cent increase on January 2018.

Airport chief executive Alberto Martin said: “January has been an exciting start to 2019, as we continue to welcome more passengers than ever before.

“Our redevelopment has been designed to make journeys more enjoyable and more comfortable, which our passengers are now experiencing.”

That comment from Alberto Martin is pure rubbish. While some aspects are better like getting through security other aspects are worse like the shuttle bus to and from the station which is taking longer. Coming from the station the bus has to go the long way around due to the closure of the bus lane while heading to the station there are long queues as there is only a single lane to get past the DART bridge construction on the A1081

Spin dear boy, SPIN!