Even if the airport is hoping for a fast recovery with ambitions of passenger flocking back to the airport, news that the likes of all three major low cost carriers are seeking a discount for airport fees, is going to come as like a hole in the head to LBC!

With it looking like some capacity will be becoming available at other London airports, there is likely to be some wriggle room for negotiations.

New York Times - Budget Airlines Put Squeeze on Airports in Coronavirus Cost Drive

Luton seems to have a complicated arrangement due to the airport being run as a concession by an airport operator. In the past it was the council giving rebates to the airport operator who then offered a discount to the airlines to attract new business.

I don’t know who is hurting more, the operator or the council. While the Dart link is still being funded by the council the airport operator has said it was stopping all investments at Luton. The taxiway extension at the 25 end needs the soil from the Dart but was being funded by the operator. The soil has been delivered by the council but will the taxiway now be built by the operator?

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c9076f821b.png
Am I right in thinking this is the first 787-9 to come into Luton

No the -9 has been in before and recently during lockdown too.

Blue Air re-starting ops to Bacau from next week (3pw) then increasing to 5pw from July and onwards. No sign of Bucharest flights yet.

Luton had it's busiest day for biz movements yesterday since March 21st, nothing like it used to be, time will tell if it was a blip due to new 14 day rules.

TUI -9
 

I last see the -9 at LTN about two weeks ago and a -8 a week ago. During the lockdown it was nice to see more wide-body than single aisle aircraft.

Construction update
 

The passenger footbridge over the tracks at Parkway has received its first escalator to the platforms below.
https://i.imgur.com/RHDf6M6.jpg

The photo shows the Dart trackbed. Either side of the bridge can be seen 3 V shapes. These are the approach lights to runway 07
https://i.imgur.com/LYx0bJV.jpg

Taxiway Bravo is being reinstated with the tunnel below.
https://i.imgur.com/DihGjrL.jpg

With the tunnel complete the last section of infilling is taking place by the terminal station entrance.
https://i.imgur.com/RvnZa7Z.jpg

The passenger walkway over the terminal station has now been concreted with the roof supports underneath taken away.
https://i.imgur.com/2yxB9tn.jpg

Lift shafts and stairwells are going in.
https://i.imgur.com/7wupGlX.jpg

I last see the -9 at LTN about two weeks ago and a -8 a week ago. During the lockdown it was nice to see more wide-body than single aisle aircraft.

TUI are fitting the 787-9's in H61 by putting them in at an angle.......wasn't attempted before Covid!

New routes from EasyJet

From Travel Mole:
https://www.travelmole.com/news_feat...ews_id=2043026

Are they not routes already flown, or intending to be flown by Wizz? Next someone will say that easyJet will get financial incentives from the airport to commence routes that are already on offer from Luton?

Further info on new routes from TTG:

"No start date has been set for the new routes, which will compete directly with several existing and previously announced Wizz Air links."
"It comes after Luton-based Wizz announced plans to overtake easyJet as the airport’s largest carrier last summer."
"EasyJet will resume operations at Luton on 1 July this year, flying to 90% of its existing route network, albeit at reduced frequencies."
"For summer 2021, easyJet will fly to Zakynthos seven times a week, and three times a week to Larnaca, Fuerteventura, Las Palmas, Marrakech and Varna."
"Services set to gain frequency include Palma (up from 22 to 28); Faro (up from 18 to 20); Lisbon (up from 20 to 21); Porto, Thessaloniki, Tenerife and Heraklion (up from three to seven); Corfu (up from six to seven); Milan (up from 10 to 21); and Rhodes (up from two to seven)."

Looks like EZY are defending their base against Wizz.

That's 55 additional services weekly, accounting for three or four additional aircraft, unless other routes are cut.

Nowhere to park them comes to mind.

So they have delayed the DCO until 2021 and intend to make a promise to become 'most sustainable airport' by 2040 some 18 years after hoping to get planning permission and many years after it is built. Of course if they can't meet the target they will no doubt put in a planning application to themselves to set it aside with lame excuses. This is happening now with aircraft noise, which they had breached for 2 consecutive years. No problem for the airport operator, as they have put in a planning application to set aside the planning permission, which restricted noise, that will be decided by the airport owner at a Council planning meeting.

Plus all of them fit very nicely with the 'easyJet holidays' plan.

I do suspect a reduction in other routes, if EZY based aircraft remains the same then Luton has done well, remember EZY will be 30 aircraft less in the whole fleet by next year.

That certainly looks like a sensible opinion. LTN has lost virtually all of its IT package business, with the loss of Monarch and retrenchment of TUI. This could be seen as a response to Jet2's growth at STN, or perhaps a pre-emptive move to stop them considering LTN in the future.