FlyBosnia stopped flying to Luton in 2019 I think, well before Covid became significant in Europe

Wow, is that all of them, how many do Menzies employ at LTN ?

I think it was about 50%

Menzies MAN just had a cull from 440 to 110, although, a big chunk of that whould have accounted for the collapse of Flybe. I suspect Menzies LGW will no doubt take a bike drop in numbers too.

Flights were suspended from the end of Feb 2020.

To my knowledge the airline has cancelled all previous scheduled flights and now operates seasonal / adhoc / charter flights only, using leased aircraft as it no longer has its own aircraft or crews.

Anyone know what's going on with the Sun Express? Looks like 3 attempts to land and considerable time in the hold.

https://www.flightradar24.com/SXS77J/2599e06d

Crosswinds?

That's what I assumed - Looks like they had gusts up to 35kts forecast......

Aircraft diverted to Birmingham and is now on stand

Looking at FR24, it carried out one missed approach, then did two circuits north of LTN. Tracked east and did 6 or 7 circuits north of Buntingford, another two north of LTN, a second missed approach, then off to Birmingham for a straight-in landing on 33.
Meantime, various arrivals and departures at Luton.

Construction update
 

Only emergency loans from the Council is keeping this project going, as LLAL would be bankrupt without a £60m cash injection. £18m is required for the Dart taking the spend to £243m

Luton Airport Parkway Station Dart footbridge under construction
https://i.imgur.com/8l3Epq6.jpg

Still a gaping hole at the Dart station interchange. At some point Network Rail will increase the length of the building for station access to the railway tracks from the ground floor for local residents
https://i.imgur.com/S8jw7hO.jpg

Careful examination might show the yellow ceiling being installed at the far end. What is the point of the gap between the walls and the roof apart from letting the rain and wind in?
https://i.imgur.com/72o89Ne.jpg

First view of the Central Station roof for car passengers after exiting the tunnel.
https://i.imgur.com/8AZuGvR.jpg

Above the Dart maintenance area. Taxiway Foxtrot is once again an easyjet storage area as is the Run Up Bay and the South Stands
https://i.imgur.com/DH8nZ2d.jpg

Brackets are being installed to the metalwork to support the roof. Also the platform sliding door framework is in place
https://i.imgur.com/pa4XGiB.jpg

With a £243m debt to pay off plus interest payments, a maintenance contract to pay for and 24/7 staff attendance the question becomes how much of a financial burden will the Dart be on LLAL and the towns council taxpayers who will never use the service?

With rail passengers decimated will LLAL run both Dart trains or will they cut back to a single track/train operation with a frequency half that of the existing shuttle bus operation?

What LLAL and the Council have not mentioned is that the existing service is operated by the rail franchise holder Thameslink at no cost to the airport operator, the airport owner or the Council. All that will change next year when LLAL, which was formed as just a collector of rents and franchise payments can now add transport operator to its list of property developer, airport investor and land buyer.

As for the airport operator, they will be congratulating themselves for refusing to put in a single penny to this project.

Another thing to consider is will Thamelink actually cease the shuttle bus operation as it is part of their franchise agreement with government? Will they run a cheaper bus service so cutting demand for the Dart, as the scheduled travel time is only one minute slower but actually stops outside the terminal rather than a two minute walk away.

As for the passenger cost to use the Dart? It hadn’t been announced yet but is expected to be the UK’s most expensive 2km journey by public transport.

Whether it costs a lot of money or not, it is needed. The airport will never be taken seriously by some without it.

We need to stop thinking about today in this country and thinking about tomorrow. Yes we are in an extraordinary situation, but LTN as an airport is a viable business.

Actually it is not needed. The airport reached its legal capacity of 18,000,000 in 2019 some two years before the Dart will be finished. The Dart will be needed if the Government approves the DCO application to be submitted next year. If it is refused the Council and LLAL will have blown £243m of Council Taxpayers money, as the Dart will not add a single passenger to the airport.

Work on the Dart should only be started on approval of the DCO and by the new concessionaire as part of their agreement and not by LLAL. Also remember that the existing terminal station will become an intermediate stop and that the running gear and electronic equipment will all be in the wrong place so the Dart will have to be shut down at some point to extend it.

The rail franchising model is now dead. Rail operators will enter in to agreements with HMG to run its railways for a fee, and HMG will own the fares. That will (presumably) be the opportunity to amend the Thameslink operating agreement.

The airport may be a viable business but what is not viable is the current financial arrangements between LLAL and the Council. So many local council tax paying residents are effectively being kept in the dark due to the the many forms of obfuscation the Council employ. Its time a much more concerted effort was made to fully expose the situation.....Unfortunately, the local Labour MP is effectively in bed with the majority Labour croneys in the Council so no chance of any redress there!

boeing_eng is spot on. Reasonable Freedom of Information requests are being turned down by the House of Secrets regarding HM Treasury Business Case guidelines and their justification for building the Dart.

Something to hide? Absolutely!

Council now under investigation by the Information Commissioners Office for withholding information as the Council appears to be desperate to hang on to one more secret.

So who does the Council represent? Well it is not the people that is for sure. They are trying to protect their own self interests and Council careers, as many think dodgy deeds have been taking place behind locked doors in darkened rooms.

At the risk of going off-topic - check the proportion of postal votes, often a sign that things aren't right.

Is it worth having two Luton threads? One to include news about the airport, routes, recovery etc. and the other for people to post their gripes with the political landscape with the local council and airport managemenr. There's not much changing with the latter, just the same gripes being posted every other post including in irrelevant posts, just to get a moan in. Why the gripes clearly have some foundation, the posts are about as newsworthy and interesting as if somebody decided to post every other day that easyJet operate from the airport on days that have a "y" in them. It's drowning out other content to the point of this thread becoming unreadable.

Point taken but moaning posts as you put it concern the airports owner and the people of Luton who we are told own the asset. I don’t think I ever mention political parties by name. I will try not to repeat myself in future though.