Valid point as the building is within the govenment's enterprise zone. The building does have one carbuncle and that is what I think was a large flight simulator building is attached to it that goes up several floors. Also it is only metres away from one of the airports fuel farms.

There are probably plenty of sites that would suit a company looking for office space that are not next to an airport. The only companies which would really want to be right next to an airport rather than a mile away are those that are actively involved in aviation. For anyone else, Luton town centre or a suburban business park / light industrial estate would likely be preferable

I would say Monarch's building in located in the heart of the airport not next to it but I know what you mean.

That's just normal office space now.

Looks like pier B will be opening soon for at least coaches. Lots of window washing taking place today and the contractors village landside fence has been moved so the coaches will have an exit route between the village and the pier. There is still a fence between the aircraft stands and the pier though as of today.

Inside the ground floor terminal infill the 2 coffee shops will be opening next and soon but are still boarded up. Work on the The Burger King site seems to have only recently been started while M&S is still an empty shell.

No progress on the ceiling which still only has a few slats fitted.

The infill already has its first broken floor tile.

As for the new drop off zone, I can't yet get my head around the exit route yet as kerbing has been installed at the ends of each lane. Also how passengers will be crossing the ring road. The ring road used to come to a standstill when passengers had to use a temporary pedestrian crossing from the short term car park before the foot bridge was installed. Passenger volumes from the drop off zone will be 10 times that of the short term car park.

The Air Nostrum flights are not yet in the Iberia/Air Nostrum booking engine. However they are in the ACL Start of Season data with 99 slots.

Anyone know if they are likely to operate?

DART Officially starts
 

Work begins on new £225 million rail link at Luton Airport | Anglia - ITV News

If the boarding and exiting from trains via Glass Safety Door looks like the London Underground Jubilee link then it will be smart, but I doubt it!

The public's perception will be in the quality of the materials used for the finish of the stations as well as the trains. The bulk of the spent money will be the build and a tiny percentage will be the finish.

Looks like the cost is already up another £25 million before work even starts as there was no mention before of more money needed for a new passenger footbridge across all BR platforms. I have no idea why the existing bridge can't be used so there must be a very good reason to spend an extra £25,000,000

https://i.imgur.com/iFWyGGo.jpg

Still wondering how the passengers will end up paying for the link? At the moment passengers can buy a through ticket to Luton Airport but many don't seem to do this so another ticket has to be purchased from the conductor. If that happens for the DART it will remove the seamless interchange.

£25 million for a bridge ! Is it going to be made of gold ?
The current bridge has lift access on the southern side and stairs on the northern side.
I guess the new bridge is required for increased passenger flows and perhaps escalators to the platforms.
I still think the £25 million would be better spent on rebuilding Luton Station.

Best if they do away with separate prices for Luton Airport and Luton Airport Parkway, instead charging the same ticket prices for everybody using the station, whether going to the airport or not.

A train ticket from London to Luton centre is usually cheaper than London to the airport via Parkway station. It would be difficult to justify why a ticket from London to Luton centre cannot be used for London-Parkway. With this in mind, making tickets to Parkway the same price as those to the airport might require some very clever justification.

Last time I used Parkway there were lifts to all platforms, southern, northern and central.

It will be difficult to educate frequent passengers getting off the train south of the new bridge that they need to walk in the opposite direction the same way it will be difficult to educate car drivers that instead of getting into the left hand lane for the drop off they will need to keep right. For many of them no doubt they will exit the station on the wrong side and then wonder where the bus is.

At the moment despite signage many meeters and greeters still head for the old arrivals building then look bemused when they find the building is blocked off.

Perhaps my reference to north and south was confusing. I was referring to the lifts at the London end and stairs at Bedford side of the bridge. Currently no escalators to platforms.

Escalators no, lifts yes so as advertised, step free access. Same I think at all 12 car platforms except St. P International & London Bridge.

With the limited land on the airport site, I wonder if the Dart could be used as a catalyst to bring more people up to the terminal, and not just train users and in the long run this new facility developed further?

Back in the 80/90's there was talk of a terminal being located where the current Parkway Station and passengers would then be transported to what is now the Central Area, after clearing security and this whole area on the hill would be considered "air-side".

I think those plans may have been a little pie in the sky, but I wonder if things like moving the drop off zone and bus station away from CTA could be a possibility in the years to come. This would free up a huge area of land to extend the terminal and aircraft parking.

I guess it all depends on passenger perception and if being dropped off and then getting a train to the terminal would be acceptable.

...and would the DART have enough capacity to move everyone up the hill?

Working on 8m passengers (16m split arrivals and departures 50/50) 365 days,say 18hrs per day (evenly distributed throughout those hours...but we know there are peaks and troughs) 60 mins in each hour gives roughly 20 pax every minute !!!!!!

If the council/LLAL are spending £225 million on a dart link when the airport will reach 18 million passengers without it they are seeing it as money well spent. All will be revealed in June apparently with there master plan.

Don’t think the DART being made airside would be the worst idea ever - if you made it hand luggage only, or at least segregate trains to either being checked luggage / cleared security. It would probably give LTN another USP. There is certainly the space to put a number of conveniences and about 4-6 security lanes.

Alas the land has already been earmarked for other projects I believe.

At LHR, on the 2 days after the closing ceremony of the Olympics in 2012, they opened their “Games Terminal” which was in essence the same remote terminal philosophy.

Work begins on new light railway at Luton Airport | BT

So this will be the same arrangement as now. Passengers from London often seem to get tickets to just Luton Airport Parkway as they don't know about through ticketing.

I hate to think what the extra charge is going to be when the link is costing £225 million without the daily operating costs?