They plan to add capacity in small steps to 22.5 million in the expectation that no one bothers to complain rather than just announce plans to add a further 4.5 million in one hit. The planned terminal extension is only tiny as they have all but run out of room. Think it has more to do with adding a few more check-in desks. 18 million was meant to have maxed out the space available so expect even less room for passengers upstairs.

The builders will have real issues gaining enough access for the mini build as all men and materials will have to cross the main passenger access route to the terminal and also will have to close off a large chunk of pavement for access via the bus station. It will also once again reenforce the view that the airport is a permanent building site.

I think there was approval to go for new South East stands (6 pack) - upgrade run-up bay (2 stands) this week. Plans show Pondarosa being given back (or lease back) which will please Signature but net gain is 4 overnight Class C stands (47), bets please on who will benefit most, WZZ UK, EZY, RYR. That will add just under a million pax alone depending on based aircraft size.

Next expansion +4 more stands between current NE 8 pack and South Stands.......

They don’t need approval.

If the bullsh!ters at the airport are to be believed those extra stands have nothing to do with expanding the airport above 18 million. Lies and teeth comes to mind as the council, LLAL and LLAOL have form when it comes to telling pokies. They claim those new stands are part of the application for 18 million yet we all know they are not as Pabely points out.

latest drone footage of DART for anybody interested


2019 development time lapse

Will the Dart have a station in the Mid-Term car park, or will they still be on busses?

No, the plans were dropped for the Mid-term station

The more I see of the "ski jump" embellishment to the DART bridge, the more ridiculous it looks. What a waste of money!

Seer

When I look at the so called ‘ski jump’ I see something modern and inspiring and I vision- reaching for the skies. The fact is we all see things from a different angle and I like to think I am unbiased though it is becoming apparent this forum has now been hijacked by the green brigade!

The ski slope and supports wasn’t painted before it was transported down the hill so the road has got to be closed for painting. Think the airport approach road and the A1081 are meant to be closed overnight this week but the work might have been delayed.

As for the bridges appearance, it looked impressive when being built by the Ibis and not so impressive when it was first erected as it is on a bend in the road so only a quick glimpse is seen. Now the ski slope looks rather pointless after driving under it many times. I am sure it has cost a small fortune to build and added to the cost of transporting the bridge as the front support actually needed its own temporary supports to hold it in place.

Also looking at the video the top of the slope appears to be much taller than the approach light.

Lee baker Street This forum has most certainly not be hijacked by the green brigade. There are many posters concerned at the haphazard expansion of LTN (as also happens at other airports and infrastructure in the UK) but I cannot see those who want to reduce the level of operations. Make them better? Yes. Stop?

No it isn’t.

Are you sure it will be painted? The “in thing” with these signature bridges is to use weathered steel. At least I recall reading that somewhere.

There’s a footbridge over a railway line in Chiswick, that’s been up over a year without any sign of a lick of paint. It’s a lovely shade of rust.


Edit: Found some pics to show what I mean.

https://expedition.uk.com/projects/c...rk-footbridge/

Wizz dropping OSL / PRG / SVG from June.
They haven’t really had much luck with the Scandinavian routes since starting. I guess putting the A321 on some of the routes from the start was a tad over optimistic.
TOS finishes at the end of March- if it is seasonal I am not sure.

PRG/ VIE end up swopped over between Easy and Wizz so no actual loss of route.

Tromso is seasonal as is Grenoble which finishes about the same time as Tromso. Wizz do not mess about if a route is not working, move on and start new routes which might work better. The slots will be used for example extra Tenerife and the new Gran Canaria service.

.

With the loss of the Scandinavian routes but extra Canaries I think there is still more to come.

Construction update
 

The digging out of the 2 remaining sections of tunnel inside the CTA continues. The photo shows the route of one track as a concrete wall sits in between each pathway
https://i.imgur.com/IIXEHBR.jpg

This is believed to be the 2 winding gear locations that can be seen in the maintenance area. A similar arrangement exists on the ground floor of Parkway Dart station.
https://i.imgur.com/NzGylhb.jpg

The new route for the ring road opened at midday on Wednesday. In the background can be seen the roof of the Dart maintenance area . The road to the right leads to the delivery area for the terminal and the access point for Dart construction traffic. The top 2 floors of the new multi story did not open as expected and remains closed.
https://i.imgur.com/6XUWWXY.jpg

Despite morning frost the new de-icing facility was not in use with aircraft being de-iced on stand today. Has it ever been used apart from testing? In the foreground is the former drop off area that is now the meet and greet parking area. Behind that is the now closed ring road. In the background to the left of the easyjet at the runway holding point can be seen a digger. Has work started on the taxiway extension to runway 26?
https://i.imgur.com/GxHY7TR.jpg

The airport is proposing to add capacity to the existing terminal by infilling this section. The terminal extension would extend to approximately the smoking area and would be tapered to cover part of the front of the existing new build
https://i.imgur.com/yN59Y5i.jpg

I would assume that all of the pavement to the right of the railings would be used as the access route and for the construction compound. I am thinking access would be via the service road and not the bus station as I stated last week.
https://i.imgur.com/DwWKv8g.jpg

Thats good news hearvit might be extended ...

LTNman
Several airports have remote aircraft de-icing facilities but they are not routinely used unless the weather dictates it. This morning's slight frost with no precipitation likely didn't warrant their use as hold over time following de-icing is much longer than when precipitation occurs. In a beast from the east type weather situation it's possible they would have been used but there are so many variables involved before deciding whether there is any benefit in using them over remaining on stand for de-icing. This winter so far being so mild has not warranted any airport's using their remote de-icing facilities.

Has there been any news or comment about the recently revealed revamp of the local government funding formula and the potential impact on revenue that might affect some of the future plans by LBC to borrow and expand the airport?

From what I've seen from the flightdeck in the last few months, the answer to that question would be yes.

The rusty bits underneath are indeed not going to be painted as far as I know. It is the supports to the ski jump that are going to be painted as they are 5 different shades of grey at the moment.

Seems the council is running into a few problems regarding its airport and its plans to jump the gun by starting building the £124 million approach road for the second terminal before the terminal is approved. The council thought they were clever keeping the road out of the DCO process, which will be decided by Government, as they claimed the road was for a business park. Most of this planned business park occupies the same public park that is required for airport expansion so can never be built.

Because it is not part of the DCO the council has discovered that despite the planning application coming from its own airport the road has got to be funded by the council and they can't afford it. They have already stated that the only way to fund the interest payments on the road is to cut council services but it gets worse. The dual carriageway is only viable if it serves a second terminal and not a business park but there is no guarantee the government will allow the airport to build a second terminal.

Now the councillors who have to vote this through and are normally compliant and somewhat intellectually challenged are surprisingly starting to ask questions which is resulting in that the decision for funding keeps getting deferred. I have no doubt that eventually this will be approved as the council has spent so much money on this project that it can't afford to quit now.

This leads to the next problem for the council which is a major one. The Government in a general funding consultation considers airports to be "high risk" properties so should be removed from local rating lists and placed on a central list. Should this happen it would have a very significant impact on Luton, as London Luton Airport is a major part of the Council’s current rating list. It would make Luton far more reliant on the business rates ‘top up’, and remove the potential link between future development of the Airport providing additional business rates income for the town.

Looks like the designers have managed to incorporate the unfinished aesthetic found elsewhere at the airport!

https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/busines...d-2022-1392789

More info here https://www.easyjet-new-home.co.uk/. To be noted that easyjet are keeping well away from the airport owned Century Park business park location which isn't surprising seeing the airport also want to expand the airport on most of the same site. Not sure where easyjet have found all those trees.

Century park has got nothing to do with the decision, the main reason is that easyJet wanted land which they could own themselves Which was near to the airport and not leased off of a third party. Hence the location.

They have picked the only spot near the airport that isn't in an Enterprise Zone
https://i.imgur.com/BZRReMd.jpg

and pretty much all of that land in your map is owned by the airport ! hence why the land for the new hq has been bought by easyJet. Also the current HQ isnt in the enterprise zone.

Certainly a good move for Easyjet owning their own land. Did hear a few months ago when the rumours started about easyJet’s new HQ location that they were going to rent a couple of floors in one of the multi-storey car parks to free up space for the building work. No idea if that is even being considered but that is what I heard.

you heard right but that was for car parking not for office space... Navigation house next to H89 is also being used as well as the academy and capability green at the moment.

Don't they use a compond at the bottom of airport hill and bus employees to CTA?

Once the building site has been completed, is it planned that Easyjet will own the land outright, or do they plan to sell the site to a property company (if Easyjet originally bought the site) and enter into a 10 year lease ?

Being the main tenant in an office building is one thing. Being the long term owner of the building is quite different. I imagine that Easyjet will be a very different company in 10 or 20 years time, and their needs for office space in 10+ years will also be rather different. Property companies are good at mamaging office space but lousy at flying; airlines are good at flying but not very good at managing office space when the size and shape of the airline changes significantly over time. Easyjet may well prefer a 10 year tenancy over building ownership

land is already purchased and will remain owned by easyjet

They have bought the whole site which also contains the staff car parking for the IBC van plant and I think an off site parking company as well as a coach company yard and offices. They won’t need the whole site so will they sell off the bits they don’t need or become a landlord?

The next question is will Easyjet keep their existing Hangar 89 just for its hangar space or will they vacate the whole building?

the existing car park that easyJet uses will merge into the new hq, it’s adjoining land. Hanger 89 lease has been extended and decisions on the office space at the front of the building will be made in the next year.

I assume Navigation House, the academy & offices at capability green will have their leases expire then.

There was a planning application last year to turn Navigation House into the only hotel inside the CTA.

Several Wizz arrivals have ended up in Stansted today.

And Ryanair, Easy & Blue. High winds & an airport on a hill don’t mix.

More to do with the direction of the runway. Stansted is better aligned for the direction of the wind. Several more in the hold or not even bothering to go into the hold