Luton, London's fastest growing airport?

[Buster the Bear]

Provisional figures for April 2005.

ATM's 6056 up 22.5%. 12 months to April 68174 up 14.7%


Passengers 717,884 up 28.3%. 12 months to April 8,109,679 up 17.7%


Not bad at all. Easter this year was in March.

Other leading airports by comparison:


28.3% Luton
4.0% Edinburgh
1.0% Manchester
0.8% Glasgow
0.5% Gatwick
-0.8% Heathrow
-1.0% Birmingham


No figures yet for Stansted.

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[LTNman]

Yet another month where LTN maintains its 5th position in monthly passengers handled.

717,884 Luton
688,407 Edinburgh
667,240 Birmingham
641,012 Glasgow

Does anyone know what the latest plans are to keep the road traffic moving at LTN? Normally it isn’t too bad since the entry barrier to the drop off zone was taken out of service but last Saturday afternoon I witnessed the worst jams ever that went all the way back to the A505. This was due to parked vehicles in the drop off area, which prevented other cars from getting in. The airport authority must have a master plan for the summer I would have thought but with 717,884 passengers using LTN in April summer monthy totals are already here.
:confused:

[LGS6753]

Stansted figures for the bear...

Month (Apr) 1,759,819 + 3.4%

Rolling year 21,228,618 + 7%

This is all very impressive, but what Luton hasn't been doing is attracting its fair share of IT charters.

In recent years both Britannia and Monarch's charter programmes have been reduced, My Travel have withdrawn, numerous foreign charter airlines have either ceased Luton ops or transferred to Stansted or elsewhere (Air Mediterranee, SATA, Futura,to name just 3).

Whilst I realise this is the decision of the tour operators, I'm amazed they can make so many destinations work from Gatwick (and BHX, NEMA, STN etc) and so few from Luton.

Come on, TBI - get your act together - you've done well on the locos, but what about some more holiday choice?

[LGS6753]

Looking at the same stats, Ryanair seem to have had a decent month on their routes...

Girona 7731 68% load factor
Reus 9278 82%
Esbjerg 7675 67%
Dinard 7516 67%
Nimes 8090 71%
Bergamo 17118 75%
Rome 8394 74%
Treviso 7373 65%
Vasteras 15083 67%

This assumes one daily flight every day using a 189 seat B738 (twice daily on Bergamo and Vasteras). It assumes no diversions or cancellations.

Also, these numbers are not comparable with the claimed figures on FR's website, as that states seats SOLD, this is seats OCCUPIED.

These flights have only been operating since January 05 (except Bergamo).

[Buster the Bear]

350 movements on one day the week before last and 370 commercial ATMs on a single day last Friday!

I bet the airspace above was really creakin'!

Smallest commercial pax movement being an ATR72 on these days?

And enough Biz Jets to fill White Plains or Teterboro?

Roll on June, July and August!

Not bad from a runway with a back track problem and from an airport that is not controlled by the BAA!!!!!!

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[LTNman]

Have a look at the 4 photos I took in 1995 from the top of the tower http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ksmithltn/my_photos Just click on the thumbnails to increase the size. Spot the passenger in photo 1, Hard to believe how far Luton has come in just 10 years.

[GOLF-INDIA BRAVO]

And no locost in site not even many bizjets

G-I-B

[Colonel Klink]

Those photos are indeed a little trip down memory lane, used to be handy to fill up at the petrol station, now long gone. If you think about the way the airport has developed, it's a pity they didn't bulldoze the lot and start again properly, instead of the total shambles we have today. It used to be a much nicer place to work then, especially when easyLand was not painted orange; in fact it was a lot nicer when there was hardly any orange!!

[LTNman]

I don’t think LTN is a shambles, the airport is more efficient than Stansted in handling passengers and aircraft and no doubt will crack the problem of the approach road congestion soon which this year seems to be only a real problem on Saturday afternoons. It was never an option to start again although no doubt the present owners would have done things different with the design and location of buildings built since say 1990.

The airport is geared to the needs of the low cost airlines which bring it year round business and these airlines want low cost solutions to capacity constraints which means adding a bit here and there when required.

I can remember years ago walking through the old terminal in the winter at 16:00 when the last departure of the day had left which was a Euroflight service to Brussels using a 16 seat aircraft. That was the total extent of LTN’s scheduled services, one aircraft one service. Now look at the place, stand by the fence by the flying club and almost nothing is recognisable. I think I prefer how things are now.

[The Greaser]

Luton IS a shambles - I agree 100%

[nickmanl]

But its still better than terminal 2 at Heathrow!

[Colonel Klink]

I'm sorry LTNman and others who may disagree, LTN is a shambolic mess, due to a terminal inadequate for it's needs, no tarmac space to speak of with too-few stands and a one-way taxi system totally outdated for the traffic that uses the airport. No airbridges (yet), passengers held like cattle in a pooling area then schlepped out in a mob to the aircraft no matter what the weather, the same for the long queues waiting to get inside to the immigration desks.
That being said, however, Liverpool is a classic case of an airport with similar problems, but look at the innovative way they literally built a shiny new terminal over the top of the old one and what is there now is a terminal to be proud of, with plenty of room for the inevitable expansion.

[vintage ATCO]

Been a while since you have been to LTN then, Capt Klink? 32 stands plus cargo and four aprons for biz jets (more concrete would be nice!) plus a circular taxiway system for over 18 months. New terminal areas about to come on line.

The set down area isn't good but the management are aware. Unfortunately they inherited what they've got.

[LTNman]

The following is due to open on June 30th although looking at some of the work this date might be missed on some of the projects

New 1st floor departure lounge with new retail centre:ok:
New 1st floor security and deep search area :ok:
New immigration hall:ok:
New arrivals waiting area complete with its own entrances onto the central area:ok:
New pier:ok:
Expanded luggage reclaim area :ok:
Doubling of walk on stands:ok:


What’s about to be addressed

Extra lane for the M1:ok:
New dual carriageway into the airport:ok:


What still needs to be addressed in the short term

Restricting motorists from parking in drop off area thus improving traffic flow:mad:
Resurfacing of short term car park:{
Full length parallel taxiway:confused:

[Buster the Bear]

Still one of the problems remains the airspace above and around Luton. Too many planes and not enough airspace at times will cause holding point delays, especially if Luton is shifting 350+ movements per day.

The airspace in the vivinity of Leighton Buzzard will help, permitting left hand circuits onto runway 08 instead of the overhead right hand circuit currently used, but this is not to facilitate any growth as I understand it, just removing some conflictions.

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[nickmanl]

Sorry to be a pain, but the link to those photos is refusing to work for me! Is this the case with anyone else?

[LTNman]

The link was down but seems to be working now. If not the photos are also at ???????

[Buster the Bear]

LTNman, you have now told the world of your true identity, just look at your Photobox page!

My furry lips are sealed.

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[LTNman]

Yes I knew that when I posted the new link. Didn’t think that anyone would spot it though. Guess I will just have to wait for my collar to be felt now by the airport police.;)
"Excuse me Sir, so how did you get to the top of the tower to take those pictures???"

[CAP670]

371 movements on the busiest day, actually...

Luton again, ranks # 7 in terms of ATMs, after LHR,LGW,MAN,STN.BHX and EDI.

Irrespective of whether certain ppruners think Luton's a "shambles" it's on course to achieve 9m annual passengers this year and 10m in 2006.

Considering the handicaps that the airport operating company had and still has (Luton Borough Council for one...) it's a pretty impressive turnaround.

No doubt things would have been different had it been owned by a government organisation that used taxpayers' money for development and was then helpfully 'privatised' (whilst HMG retained a golden share) in a way that permits anti-competitive cross-subsidisation...

:hmm:

[LTNman]

Irrespective of whether certain ppruners think Luton's a "shambles" it's on course to achieve 9m annual passengers this year and 10m in 2006.

To achieve 9 million an average of 750,000 passengers a month need to pass through LTN. So far this year:

578,675 January
622,019 February
740,126 March
717,884 April

2,658,704 Total

Leaving 6,341,296 to be found for the remaining 8 months or 792,662 passengers a month. Only once in August 2004 has this figure been passed.

From May 2004 to December 2004 5,463,057 passengers used LTN so a growth rate of 16.75% is required for the rest of the year. At the moment it is running at 17.7%. This hopefully should be achievable but from the middle of May Wizz will have been operating out of LTN for a year so the Wizz factor of around 500,000 passengers per year will have to be removed from the growth figures.

[Powerjet1]

Wizz going twice daily to Gdansk from late Sept/early Oct. Could this be in response to ryan starting the route from STN around that time ? On the downside BUD is down to daily on most days. Poznan starting 4 x weekly 18 Sept with rumour of one further new destination by Dec. This would bring to six, the number of Wizz routes served from LTN.

[CAP670]

...a one-way taxi system totally outdated for the traffic that uses the airport. No airbridges (yet), passengers held like cattle in a pooling area then schlepped out in a mob to the aircraft no matter what the weather.

Just a few facts:

1. Luton has had a circulatory taxiway system in use for one-and-a-half years and apart from one section which cannot be utilised by wide-bdy aircraft, it's perfectly adquate and indeed, significantly reduces delays.
2. The lo-cos don't like airbridges 'cos they can slow down the turnarounds. Indeed, Ryanair actually said that it would prefer its pax to walk to and from its aircraft!
3. Passengers at Luton have had covered walkways to within a short distance of their aircraft for two years. This is no different to for example, Aberdeen. For other stands, they're bussed to and from the aircraft - something that happens on some stands at Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and even Heathrow. And the new pier that will serve all North Apron and East Apron stands will deliver passengers to within a few metres of their aircraft.

The other nearly-complete developments to the terminal will deliver significant improvements to passenger comfort and processing.

Your criticisms are hopelessly outdated, Colonel. You really should leave your armchair and try to get out more...

:rolleyes:

[ebenezer]

In recent years both Britannia and Monarch's charter programmes have been reduced, My Travel have withdrawn, numerous foreign charter airlines have either ceased Luton ops or transferred to Stansted or elsewhere (Air Mediterranee, SATA, Futura, to name just three.

The European 'charter' i.e. IT market is taking a hammering wherever there are lo-cost scheduled operators serving broadly the same destinations and regions. Increasingly, people are choosing to book seats only and arrange their own accommodation, often with their holiday working out cheaper than if organised with a Tour Operator.

Luton offers far more choice nowadays with around 80% scheduled services than it ever did in its days as a 'charter airport'. That said, even Thompson (aka Britannia) is selling vast numbers of seats-only on the few charter flights operated from Luton by that airline, whilst Monarch is focussing on 'Monarch Scheduled' at Luton, a particularly good product that's well received by the travelling public.

The selection of departure airports by tour operators has always been massaged and manipulated to suit the operator's own needs particularly when it proves impossible to fill an aircraft with a commercially viable payload from a specific departure point.

As a result, the majority of tour operators serving the London area and the UK's southeast promote Gatwick, Gatwick, Gatwick, Gatwick with Stansted occasionally thrown in for good measure. They then use market-researched evidence of a lack of customer insterest in Luton as a reason for concentrating flights from the former two airports.

The infamous Dr Beeching would have understood this rationale perfectly!

:uhoh:

[LTNman]

I would have thought that Gatwick with its limited spare slots would be more interested in a year round scheduled service than a 6 month charter. How many scheduled services have they lost to Stansted due to airlines not being able to get a summer slot for a new scheduled service. Wait a minute, are they really bothered with BAA also owning both airports. I suppose with Stansted also filling up maybe Luton could pick up more IT flights in the future if they can find a space for them.

[Alloy]

Monarch may not be expanding it's charter flights from Luton but it is incresing Monarch Scheduled Flights for the winter to almost twice as many flights to Tenerife, increasing its offering to daily flights. Services to Faro will increase from two per week to five per week. Gibraltar will increase also.

[CAP670]

Full length parallel taxiway??

Great idea LTNman, and certainly something to aim for.

However...until the adjacent London airspace can accommodate flights taking off from Luton on average every one-and-a-half minutes (as occurs at Gatwick, for example) it would bring only a limited benefit.

A full-length parallel taxiway at Luton won't remove the interaction with some London City and Northolt routes that on occasions causes 10 or even 15 minutes take-off delay to departing aircraft waiting to take the Luton runway.

The air traffic guys at Luton and at West Drayton do their best, but they have to contend with an outdated airspace system that has failed to keep up with the pace of development at Luton (and at City) and for which any improvement is now likely to become embroiled in the CAA's PC-orientated, environmentally-driven and painfully slow 'airspace change process'.

Planners? What planners....??

:hmm: