Luton Airport expansion

The operators of Luton Airport have proposed an additional, full-length runway and two new terminals.

This proposed expansion programme would see Luton become London's second largest airport, ahead of Gatwick and Stansted (although Stansted has its own expansion programme). (See a diagram of the proposals from The Times.)

It would require the construction of an additional full-length runway 950m to the south of the current runway, on land not currently owned by the airport. One new terminal would be built near the existing terminal, and another would be between the two runways.

The runways would not normally be used simultaneously in the plans - the original runway would only be used in emergencies and during maintenance. However, the plans would not preclude the possibility of both runways being used in full operation in the future.

The new capacity, costed at £1.5bn, is for a planned increase from 200 to 600 flights per day by 2020, and would handle 35m passengers by 2030.

The Luton expansion plans are lest costly than those for Stansted and Heathrow, and would require the demolition of 15 homes, compared to 100 for Stansted and 700 for Heathrow.

Luton Council supports the proposals as it believes the jobs created would help the local area which suffered from the closure of the large Vauxhall factory.

The proposals include a monorail linking the three terminals to Luton Airport Parkway station.

No current news for this project.