News: Luton Airport scraps expansion plans
Flights > News > # 1350 (09/07/2007)
Plans for a major expansion of Luton Airport have been scrapped because of the prohibitive cost of building a new runway.
The expansion plans included a replacement runway 950 metres south of the existing strip, and a new terminal facility. Luton airport’s parent company, TBI, said it would review its expansion plans and publish new proposals later this year that would set out the framework for the airport's development until 2015.
Over the past decade Luton airport has seen a surge in passenger numbers due to the no-frills flights revolution, with low-cost carrier Easyjet based in the town and charter giants such as Thomson and Monarch using it as a major base. Luton is also battling with Stansted for a share of the lucrative transatlantic business class-only flights market. Earlier this year British airline Silverjet launched all-business class flights from Luton to New York.
TBI chairman, Demetrio Ullastres, said: “We are committed to the delivery of facilities that meet the needs of our customers and at the same time fulfil our shareholder expectations.
“Therefore, we have decided that our proposals should focus on making the most of the existing airport site.”
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Comment:
This news might have a few green groups rubbing their hands with glee, but the simple fact is that new runways can often be prohibitively expensive to build, and this is before the cost of any environmental mitigation proposals are taken into account. Luton airport's parent company TBI have clearly seen that it is far more profitable to make the best use of existing facilities, although we would not be surprised to see proposals being put forward for a lower cost terminal expansion.
At the other end of the market, Luton has already lead the way with a dedicated terminal facility for the long-haul premium service airline Silverjet, and we have no doubt that Ryanair would love to have their own separate "flat-pack" terminal built for them. As they haven't had much luck so far with either of the main hubs at Stansted or Dublin, perhaps Luton could be the place for them to have these wishes granted.
