London Luton Airport began life as Luton Municipal Airport in 1938.
During the war years, the airport operated as a commercial aerodrome and the base for 264 Fighter Squadron.
Development of the airport for civil use continued after the war, and in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the birth of affordable holidays meant that Luton Airport played an important part in the development of the inclusive tour holiday business in the UK.
By 1972, London Luton had become Britain’s most profitable airport. However, in 1974, a major disaster struck when a major tour operator when into liquidation.
In 1978, a Government White Paper recognised Luton as an integral part of London’s airport system, which mean the airport committee began preparing the airport for the 90’s with a view on 5 million passengers per year.
A new international terminal building was opened in 1985 as part of the planning development.
In 1987 the Airport became a Limited Company with Luton Borough Council as sole shareholder, and in 1990, the airport was renamed London Luton Airport to reflect its true standing in the London airport network.
1991 bought a major blow when Ryanair moved most of their business to the new Stansted Airport.
Later that year, a new management team was appointed to stop the losses being made by the airport and reverse the decline in passenger numbers.
£30 Million was invested in the airport between 1992 and 1996, and the gradual introduction of new routes and airlines saw passenger numbers increase to 3.4 million in 1997/1998.
By 1998/9 the number of passengers had increased to 4.4 million and London Luton Airport was the UK's fastest growing major airport according to Civil Aviation Authority statistics.
In early 2000 work to refurbish the existing terminal building saw it become a larger airside departures and arrivals area with 15 new retail and catering outlets open along with improved baggage reclaim facilities. The Airport has invested tens of millions of £s since then and other improvements in the last 5 years have included the building of an entirely new taxiway and aircraft stands - and the extension, widening and strengthening of existing taxiways.
Passenger comfort and convenience has also been enhanced through the building of an airside elevated walkway with dedicated boarding lounges and gates arrayed along almost the entire length of the main apron.
To meet the ever increasing demand created by rapidly growing passenger numbers work then became underway in September 2004 on the largest civil engineering project undertaken at the airport since the building of the New Terminal Building in 1999.
On 01 July 2005, London Luton Airport opened the new £35 million Passenger Terminal Development. This included a 7400m2 Departure Lounge & Retail / Catering complex, a 6-Gate, 200 metre long Boarding Pier and associated new Security, Immigration and Customs Halls.
The Departure Lounge & Retail Complex development undertaken within the 1st Floor of the existing main Passenger Terminal, an area which has lain 'fallow' since the building was officially opened in November 1999.
London Luton currently supports the following scheduled airlines - easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Monarch Scheduled, Aer Arann and Silverjet, whilst Thomsonfly, First Choice, Thomas Cook and Monarch account for the remaining 8% charter traffic throughput.
The Airport now offers passengers an extensive choice of both scheduled and charter services including frequent departures to over 90 destinations, including services to Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East. |
