Airport take offs set for new route

Airport managing director Glyn Jones revealed the plan at a meeting of tourism group Experience Bedfordshire on Tuesday.

Mr Jones gave a presentation on the airport’s evolving expansion plans, saying consultation on the new take off routes is due to start in January. They were trialled last year.

He said new technology made it possible to design a route that aircraft can stick to and “thread between villages and take the problem [of noise] away.” But he added it would not solve the issue for everyone.

Mr Jones, awaiting a Luton Borough Council decision on an application to take airport capacity to 18 million, added new scanning equipment, similar to that used in CT scans, is to be tested in the terminal from January.

He said the technology, one of only two examples in Europe, would allow people to take liquids through security. The airport is planning to increase the number of security lanes to abolish queuing.