Luton Airport halts expansion bid amid coronavirus pandemic

The airport's owners London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) had been seeking permission to more than double its capacity from 18m to 38m annual passengers by 2050.

These expansion proposals were due to be submitted to the government this month (June 2020).

But with its finances decimated by coronavirus - along with growing public concerns about the environment - LLAL has quietly shelved its bid.

Graham Olver, chief strategy officer for LLAL, said: “Covid-19 has sadly impacted on every area of people’s lives and wellbeing, and the effects on aviation have been stark.

“We are an airport owner entirely focused on supporting and improving people’s lives, and driving economic and employment growth, both in Luton and neighbouring communities.

“We see it as vital that we work hard not only to support safe passenger services at Luton but also continue to plan for how prudent investment in our stewardship of the airport can continue to benefit future generations.

“This will be vital for supporting the local, regional and national recovery that will need to take place after the pandemic.

“Since our second public consultation late last year, we have been listening carefully to feedback about our proposals for long-term expansion and in particular a clear message that people want us to go even further to mitigate environmental issues, including noise, air quality and climate change.

“We have gone away to take a fresh look at every aspect of sustainability and the impacts of running an airport, and are actively considering how we can set out a path that would make London Luton one of the most sustainable as well as socially conscious airports in the UK.

“We are serious about this, and it is right that we take all the time we need at this stage. We won’t be submitting our DCO application in June as originally outlined, and we hope to have much more to say about this over the coming weeks and months.”

Mr Olver added: “Since 2013 our ongoing investment in the airport has delivered a £21m yearly increase in revenue to the council and significantly offset the need for harder cuts to vital frontline services in Luton, even after taking the financing costs of our development programmes into account.

“London Luton Airport already supports more than 27,000 jobs in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Our additional social investment in key voluntary and charitable services now exceeds £130m over the last 12 years, and the value of this has never been more clearly demonstrated than through the emergency support our airport company has been able to provide over the last few weeks to the inspiring community response to coronavirus.”