Nick Platts is Managing Director of Luton Rising.
For all that we experienced during the pandemic lockdowns, we learnt that, for the residents of Luton, they should not and do not take their airport for granted.
Being surrounded by powerhouse neighbours like Oxford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes, London Luton Airport has always allowed us to hold our own.
When all those aircraft stopped flying for months on end, it reminded all of us just how much the town benefits from the airport, from skilled employment and inward investment into the local economy, to the generous community support provided directly by London Luton Airport Ltd (trading as Luton Rising), which I have the privilege to now lead.
So, as we began post-pandemic recovery, it was an easy decision to progress with plans to grow the airport and ensure we maximise its value to the town and surrounding communities.
The Government has faith in the contribution of the British aviation sector to the economy and society. We want to show how London Luton Airport can set the benchmark for a new era of intelligent airport design and passenger experience – and to increase the number of people travelling through the airport to 32 million per year by 2045.
We don’t need another runway to be able to deliver this vision. The proposed expansion will allow us to deliver more efficient and better use of the existing one; we’ve determined that we can boost the number of people using the airport by improving and better managing the existing facilities. Eventually we will introduce an additional terminal, as and when demand requires it.
We’re already delivering for the future: our Luton DART (Direct Air-Rail Transit) has the capacity to carry up to 2,750 people per hour and opened in March this year, replacing the shuttle buses from Luton Airport Parkway train station. This innovative system allows passengers to travel to the airport in around four minutes from Parkway station, and 32 minutes from London St Pancras.
As well as transforming the passenger experience, the DART is part of a suite of measures that demonstrate how seriously we take our environmental responsibilities.
As part of our commitment, we have proposed a Green Controlled Growth (GCG) framework, to ensure the airport and its ground operations can expand in a sustainable way by placing independently-monitored, legally-binding limits on growth. We have proposed adoption of thresholds that would apply to air quality, carbon emissions from airport ground operations, the noise from aircraft, and the proportion of sustainable transport used by passengers and those working at the airport.
We believe that there is a way to grow our airport sustainably – that is why we are willing to hold ourselves to these standards.
To allow people to make the most of travel in an ever more global landscape, we will also play our part in decarbonisation – connecting families and communities, turbocharging economic and social progress, driving job creation, and growing trade.
Naturally, the airport is a significant source of civic pride for the town. I think everyone else should be proud of London Luton Airport too. After all, it is already the region’s most important business, with 28,400 British jobs supported through direct, indirect, and induced impacts, and £1.8billion contributed to UK GDP in 2019.
This is felt not just in Luton but across the wider economy: according to Oxford Economics, as of 2019, for every £1 the airport directly contributed to the British economy it created a further £1.30 elsewhere.
Expansion will see our contribution to Luton, surrounding communities, and the economy grow significantly as the number of passengers rises to 32 million per year. We forecast reaching this level in around 2043, at which point an assessment by Oxford Economics suggests that London Luton Airport’s contribution to the UK’s GDP would reach £3.3 billion (in 2019 prices), centred on an area which needs levelling up.
Levelling up is most effectively achieved with long-term thinking and long-term actions, and the airport gives crucial leverage in Luton’s plans to regenerate and secure the future of the town.
Over the next 20 years, expansion of London Luton Airport will support 10,800 additional jobs across the UK, including 4,400 in Luton alone. The airport is also central to its own enterprise zone, supported by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), which will deliver inward investment to support economic growth across the sub-region should expansion be approved.
Alongside jobs and investment, expansion of the airport would allow our funding for communities to expand in turn, and spread the benefits from our success. Luton Rising is proud to have issued £7.4million of community investment in 2022 alone, and to be the UK’s most socially impactful airport.
Expansion will take this further. By providing an additional £1 for every additional passenger using our airport, expansion could give our Community First Fund the potential to provide up to an extra £14m per year for projects that help tackle deprivation in Luton and across our neighbouring communities.
Expanding London Luton Airport is Luton’s way forward: more jobs, more investment, delivered more sustainably, and with enormous dividends pouring into the region. We have prepared an expansion plan that reflects and delivers on the Government’s aviation priorities – for the UK to be a world leader in innovation, growth, and passenger experience.
We now need the Government to back our plan. It’s time for Luton to take off.
Nick Platts is Managing Director of Luton Rising.
For all that we experienced during the pandemic lockdowns, we learnt that, for the residents of Luton, they should not and do not take their airport for granted.
Being surrounded by powerhouse neighbours like Oxford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes, London Luton Airport has always allowed us to hold our own.
When all those aircraft stopped flying for months on end, it reminded all of us just how much the town benefits from the airport, from skilled employment and inward investment into the local economy, to the generous community support provided directly by London Luton Airport Ltd (trading as Luton Rising), which I have the privilege to now lead.
So, as we began post-pandemic recovery, it was an easy decision to progress with plans to grow the airport and ensure we maximise its value to the town and surrounding communities.
The Government has faith in the contribution of the British aviation sector to the economy and society. We want to show how London Luton Airport can set the benchmark for a new era of intelligent airport design and passenger experience – and to increase the number of people travelling through the airport to 32 million per year by 2045.
We don’t need another runway to be able to deliver this vision. The proposed expansion will allow us to deliver more efficient and better use of the existing one; we’ve determined that we can boost the number of people using the airport by improving and better managing the existing facilities. Eventually we will introduce an additional terminal, as and when demand requires it.
We’re already delivering for the future: our Luton DART (Direct Air-Rail Transit) has the capacity to carry up to 2,750 people per hour and opened in March this year, replacing the shuttle buses from Luton Airport Parkway train station. This innovative system allows passengers to travel to the airport in around four minutes from Parkway station, and 32 minutes from London St Pancras.
As well as transforming the passenger experience, the DART is part of a suite of measures that demonstrate how seriously we take our environmental responsibilities.
As part of our commitment, we have proposed a Green Controlled Growth (GCG) framework, to ensure the airport and its ground operations can expand in a sustainable way by placing independently-monitored, legally-binding limits on growth. We have proposed adoption of thresholds that would apply to air quality, carbon emissions from airport ground operations, the noise from aircraft, and the proportion of sustainable transport used by passengers and those working at the airport.
We believe that there is a way to grow our airport sustainably – that is why we are willing to hold ourselves to these standards.
To allow people to make the most of travel in an ever more global landscape, we will also play our part in decarbonisation – connecting families and communities, turbocharging economic and social progress, driving job creation, and growing trade.
Naturally, the airport is a significant source of civic pride for the town. I think everyone else should be proud of London Luton Airport too. After all, it is already the region’s most important business, with 28,400 British jobs supported through direct, indirect, and induced impacts, and £1.8billion contributed to UK GDP in 2019.
This is felt not just in Luton but across the wider economy: according to Oxford Economics, as of 2019, for every £1 the airport directly contributed to the British economy it created a further £1.30 elsewhere.
Expansion will see our contribution to Luton, surrounding communities, and the economy grow significantly as the number of passengers rises to 32 million per year. We forecast reaching this level in around 2043, at which point an assessment by Oxford Economics suggests that London Luton Airport’s contribution to the UK’s GDP would reach £3.3 billion (in 2019 prices), centred on an area which needs levelling up.
Levelling up is most effectively achieved with long-term thinking and long-term actions, and the airport gives crucial leverage in Luton’s plans to regenerate and secure the future of the town.
Over the next 20 years, expansion of London Luton Airport will support 10,800 additional jobs across the UK, including 4,400 in Luton alone. The airport is also central to its own enterprise zone, supported by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), which will deliver inward investment to support economic growth across the sub-region should expansion be approved.
Alongside jobs and investment, expansion of the airport would allow our funding for communities to expand in turn, and spread the benefits from our success. Luton Rising is proud to have issued £7.4million of community investment in 2022 alone, and to be the UK’s most socially impactful airport.
Expansion will take this further. By providing an additional £1 for every additional passenger using our airport, expansion could give our Community First Fund the potential to provide up to an extra £14m per year for projects that help tackle deprivation in Luton and across our neighbouring communities.
Expanding London Luton Airport is Luton’s way forward: more jobs, more investment, delivered more sustainably, and with enormous dividends pouring into the region. We have prepared an expansion plan that reflects and delivers on the Government’s aviation priorities – for the UK to be a world leader in innovation, growth, and passenger experience.
We now need the Government to back our plan. It’s time for Luton to take off.