London Luton Airport History

London Luton Airport is one of the fastest growing airport in the UK with passenger numbers increasing from 1.9 million in 1995 to 6.5 million in 2001. The Airport is publicly owned by Luton Borough Council, but for the last 30 years has been managed and developed by a Private consortium, London Luton Airport Operations Limited for a period of 30 years.

During World War Two Luton airport was a base for 264 Fighter Squadron, It was also an important manufacturing site at which the Percival Aircraft Company designed and built a series of aircraft for both civil and military use.

Development of the civil use of the airport resumed after the war and in 1952 a new control tower was opened. The 1950's and 1960's saw the start of affordable holidays which combined the transport and accommodation package, it was named even in them days
" The 'package holiday" and many of us today use this sort of holiday feature..

London luton airport was officially opened in July 1938 by the right honourable Kingsley Wood, secretary of state for Air. London Luton airport was owned by the Borough of Luton and, even in those early days, it was considered that Luton ought to be designated the northern terminal for London.

London Luton Airport played an important role in the development of the inclusive tour holiday business in the UK. A key event in the growth of charter traffic at London Luton took place in 1962 with the formation of a new charter airline called Euravia. At the end of 1964 Euravia had its name changed to Britannia Airways. Now, Britannia is one of the world's largest charter airlines and is still based at the London Luton airport.

In 1968, Monarch Airlines, another charter operation,was formed. Monarch Airlines also developed its business over the years and continues to have its base at London Luton Airport.

The growth of the inclusive tour market at London Luton Airport that in 1969 a survey revealed that a fifth of all holiday flights from the UK operated and departed from Luton Airport. By 1972 Luton Airport had become Britain's most profitable airport.

London Luton History suffered a major setback in 1974 when a major tour operator, Clarksons and its airline Court Line, went into liquidation. This sent shockwaves throughout the travel industry but had a major impact on Luton where Court Line was a large airline operator.

1986 Monarch Airlines started Monarch Crown Service scheduled flights to Spain. Irish airline Ryanair launched scheduled services from Luton to Ireland. This was the start of the growth of scheduled air services from London Luton Airport which have now become over 70 per cent of the business volume.

1987 London Luton International Airport became a Limited Company with Luton Borough Council as sole shareholder. The airport was renamed London Luton Airport in 1990 to reflect its true standing in the London airport network.

By the 1990s London Luton scheduled service traffic was growing substantially due largely to Irish company Ryanair. It was therefore a major blow to the airport when in 1991 Ryanair moved most of their business to the newly opened terminal at Stansted Airport. This caused another sharp decline in the number of passengers using London Luton Airport and put the business back into loss.
The road to recovery in passenger numbers came when two new chartered airlines chose to fly from London luton Airport.
Easyjet & Debonair Increased Luton passenger statistics from 1.9 million in the year 1995 - 1996 to 3.4 million in 1997 - 1998.

1998 - 1999 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. The passenger mix had also changed considerably. Whereas in 1992, only 23 per cent of passengers were on scheduled services, by 1998 that figure had risen to 68 per cent.

If London Luton airport was to expand further, it needed financial investment , so the signing of a unique private - public partnership in August 1998 meant that London luton airport remains publicly owned by Luton Borough Council but is operated, managed and developed by a new private consortium for a period of 30 years. As a result of the new financial backing, an £80 million development program was completed in Autumn 1999. Out of this financial backing a £40 million terminal was built, and when it was finished in 1999 it was officially opened by HM The Queen & HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh.

London Luton terminal now houses 60 check in desks, State Of The Art baggage & flight information systems, and by clicking these will take you to a range of | Shops | Restaurants & Bars | Both at London luton airport .

Also in 1999, Railtrack opened the new £23 million London Luton Airport Parkway station. Located on the Thameslink line, with the journey to central London taking less than 30 minutes, the new station will improve public transport access to Luton airport. A free shuttle bus will take passengers on the 1.8 km journey to Luton Airport terminal.

December 2003 marked the first anniversary of Helios Airways inaugural scheduled service from London Luton Airport to the sunshine island of Cyprus – and two days later on 15th December the airline reached yet another important landmark. Fares were very reasonable
starting as low as £120. In the last 12 months Helios Airways have flown 100,000 passengers from London Luton Airport using their modern, luxuriously-appointed Boeing 737-800 series jets.

The History of London luton Airport continues to thrive as today, and to find out all about this thriving airport click here and go to history London Luton airport.

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