ALL CHANGE AT LUTON AIRPORT
It’s been the butt of jokes since the 1970’s. However Luton Airport could well be having the last laugh.
A £160 million redevelopment investment programme by the airport is bringing some classy additions to its much-expanded duty free shopping concourse, restaurant, café and waiting areas.
Top brands like Chanel, Hugo Boss and Ted Baker along with Kurt Geiger and Oliver Bonas with Dubl a premium wine bar serving specialist sparkling wines perhaps Lorraine Chase could now not have to film on the Italian coast but at this new Luton Airport!
Oriel Brasserie will expand that continental feel with their French inspired dishes and Enrique Tomas serving and selling Iberian hams.
SEATING AREA IMPROVEMENTS
Coming very soon and not before time an improved and expanded seating area and a set of 8 new boarding gates at a new airport pier.
As well as the existing Aspire Lounge, which has just had £1m spent on it a second executive lounge is to be added later this year.
Currently Luton is the UK’s fifth largest airport it carried 15.8 million passengers last year an increase of 8.6% over 2016.
The development is not just in the airport perimeter itself one extra new investment will be for a light rail transit system that will link the airport with Luton Parkway Station. This public transport service is currently being carried by rail operator Thameslink and the new rail service is expected to start in 2021.
Motorists making their own way to the airport now have use of a multi-storey car park within easy walking distance of the terminal building. A second multi-storey is under constrauction.
RAIL SERVICE PLEA
In order to further improve the airport’s connectivity the bosses are calling on the government to push the new franchise holders currently East Midlands to introduce four trains per hour. They claim this would require little or no capital expenditure and bring economic benefits to the area.
The airport services 140 destinations with the largest airlines such as easyJet, Wizz, Ryanair, Thomas Cook and Tui. At least seven other larger passenger airlines also operate from there.