UK. London Luton Airport has hailed UK government approval to increase annual passenger capacity from 19 million to 32 million passengers a year. The airport served 16.7 million passengers in 2024.
London Luton Airport is operated by a consortium, of which the majority shareholder is Aena, the world’s largest airport operator, and InfraBridge, a global, diversified infrastructure manager.
London Luton Airport Chief Executive Officer Alberto Martin said: “We welcome today’s approval from Government, which now provides Luton with a generational opportunity to transform the town and our region’s economy. Once complete, these plans will generate an additional £1.5 billion for the economy every year and create up to 11,000 jobs.
“Our priority now is to finalise a commercial agreement with Luton Council to renew our successful partnership so together we can deliver on the Government’s growth policy, and make the expansion plans a reality as soon as possible. This will put Luton at the heart of a collective mission to achieve sustainable economic growth.”
Aena Director of International Subsidiaries Rodrigo Marabini Ruiz said: “Increasing the airport’s capacity by 70% sustainably will require an investment and operating partner with specialist skills and expertise and, as the world’s largest airport operator, we are ready to support Luton’s next chapter. LLA contributes a sizeable proportion of Luton Council’s revenue each year, and we are proud to operate one of the UK’s most community-driven infrastructure assets that is focused on making a positive impact for that purpose.”
The news comes soon after the airport company issued tender documents for its duty-free bid process. The concession is currently operated by Aelia Duty Free (Lagardère Travel Retail). The opportunity has attracted strong interest among leading travel retailers in Europe and worldwide at London’s fifth-largest airport, which now looks set for further expansion.
In another recent boost, London Luton became the latest UK base for Jet2.com and Jet2holidays from 1 April. In the first summer of operations, the UK’s largest tour operator and third largest airline will fly to 17 destinations across Europe, including the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Mainland Spain, Portugal, Türkiye, Greece and Italy.
Other key airline partners include easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Tui, FlyOne, SunExpress, Dan Air and El Al. ✈
