Our
airport.
Our objective is to drive economic and employment growth for future generations.
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 continue to plan for how prudent investment in the airport and our other assets can continue to benefit future generations.
At the end of 2019, London Luton Airport was the UK’s fifth largest and one of its fastest growing airports. Before the pandemic, London Luton Airport served 18 million passengers per annum (mppa) and supported 28,400 jobs across the UK, with 10,900 jobs in Luton, and delivering £1.8bn economic activity for UK GDP. It is widely recognised as the most significant and important player in Luton’s economy.
Our plans for the long-term expansion of the airport up to a new capacity of 32 million passengers per year will create up to 11,000 new jobs and up to an additional £1.5bn in annual economic activity.
Our application for a Development Consent Order for the sustainable long-term expansion of our airport has been approved. To view all documents and correspondence associated with our application, go to the Planning Inspectorate website.
Growing the airport can also act as a catalyst for Luton to become a leading hub for green technology, research and finance. It will therefore play a crucial role in delivering a more sustainable, prosperous and healthier future for the people of Luton.
We conducted three public consultations on our plans for expansion to 32 million passengers per annum (mppa). The second and third of these were statutory consultations which took place in autumn 2019 and spring 2022, and sought feedback on how we proposed to deliver a second terminal and associated infrastructure to deliver this passenger growth by 2041.
At all stages we carefully considered all the feedback received. In particular, we heard the clear message that people wanted us to go even further to mitigate environmental issues, including noise, air quality and climate change.
We examined every aspect of sustainability and the impact of all aspects of the airport’s operation, to ensure we can meet our ambition to become a leader among the most sustainable airports in the UK. This includes developing a unique, ground-breaking framework, Green Controlled Growth, to ensure that the future growth we want will be green growth and, crucially, independently monitored.
Our application to the Government for a Development Consent Order (DCO) was approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, on April 3, 2025. We remain committed to engaging with our communities and keeping everyone closely informed about the progress of this nationally-significant project.