London Luton Airport expansion – Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Luton Rising’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the long-term sustainable growth of London Luton Airport was approved by the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander on 3 April 2025.

The Planning Inspectorate emailed all registered Interested Parties promptly in April 2025.  There was extensive media coverage of the announcement. Luton Council was also notified on the day of the decision.

The DCO consents a scheme that makes best use of the airport’s existing runway and allows for a future capacity of up to 32 million passengers per year (mppa) by the mid-2040s. The existing permitted capacity is 19mppa.

The project is for long-term phased growth that responds to passenger demand over time.

The scheme allows for:

–              Expansion of the existing terminal

–              A new second terminal

–              Additional aircraft stands

–              Improved taxiway system

–              Supporting operational infrastructure

–              Enhanced surface access (road traffic) arrangements

–              Powers of compulsory acquisition over specified parcels of land and property

–              A significant upgrade to the existing noise insulation scheme.

The Secretary of State’s Decision Letter, and all documents relating to the application submission and examination, can be found here

This is what we at Luton Rising are working to achieve, but it should be noted that it does not automatically follow. Further progress of the long-term expansion scheme is subject to two main factors:

1 Outcome of Judicial Review (see below)

2 Commercial considerations for Luton Rising, Luton Council as our sole shareholder, and the airport operating company London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (LLAOL).

Additionally, growth will only happen if:

–              The airport continues to operate within the environmental limits set out under Green Controlled Growth

–              Passenger demand projections continue to require it

–              And the financial case continues to justify it.

Luton Rising has been identified as an Interested Party in a legal process initiated by LADACAN for Judicial Review of the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision to approve the DCO. In this action, the Secretary of State is the defendant.

Luton Rising is considering the grounds of challenge and determining its response in line with the timescales set. It would be inappropriate to comment any further while legal proceedings are in progress.

The proposed expansion of the airport to its future capacity, with a second terminal and all the necessary supporting infrastructure, has been estimated to cost in excess of £2.5bn (2023 prices). Luton Rising will continually update the construction costs and other associated project costs as the detailed plans evolve, and Luton Council will be kept informed at all stages. It is impossible for projects of this scale and complexity to ‘lock in’ the final cost so early in the project.

From a range of delivery and financing options which were set out in the DCO application, Luton Rising and the Council, as its sole shareholder, need to identify the most appropriate and deliverable way in which the required investment can be secured, principally from private sector sources. These considerations will be commercially confidential.

The scheme as presented in the DCO application was indicative, with parameters set for the size and massing of building locations. Whilst it is not expected that the fundamentals of the overall layout will change significantly, Luton Rising will spend some time considering the best way in which the consent provided by the DCO can be used to deliver passenger growth.

It is expected that this review will be complete towards the end of 2025. In the meantime, some of the preparatory work required to enable the Article 44 notice to be served will also be done.

This is a provision within the DCO which requires a notice to be served on the Local Planning Authority confirming the date on which Luton Rising intends to activate the DCO, including all of its obligations and benefits.

There are a number of pre-conditions which must be met, including the approval of various planning documents, before the Article 44 notice can be served.

There is no fixed date yet, and this is unlikely to change until at least 2027 at the earliest. Further updates will be provided as timescales become clearer.

Before the legal powers included in the DCO can be activated by the serving of the Article 44 notice, detailed designs, construction programmes and pre-commencement planning works need to be set out and approved.

It is anticipated that this process may take between 18 months and two years.

Before the Article 44 notice is served, a number of other approvals for Operational Plans are needed from the Local Planning Authority. These will include (for example, but not exclusively):

–              Operational Air Quality Plan

–              Operational Waste Management Plan

–              Fixed Plant Noise Management Plan

–              Ground Noise Management Plan

–              Greenhouse Gas Action Plan

–              Travel Plan

–              Transport Related Impacts Monitoring and Mitigation Approach (TRIMMA)

There are also a number of non-planning requirements, for example:

–       The Environmental Scrutiny Group (ESG) that will oversee the Green Controlled Growth (GCG) framework needs to be established – including its Independent Chair and all of its members, in agreement with all the local authorities that will take part.

–       Similarly, membership of ESG’s Technical Panels needs to be established

–       Full GCG-related monitoring must have been in place for one calendar year.

–       The roll-out plan for the new Noise Insulation Scheme must be approved by the Local Planning Authority.

Yes. Some element of work on the development consented by the DCO has to have started by April 2030; that is, five years after the application was consented by the Secretary of State.

GCG will be a new, environmentally-focused approach to managing growth at the airport.

For the first time for any UK airport, it will introduce maximum limits for noise, operational greenhouse gas emissions, air quality and surface access impacts. These are the areas in which, as the airport grows over time, there is most scope for impacts to increase in line with growth.

These limits will be governed by a new independent body called the Environmental Scrutiny Group (ESG) with the ability to call a halt to growth if the airport does not keep to the limits. Compliance with the process will be a legal obligation on the airport operator, with non-compliance being a criminal offence.

GCG will include ongoing monitoring of impacts and regular public reporting.

If monitoring suggests at any point that limits are in danger of being breached, then plans must set out how that breach would be avoided.

If monitoring reveals limits have been breached, further growth would not be allowed, and mitigation required to bring the impact back within the approved limits.

Greenhouse gas emissions included in the limits are those from the operation of the airport buildings and infrastructure, and from how people travel to and from the airport, but not from aircraft themselves. Aircraft greenhouse gas emissions are instead included in national level limits across all airports and are controlled by the Government.

None of the policies or frameworks identified in the DCO application process can be activated until the Article 44 notice is served.

Only then will all commitments and obligations undertaken by Luton Rising as part of its application take effect.

Our proposals for people who are affected by aircraft noise will be among the most generous and wide-ranging of any airport in the UK. Where a property is eligible for more than one noise insulation scheme, residents will be able to choose which they wish to access. A claim can only be made from one of the schemes.

Scheme 1: for residential within the noisiest area (daytime 63dBLAeq,16h contour)

Uncapped full noise insulation to bedrooms, including loft insulation, as required to bring the noise level down to below the level at which SOAEL is caused in bedrooms.

Scheme 2: for residential properties inside the daytime 60dBLAeq,16h contour and outside the daytime 63dBLAeq,16h contour

Contribution of up to £20,000 towards noise insulation works as agreed between the homeowner and the contractor appointed by the airport operator.

Scheme 3: for residential properties inside the night-time 55dBLAeq,8h contour and outside the daytime 60dBLAeq,16h contour

Uncapped fof noise insulation to bedrooms, including loft insulation, as required to bring the noise level down to the below the level at which SOAEL is caused in bedrooms.

Scheme 4: for residential properties inside the daytime 57dBLAeq,16h contour and outside the daytime 60dBLAeq,16h contour

Contribution of up to £6,000 towards a package of noise insulation works as agreed between the homeowner and the contractor appointed by the airport operator.

Scheme 5: for residential properties inside the daytime 54dBLAeq,16h contour and outside the daytime 57dBLAeq,16h contour

Contribution of up to £4,000 towards a package of noise insulation works as agreed between the homeowner and the contractor appointed by the airport operator.

More details about SOAEL, and how it relates to planning matters, can be found here

Every property is different and therefore the list is non-exhaustive but could include measures such as: upgraded windows with acoustic double glazing; addition of secondary glazing; enhanced external doors; over-boarded ceilings/lofts; acoustic thermal insulation, mechanical vents.

Additional help will also be available for those who need listed building consent for work to their property, including a further contribution of up to £2,500 and a slightly longer period in which to accept an offer.

Community buildings will be eligible within the noisiest contour only. A maximum contribution cap of £250,000 will apply.

Noise contour maps will be produced every five years. It’s not possible to confirm addresses the schemes will apply to at this stage.  An online mapping tool will be available to help residents when the schemes go live.

Yes, please see below. It must be noted that these plans are for indicative purposes only, and are based solely on forecasts. Inclusion within the boundary of any of the plans does not definitively mean that a property would be eligible for noise insulation under the proposed scheme. Similarly, being outside of the boundary of the plan does not definitively mean that a property would not be eligible.

BELOW – INDICATIVE NOISE INSULATION SCHEME EXTENTS, PHASE 1 (2027)

BELOW – INDICATIVE NOISE INSULATION SCHEME EXTENTS, PHASE 2A (2039)

BELOW – INDICATIVE NOISE INSULATION SCHEME EXTENTS, PHASE 2B (2043)

An option of Voluntary Acquisition will apply to residential properties within the noisiest daytime 69dBLAeq,16h or night-time 63dBLAeq,8h contours.

Eligible owners will be able to have their property acquired by Luton Rising if they wish. They will be able to select, at Luton Rising’s cost, an independent valuer from a panel of RICS registered firms, to determine the property’s ‘unaffected market value’. This would set the level of the offer being made.

Once an offer has been made, Luton Rising will make the commitment to purchase the property under the policy, although there would be no obligation for the homeowner to sell the property until the exchange of contracts. Other reasonable costs, including moving costs, would also be covered.

The Exceptional Hardship scheme will be available to residential properties inside the daytime 66dBLAeq,16h contour and outside the daytime 69dBLAeq,16h and night-time 63dBLAeq,8h contours.

Owners will be able to have their property acquired by Luton Rising if they have a compelling reason to sell but they have been unable to do so themselves and, in the absence of a sale, it would cause hardship. Offers will be made in the same manner as the Voluntary Acquisition process. No additional payments would be made however, in recognition that property owners would have been looking to sell anyway.

Both the Voluntary Purchase and Exceptional Hardship schemes are already open and details can be found at the link in the FAQ below. If you believe you may have a claim under this policy, in the first instance please email info@lutonrising.org.uk

Please click here

The DCO consented Noise Insulation Scheme will be activated when the Article 44 notice is served. One of the pre-conditions to serving the notice is approval of a roll-out plan for the first four years of the noise insulation scheme which will focus on the most affected areas as a priority,

Our Compensation Policies document, which sets out the various statutory and voluntary schemes for noise insulation and other forms of compensation is available at the link in the FAQ above.

Please click here

The DCO application identified how a range of highway improvements will take place at different stages in the future, according to demand experienced on the highway network, and phasing of the scheme.

None of this will take place before the Article 44 notice is served.

The Transport Related Impacts Monitoring and Mitigation Approach (TRIMMA), which has to be approved by the local planning authority in consultation with the Hertfordshire, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford and National Highways authorities before the Article 44 notice can be served, will identify the specific conditions that will trigger improvement works for each identified junction.

Community First will be a new community fund for Luton and neighbouring communities. Funding will result from the growth in passenger numbers above the currently consented capacity, and provide £1 for each of those additional passengers. This will be on top of the current and continuing financial support already provided by Luton Rising to the local community.

In its first five years, the Community First fund will be specifically aimed at helping tackle poverty and supporting local decarbonisation projects. Thereafter, objectives will be reviewed.

From modest beginnings, the fund will steadily grow over time as passenger numbers increase as a result of the airport’s expansion from 19 million to 32 million.

In the longer term it would be worth up to £13m per year – with 40 per cent, up to £5.6m annually, allocated into neighbouring communities outside of Luton.

Community First will be funded through the additional revenues to Luton Rising as a direct result of expansion and will not have any direct impact on charges at the airport.

Community First is directly linked to passenger growth above 19 million passengers per annum (mppa). Consequently, it can only commence after the Article 44 notice has been served and passenger throughput exceeds 19 mppa.

The areas in which Community First funding will be available include:

–              the whole of the county of Bedfordshire, including Luton

–              the whole of the Hertfordshire districts of Stevenage, Welwyn and Hatfield, the City and District of St Albans, and Dacorum

–              those parts of the districts of North Hertfordshire and East Hertfordshire west of the A10

–              and eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale.

To maximise independence and transparency, Luton Rising believes the fund should be independently administered.

Community First will commence as soon as the airport exceeds 19 million passengers per year – referred to as ‘growth passengers’. Funds will be made available from 1 April each year and will be based on the number of growth passengers in the preceding calendar year.

Community First is intended to be an ongoing fund and will be subject to periodic review to ensure it remains relevant and up to date as time progresses.

Registered charities, community groups and town and parish councils will be eligible to apply for Community First grants. Funding will open via written applications, and Luton Rising will provide support to small groups who need help preparing them.

Bids will need to demonstrate a clear link to addressing local needs in areas of high deprivation or to decarbonisation projects anywhere within the eligible areas.

In April 2025 Luton Rising wrote to 183 landowners, mostly private and business addresses, who have an interest in land which could become subject to compulsory acquisition in the future. Site notices were also erected in 45 locations.

The purpose was to:

1) Inform stakeholders of the Secretary of State’s decision to approve the DCO.

2) Inform stakeholders that the DCO provides a power for future compulsory acquisition of land and rights over land, where already included in the application – either on a permanent or temporary basis (for example, during a construction phase).

3) Provide information how the Secretary of State’s decision could, at that point in time, be challenged by way of an application for Judicial Review.

For each stakeholder with an interest in land, a plan was included with the letter outlining the extent and positioning of that land.

No type of acquisition process was, or has been, started: that will follow at the appropriate time – as, when, and if the land is to be required.

This could be several years away – the compulsory acquisition power will last until 2035: that is, ten years from the date the DCO was consented by the Secretary of State.

Luton Rising and its sole shareholder, Luton Council, already own or control most of the land that would be needed for the proposed expansion, including land needed for the replacement open space in Wigmore Valley Park.

The exceptions are:

• • Some freehold interests in small parcels of land not currently owned
• • Some third-party leasehold interests in land already owned
• • Some rights over land to establish and maintain certain mitigation measures (for example, hedgerow planting)
• • Temporary possession of small parcels of land to construct the scheme (for example, junction upgrades)

Luton Rising is committed to ongoing discussions with landowners to acquire by private agreement any land or rights which may be required to carry out the expansion.

Only where this is not possible would we exercise compulsory acquisition powers under the DCO. Given the phased approach to delivering the airport’s expansion, it is envisaged that land and property will be needed at different times.

Luton Rising will only acquire land or rights compulsorily as a last resort.

The ‘Compensation Code’ is a collective term for the principles relating to compensation for compulsory acquisition, originating from Acts of Parliament and case law. Its general purpose is to provide fair compensation to land and property owners. Landowners may be entitled to compensation as a result of compulsory acquisition. Compensation for any compulsory acquisition of land or rights would be paid in accordance with the Compensation Code.

Some property owners and occupiers who are affected by our proposals but are not subject to compulsory acquisition may also be entitled to compensation. This includes those who can demonstrate that there is a reduction in the value of their property as a result of airport expansion, and those who feel that their land has been impacted by construction.

More information can be found here

The current cost estimate for the construction programme is in excess of £2.5 billion (2023 prices). It is impossible for projects of this scale and complexity to ‘lock in’ the final cost so early in the project. Luton Rising will continually update the construction costs and other associated project costs as the detailed plans evolve, and Luton Council will be kept informed at all stages.

No. The investment is intended to be funded over 20 years by commercial partners with various interests in different aspects of the scheme.

No, there is no intention or requirement for any direct contribution from Luton Council and there would be no adverse impact on local council taxpayers.

Subject to design review and programme change, the consented expansion plans envisage:

• Phase one: expansion of the existing terminal and associated facilities. Unlikely to begin before 2027.
• Phase 2: construction of a new second terminal and associated facilities, to increase airport capacity first to 27 mppa, and then on to 32 mppa. Unlikely to begin before 2033, on a possible four-year programme

Potentially, around 2041.

It is currently expected that detailed pre-commencement planning work may take at least between 18 months and two years.

During this time, detailed designs and construction programmes will be developed. At the moment this information is not available, beyond the high-level data included within the application documents, which remains available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here

In due course, formal procurement routes will be used to support the larger-scale development elements of the programme. Much of this may take place through the airport operator’s frameworks.

Companies are advised to look out for, and attend, any supply chain development events that are offered. At present these usually happen in the month of November and are promoted by the airport operator.

Ongoing information about the progress of the project will be provided as it becomes available.

Updates will be published on this website and on Luton Rising’s social media channels.

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Please email info@lutonrising.org.uk