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Plans to expand London Luton Airport with a second terminal have been approved.
The airport was given the go-ahead to build a new terminal in a bid to boost capacity to up to 32,000,000 passengers a year.
Luton – the UK’s fifth busiest airport -currently has its capacity capped at 18,000,000 passengers annually.
The plans include expanding existing Terminal 1, building a new Terminal 2, plus adding taxiways, new support buildings and a car park – some of them on top of a neighbouring country park, which locals have opposed.
A government source told Metro: ‘The Transport Secretary has approved the expansion of Luton Airport for its benefits to Luton and the wider UK economy.
‘The decision goes against the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation for refusal. Expansion will deliver huge growth benefits for Luton with thousands of good, new jobs and a cash boost for the local council which owns the airport.
‘This is the 14th Development Consent Order approved by this Labour government, demonstrating we will stop at nothing to deliver economic growth and new infrastructure as part of our Plan for Change.’
The Planning Inspectorate had recommended that the plans should be rejected due to environmental concerns.
There are no plans for a new flight path – unlike at Heathrow, where the controversial proposal for a third runway is still waiting for the final seal of approval.
Luton will build new car parking close to the terminal, bus station, taxi ranks and direct air-to-rail transport link known as Luton DART as part of the £2,400,000,000 proposal.
Luton Airport wants to see more travellers pass through its terminals by 2043.
The airport bosses insist the project would bring an extra £900,000,000 worth of economic activity and add up to 11,000 jobs.
However, not everyone has welcomed the expansion, which has been in the pipeline since 2018.
Local residents have raised the alarm over noise concerns, pressure on infrastructure like roads and rail, and environmental impact, including at a nearby Wigmore Valley Park bordering the airport, which would be ‘concreted over,’ campaigner Andrew Lambourne said.
He told Metro: ‘Residents are opposed to the expansion of Luton airport because the airport is in the wrong place for further increases in the number of flights.’
The airport causes ‘a lot of disruption because Luton can fly planes 24 hours a day and also because local roads and rail services are already overcrowded.’
The M1 motorway ‘frequently gets snarled up if there’s an incident,’ while the railway services ‘get very busy at peak times,’ he said.
‘None of this is good news, and it is very shortsighted to start putting all of Luton’s economic eggs in the airport basket,’ he continued.
‘Luton deserves a more diversified economy.’
Daisy Cooper MP and the deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said previously the expansion should not happen ‘before a climate emissions framework is in place, including at Luton.’
If the government approves the expansion, Luton pledged to introduce an initiative called the Green Controlled Growth framework (GCG).
It is an ‘environmentally-focused approach to managing growth’ with measures like binding limits on the airport noise, carbon, air quality and surface access like transport to the airport as these areas are the most likely to be impacted, the developer said.
The initial deadline for the Luton expansion decision was delayed from January 3 until today to give the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander more time to consider the ‘complex’ application.
Airport expansion plans have made headlines recently after Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed the Heathrow expansion in her January growth speech, which also mentioned Luton and Gatwick proposals.
Alberto Martin, London Luton Airport’s CEO, said previously that every passenger at the airport ‘allows the local authority to invest 53p directly into local frontline services and community causes,’ which is ’20 times more than any other UK airport.’
‘Luton is now at a tipping point with a generational opportunity to boost investment in public services further, which the airport’s growth will deliver,’he added.
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