London Luton owner extends contract with airport operator, LLAOL, until 2031
London Luton owner extends contract until 2031
By Alan Dron (ATW)
August 24, 2012
Luton airport (LTN), north of London, is the home of low-cost carrier easyJet and handles mainly budget airlines and charters. It is owned by an offshoot of the local borough council and managed by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd. (LLAOL), a subsidiary of Spanish transport and telecommunications conglomerate Abertis.
LLAOL has operated LTN since 1998 and was halfway through the original 30-year management agreement.
LTN has an annual capacity of 11.5 million passengers, with passenger throughput of around 10 million.
In March, the airport’s owners and operators unveiled plans for a proposed phased expansion of capacity to 18 million passengers by the middle of next decade. Suggested ways of increasing capacity include building a new parallel taxiway, expanding the apron and number of jetways, constructing a new pier for the passenger terminal, and making improvements to the landside road system. Any expansion would take place within the existing airport boundary and would not add to LTN’s single runway.
.
London Luton Airport owner and operator extend contract |
| Published by Ozgur Tore |
| 18 AUGUST 2012 |
London Luton Airport Limited (LLAL), the company that owns the airport, and London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL), the airport’s operator, have signed a contract to enable London Luton Airport to continue to be managed, operated and developed by LLAOL through to 2031. The contract follows the signing of a head of terms commercial agreement by the two parties in June 2012 and the decision by the airport’s owner and operator to integrate LLAL’s futureLuToN:Optimisation programme with LLAOL’s plans to increase passenger capacity at London Luton Airport. The signing of the contract between the owner and operator is to be followed by a planning application later in the autumn, which will be lodged by LLAOL and will be subject to the statutory consultation process including public consultation by the Local Planning Authority. Any increase in capacity at the airport will take place within the existing boundary and use the existing runway. Passenger through-put generates income in the region of £10m to Luton Borough Council that is critical for maintaining services to its community and supporting its capital programme. Current revenue provides a further £14minvested in local communities through supporting charitable organisations. Income would increase with future passenger growth. Cllr Robin Harris, chair of LLAL, said: “Given London Luton Airport’s position as the single biggest asset owned by the people of Luton, this agreement and its potential benefits for wealth in the region’s economy are momentous. LLAL is delighted at this step forward and at the benefits it will bring to London Luton Airport and to the region’s residents.” Glyn Jones, Managing Director of LLAOL, the company that operates the airport, said: “The agreement will allow LLAOL to continue the successful work which we have been carrying out at London Luton Airport since 1998. Last year the airport was the UK’s fastest growing major airport and this agreement will enable both parties to continue to deliver sustainable growth together, developing the airport in a positive way for partners, residents and passengers.” London Luton Airport is the UK’s fifth biggest airport. It is a headquarters for easyJet and is a major base for Wizz Air, Ryanair and Monarch. The airport continues to be the largest employer in the Luton area. http://www.ftnnews.com/aviation/18025-london-luton-airport-owner-and-operator-extend-contract.html . |
This was already known about earlier:
Rival plans for Luton Airport expansion to be merged
June 7, 2012 Not altogether surprisingly, the hitherto-separate plans produced by the airport owner and the airport operator have been combined, and the airport operator’s concession to run the airport has been extended to 2031. That takes some of the urgency out of the need to produce planning applications as the 2014 break-point in the concession is no longer a factor. There is likely to now be a planning application later this summer. More details will be released when the plans are finalised in July. The new scheme is likely to have a passenger throughput up to “about 18 million a year” and an additional 40% more aircraft movements a year. However, earlier this year the operator -London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL) – said 15 million was more realistic. Click here to view full story…