Luton Airport expansion decision to be announced amid local concerns
The decision was delayed by nine months, with the Secretary of State now expected to announce the airport's fate
Last updated 3rd Apr 2025
A long-awaited decision on the proposed expansion of Luton Airport is set to be announced today (April 03).
The Luton Rising proposal is in its final stage, with a decision to be handed by the Secretary of State after three delays.
Pete White, a member of Friends at Wigmore Park and Stop Luton Airport Expansion, however shared concerns over the viability of the plans.
He said: "Nine months extra time, which is unheard of really to get your planning application right. Surely that should ring alarm bells in government that this really isn't a very good idea or a well-thought-out idea."
Other airports recently were given the go-ahead by the government to expand further, including neighbouring airports Gatwick and Heathrow, which has led to local speculation over the future of Luton Airport.
However, Mr White pointed out key differences.
He said: "Gatwick has already said that they can't meet their 54% cap on surface traffic for people flying through the airport, so they're working around that as it is.
"Heathrow has obviously still got to go through the planning and development stage.
"Both those airports are intercontinental airports. They are proper large airports because that's what they used to be when they were owned by the government in the BA. Luton is not a global airport. Luton is a holiday airport, as was shown by Jet2 flying to holiday destinations.
"It is not a global player. It will never be a global player."
Background of the proposed expansion
The project started with a non-statutory consultation in 2018, quickly followed by a review and a statutory consultation.
Since 2019, the expansion has been under review due to changes in conditions including Brexit, Covid-19 and climate change.
In that time, Luton Rising, which runs the project and the airport, owned by Luton Borough Council, undertook a statutory consultation entitled Future LuToN, proposing to increase the capacity of the airport to 32 million passengers per annum by expanding terminal 1.
It further assured the expansion would create thousands of jobs.
Data from Luton Rising details that in 2019, the airport supported a £1.1 billion contribution to GDP and sustained 16,500 jobs across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
By growing the airport to 32 million passengers per annum, it anticipates a £900m annual economic activity, or an increase of 81 per cent, and the creation of 6,100 jobs, which would represent an increase of 37 per cent.
Concerns over the need for expansion and accessibility
When looking at the airport's strategic location, the question remains whether an expansion could contribute to the network for growth pushed by the government.
The airport is located just outside of the so-called "UK Silicon Valley", the corridor for growth linking Oxford to Cambridge through Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
Mr White argued the airport would just about contribute to it, if not at all.
He said: "Look at the destinations from Luton. They aren't gonna bring scientists in from high-end research establishments. They're holiday destinations.
"They're not American flights. Luton's runway will mean that you could not fly to America unless the plane was considerably underloaded and not at its full capacity because of the length of the runway."
Accessibility also remains a major concern surrounding Luton Airport, which could create a drawback to its growth.
"Luton is a north-south access airport. It is not an east-west access airport. If you come from the west or east, you can't get trains. You have to come by car or the limited public transport," he added. "It is a poorly designed airport."
The impact on the climate
The environmental impact and noise pollution remain major concerns for local residents who are already seeing the number of flights increase.
"We're expected to believe that the airport and Luton Rising, the developer of this project, will put the environmental concerns of people living around the airport first when it's clearly showed all the way through, this is purely a commercial exercise and the collateral damage to the climate, both locally and globally, is irrelevant," said Mr White. "This is about making money and this is what it's all about."
Luton Rising however assured it was committed to introducing a 'unique and ground-breaking' initiative called the Green Controlled Growth framework (GCG), which is explained as an environmentally-focused approach to managing growth by introducing maximum limits for the airport’s noise, greenhouse gases, air quality and surface access impacts.
Commenting on the project, St Albans MP Daisy Cooper previously said the project was "deeply worrying", adding that "it’s a lose-lose decision for both growth and climate targets, and would cause further misery for St Albans residents living under flight paths."
Victoria Collins, MP for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, also said that she had "repeatedly made clear to the government that expanding Luton airport would be highly damaging for the quality of life of local residents,", saying that it would "worsen noise pollution and strain on infrastructure".
"And it would violate the government’s own advisors, the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations that a framework for controlling emissions must be in place before any airport expansion takes place," she added.