London Luton Airport

One of the largest airports in the United Kingdom, London Luton Airport is situated 35 miles in the northeast of the British Capital.

Overview

Founded in 1938, Luton was an airbase for Royal Air Force’s fighter airplanes, but, a few years later, in 1960s, the London Luton Airport became a centre of commercial aviation with several airlines, executive jet companies and other aviation services forming their base here. The basic infrastructure of the London Luton Airport changed a decade later and more airlines started operations here, thus triggering many upgrades in the process.

Airlines and Destinations

In spite of the fact that it is relatively small in size and that it is distant from downtown London, it handles just about ten million passengers every year. This is largely due to the fact that the airlines using Luton, such as Thomson Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, and Monarch Airlines, are smaller lines offering less expensive flights. For many passengers, cheaper prices offered by the low cost carriers are worth the commute to London.

Flights are available to more than 100 destinations in Asia such as Hong Kong, Mumbai, and in Africa such as Johannesburg, as well as in Europe. There are also connections, to Tel Aviv or Bangkok for example. The other lines Luton services are EL AL, Wizz Air, Flybe, Blue Air, TAROM, and Carpatair. Monarch, Israir, Thomson and First Choice offer charters out of Luton.

Facilities

An internet café, internet kiosks, and public phones are available in the London Luton Airport. Other facilities include a chapel in addition to prayer room for people of many faiths, baby changing rooms and accommodations for disabled passengers. For a charge of £5 per hour, wireless internet can be accessed right through the airport.

There are several fast food outlets in the arrival area. The best of any of these would be Food Village which offers somewhat healthier food. The departure area has a few better options with sit down restaurants, a Real Food Company snack bar and a pretty good pub.

Luggage: Trolleys, baggage wrapping, scales and a luggage reclaim are all available for small fees.

Conference and Business: Even though there are no formal conference facilities, Luton does offer the Aviance Executive Lounge with phone, internet and fax services.

Money and Communications: Internet kiosks, ATMs, banks, and currency exchange facilities can be found all over the London Luton Airport.