Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
London Luton Airport lies on a hill-top site in Bedfordshire, some 2.7 km east of Luton town centre and about 28 miles north of central London. It is a major international airport with a single long runway equipped for ILS approaches, making it a busy and instructive destination for simulator pilots flying into complex controlled airspace amid heavy commercial traffic.
London Luton Airport is a large international airport at Luton in Bedfordshire, serving as a hub for easyJet and Wizz Air and a focus city for several other low-cost and executive operators. For a simulator pilot it offers the chance to fly a single, long, ILS-equipped runway set on a distinctive hill-top location, sequencing among busy scheduled jet traffic under a full air traffic control service.
The airport sits where the valley of the River Lea cuts through the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills, giving it a hill-top position with a roughly 40 m drop-off at the western end of the runway. It is about 2.7 km (1.7 miles) east of Luton town centre and roughly 28 miles north of central London, making it one of the capital's group of international airports alongside Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City and Southend. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_Airport)
Luton has a single physical runway, 07/25, with a hard, lit surface. Runway 07 is 7081 ft long and runway 25 is 6810 ft long, and both directions are served by ILS.
The airport provides a full range of air traffic services on the following frequencies: Approach 129.55 MHz, ATIS 120.575 MHz, Ground 121.75 MHz and Tower 132.55 MHz. Both runway directions, 07 and 25, are equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Luton is a fully controlled aerodrome with dedicated Approach, Tower and Ground frequencies plus an ATIS broadcast, so arriving and departing traffic operates under air traffic control clearance and sequencing throughout rather than following an informal joining procedure.
Luton Municipal Airport opened on the site on 16 July 1938, the opening being performed by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood. During the Second World War the airfield was used by the Royal Air Force, with fighters of No. 264 Squadron based there, before the site was returned to the local council after the war. Commercial activity and general aviation flight training resumed in 1952, when a new control tower was opened, and the aircraft manufacturer Percival Aircraft had its factory at the airport until the early 1960s. From the mid-1960s executive aircraft began operating from Luton, initially with McAlpine Aviation, a role that has continued to grow over the decades. During the 1960s the airport became a key base for the developing package holiday business, hosting charter operators such as Autair (later Court Line), Euravia (later Britannia Airways, ultimately TUI Airways) and Dan-Air; by 1969 a fifth of all UK holiday flights departed from Luton, and in 1972 it was the most profitable airport in the country. Passenger numbers declined during the 1980s as investment lagged and nearby Stansted grew, but the airport was renamed London Luton Airport in 1990 to emphasise its proximity to the capital. The 1990s brought renewed growth with operators such as MyTravel Group, Debonair and EasyJet, and in August 1997 a 30-year concession was awarded to the public-private partnership London Luton Airport Operations Limited to fund an £80 million extension. A new £40 million terminal, opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in November 1999, added 60 check-in desks and modern baggage and flight information systems, and further redevelopment of the departure and arrival lounges followed in 2004/5. By 2018 the airport handled over 16.5 million passengers, a record for Luton and the fifth-busiest total in the UK. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_Airport)
London Luton Airport today serves as an operating base for easyJet UK, Jet2.com, Ryanair UK and Wizz Air UK, having previously also based TUI Airways aircraft until that operation relocated to Gatwick. It remains an important centre for executive aviation, a role it has held since the 1960s, with several executive jet operators and maintenance companies based on the field alongside the scheduled low-cost carriers. The airport is operated by London Luton Airport Operations Limited on behalf of the airport's owner, London Luton Airport Limited. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_Airport)
