London Future LuToN Airport Ltd MAKING BEST USE OF OUR RUNWAY A Luton Council company Consultation, June 2018 WWW.FUTURELUTON.LLAL.ORG.UK CONTENTS FOREWORD 01 INTRODUCTION 02 THE AIRPORT TODAY 03 FUTURE LuToN 04 CONSIDERING THE OPTIONS 05 MANAGING THE IMPACTS 06 NEXT STEPS 07 GLOSSARY APPENDICES FOREWORD FROM THE CHAIR OF LONDON LUTON AIRPORT LTD London Luton Airport (LTN) marks its This consultation is the first important We want our communities to thrive and 80th anniversary this year, and there is step in taking this vision forward, as to enjoy the benefits that the growth of much to celebrate. It is the fifth largest it presents options for enabling future LTN will bring. Over the last five years, airport in the UK, and has also been the levels of growth and expansion in the we have provided more than £50m UK’s fastest growing major airport over period up to 2050. for local charities, community and the last five years, handling just under voluntary organisations in Luton and We are consulting on these plans at 16 million passengers in 2017. Over half beyond in communities impacted by this early stage to seek your views and of the flights are to western Europe and airport operations. feedback to help us shape and inform the Mediterranean, with over a third to the proposals for the expansion of We are committed to working with central and eastern Europe. LTN. We plan to consult again next our partners, airlines, our local We, London Luton Airport Limited year on more detailed proposals, communities, statutory bodies and (LLAL), owner of LTN, are proud of its providing a further chance to give the Government when developing success story. We want to take this your feedback before we prepare and strategies and measures to maximise success further and make the best use submit an application to consent our the benefits, while mitigating potential of our existing runway, particularly as expansion plans. adverse environmental impacts that LTN will shortly be full to its current expansion may bring, including, but Cllr Andy Malcolm LTN is a key driver of the local and permitted capacity of 18 million not limited to: accessibility, air quality, Chair of LLAL sub-regional economies, supporting passengers per annum (mppa). noise, climate change, landscape more than 30,000 jobs and and ecology, archaeology Our ‘Vision for Sustainable Growth contributing £1.5bn per year to and heritage. 2020-2050’, published in December the UK economy, including more 2017, set out how we believe the than £500m into the three counties of A demonstration of that commitment airport may be able to handle up to Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and is our recent £225m investment in 36-38 mppa, and recognised that in Hertfordshire. It is estimated that for the Luton DART fast transit system making the best use of our runway every additional million passengers between Luton Airport Parkway station we should also seek to provide the passing through LTN, 800 new jobs and the airport terminal – operational maximum benefit to the local and could be created and £76m added to in 2021. sub-regional economies; deliver the regional economy. We look forward to discussing our good levels of service to our We believe that LTN has the potential proposals with you, listening to your customers; and effectively manage to unlock many more opportunities views and working with you to shape the environmental impacts in line with for our local communities, and that it the future of LTN. our commitment to responsible and is our responsibility to deliver this. We sustainable development. cannot stand still and do nothing. FOREWORD 3 01 INTRODUCTION ABOUT THIS CONSULTATION We are consulting on our plans to • Provide the public and other We are keen to hear your views on the This consultation is a key part of the expand LTN by making best use of stakeholders with all the information, proposals and on the matters you think NSIP planning process. This is an the existing runway. The permitted via a summary document and this we should be considering. Please take early-stage non-statutory consultation capacity of LTN is currently 18 million main consultation document time to read this document, which sets on the options that we are considering. passengers per annum (mppa), and out our consultation proposals and • Supplement the ongoing It is the first of two consultations we our estimate is that the existing complete the related questions in our technical engagement that is taking are planning to hold. The second runway has a potential capacity consultation questionnaire. place with statutory stakeholders, consultation, scheduled to take of up to 36-38 mppa. such as the Environment Agency, As our project is seeking consent place next year, will be a statutory Our plan is to progressively airlines, Highways England, Natural for airport-related development consultation under the Planning Act expand LTN to achieve this England, Luton Council and other that would expand the permitted 2008. That will be a consultation about growth, which would require local authorities capacity of LTN by over 10 mppa, the scheme we think we will apply for, new terminal capacity and other it is a type of development and of a having undertaken further work over • Test the scope of the work we have landside and airside infrastructure. scale that meets the thresholds to be the next few months and having taken carried out to date, and what we will a Nationally Significant Infrastructure account of the responses we receive As part of this consultation exercise be doing in the future Project (NSIP) for the purposes of the during this current consultation. we aim to: It is important to stress that Planning Act 2008. • Explain to the immediate and wider the overriding objective of As such, we must apply to the community the benefits of expanding consultation is to get your feedback Secretary of State for Transport for a the airport using our existing runway so that we can take account of Development Consent Order (DCO) to When our consultation is open your views and, where appropriate, • Start engagement on the options authorise the proposed development. reflect them in developing a better Our consultation is open for ten that we have examined, explaining NSIP applications are examined by scheme for both the airport and its weeks from Monday 25 June our emerging preferences and the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), and local communities. until Friday 31 August 2018, why other options were not preferred decided by the Secretary of State for and is an opportunity for you and outlining the work that is still This document explains the proposals Transport (not Luton Council). to engage with our expansion to be done upon which we are consulting. In addition to providing the consent proposals. • Seek early feedback / local to develop a NSIP, the DCO can also knowledge that will allow us to further grant a range of other consents, develop our proposals and strategies, including the compulsory acquisition such as the surface access, noise of any land and rights, should they be and air quality strategies required to deliver the NSIP. INTRODUCTION 6 NAVIGATING THIS DOCUMENT Introduction Considering the options Next steps Comments deadline We introduce this consultation This section explains our approach to The most important part of this document, with an explanation of our the expansion plans and the options consultation: how you can express The deadline for responding consultation process and how this fits before us for expanding LTN, with your views. You will be able to respond to this consultation is 5pm on into the wider DCO application that we descriptions, maps and plans. Here online, by post, or by visiting one of Friday 31 August 2018. plan to submit. you can also find out how we came to the 17 public events we will be holding Your comments will help us in these options, as we explain how we across the consultation period. The airport today the next stage of our plans. assessed options through a careful Glossary Read this section for the background sift process. on LTN – how the airport is run, how The language of both airports and Managing the impacts it relates to the local community, and planning can be quite technical; the other plans that are under way, like We recognise that development on if there are any words, phrases or the Luton DART, our fast transit link the scale that we are proposing abbreviations you don’t understand, between Luton Airport Parkway railway will have impacts from noise to there is a glossary in the back of this Consultation questions station and the airport terminal. landscaping and surface access. document to help explain them. Wherever you see these Future LuToN This section outlines our assessment comment boxes, we are of those impacts and what we could interested in hearing Here we set out why the airport needs do to mitigate them. your views. to expand, and the principles we will apply to ensure that growth is carried out in a sustainable way, and in partnership with the community. We also provide the context that it will take place in, including Government aviation policy and planning policies. INTRODUCTION 7 02 THE AIRPORT TODAY OUR HISTORY Having opened in 1938 as a grass During the 1960s and 1970s, LTN Following changes in the rules airstrip, LTN has developed into an was the UK’s main airport for charter governing charter flights associated airport which is now the UK’s fifth flights linked to package tours, with with package tours, passenger largest and one of its fastest growing Court Line, Monarch Airlines and numbers stagnated for a period.