A Brief History

During the Second World War the airport was a base for RAF fighters and following the war the land was returned to the local council who continued activity at the airport as a commercial operation.

At this stage, they provided the base for major tour operators such as Euravia and Monarch Airlines. In 1972, Luton Airport was the most profitable in the country, however it suffered a severe setback in August 1974 when a major package tour operator, Clarksons, went bankrupt.

The following years saw a process of rebuilding, including the opening of a new international terminal in 1985. In 1990 the airport was renamed "London Luton" in order to boost its profile. In 1991, another setback occurred when Ryanair, who had flown from the airport to Ireland for a number of years, transferred its base of operations to Stansted. Later in the 90s, however, things picked up for Luton, with the introduction Airtours and easyJet.

An indicator of the importance of the airport to the economy of Luton is that the town has the highest number of taxi cabs per head of population in the United Kingdom.

In October 2006, new airline, Silverjet, announced that it would be starting direct flights from Luton to Newark Liberty Airport, New York. This marks an important milestone for the airport with the inaugaration of scheduled, trans-atlantic flights.

Traffic

In 2005 total passengers at London Luton increased by 21.5% to 9.135 million, making it the UK's sixth busiest airport. It is also the fastest growing UK airport.