Luton Airport celebrates busiest day in 78-year history

London Luton Airport (LLA) saw its passenger figures leap by 17.6% in May, with one day in particular hailed as the busiest in its 78-year history.

On May 27 a total of 50,564 passengers passed through LLA, which is the highest recorded since the airport was built in 1938. Overall, May was Luton’s 26th consecutive month of passenger growth.

To meet the growing demands of UK holidaymakers for services from Luton, airport bosses are investing £110m to increase LLA’s capacity by 50%, allowing the airport to cater for up to 18m people a year by 2020.

The improvement works will include a major redesign of the existing terminal to overhaul the passenger experience.

LLA CEO Nick Barton said: “Our ambitious redevelopment project is crucial for meeting the consistently high levels of demand for air travel we’re seeing in the South East – our record-breaking May is testament to this.

“As we wait for a decision from the government about a new runway, LLA is playing its part when it comes to addressing this demand in the short to medium term.”

Elsewhere, Luton is expanding its network of routes with the addition of flights to Kosovan capital Pristina, to be operated by Slovenian carrier Adria Airways, from June 19.